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As far as I know, paramagnetism in normal substance arises due to unpaired electrons. I believe that the valence electrons of group 2 elements (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) are paired.

But, here in the list of given compounds, all of the group 2 elements (except Be) have positive susceptibility, and it is specified in the same document that positive susceptibility implies paramagnetism.

My question: How can these elements show paramagnetic behaviour?

andselisk
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xrfxlp
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  • When you have https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_bonding, you don't have the electrons paired the same way as you would with isolated atoms. The real question may be why this doesn't work for beryllium. Lithium, the only other (ambient) metal in Period 2, is paramagnetic. – Oscar Lanzi May 20 '19 at 10:13
  • I suspected that, but I thought I was wrong. As I can't reason through the fact that why gallium is diamagnetic and aluminium is paramagnetic despite the fact that both have metallic bonding and both belongs to the same group, one hand-wavy thought might be that Gallium go extensive of it. And for Be, one thought might be Be is not-that metallic. – xrfxlp May 20 '19 at 10:53

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