The Group 2 elements are called the alkaline earth metals. The Group 2 elements are:

• Beryllium
• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Strontium
• Barium
• Radium

The electronic configuration of the elements all consist of two s-electrons outside an inner core of electron corresponding to the previous inert gas: the group configuration is therefore ns².

In the standard form of the periodic table the s-block, p-block, and d-block elements are organised into 18 vertical columns called groups. These are labelled from 1 to 18 under current IUPAC numenclature.

Earlier labelling schemes (Trivial Group names)

For historical reasons some Groups have special names. Terms such as the "alkali metals" are in very common use whereas the term "pnictogens" is very much less common. Some of these special names are listed in the Table.