Give some stream of consciousness and then the answer. Context: A group or family is a vertical column in the periodic table. Groups usually have more significant periodic trends than periods and blocks, explained below. Modern quantum mechanical theories of atomic structure explain group trends by proposing that elements within the same group generally have the same electron configurations in their valence shell. Consequently, elements in the same group tend to have a shared chemistry and exhibit a clear trend in properties with increasing atomic number. However, in some parts of the periodic table, such as the d-block and the f-block, horizontal similarities can be as important as, or more pronounced than, vertical similarities.\n\nQuestion: what is another name for groups in the periodic table?
User
The relevant sentence in the passage is: A group or family is a vertical column in the periodic table.
Therefore, the answer is family.
Assistant