A satellite has been transmitting weather data daily for three years. Suddenly, the transmission has been interrupted, and further transmissions are not clear. Which of these
features of the sun might have caused this change?
A. the photosphere
B. the chromosphere
C. a sunspot
D. a solar flare

since the atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus, as we move to the left on the periodic table, the electrostatic pull between the nucleus and the valence electron shell decreases. as we move down a group (vertical column), the valence shell energy level gets further and further from the nucleus.