A biochemist who is studying the properties of certain sulfur (s) - containing compounds in the body, wonders whether trace amounts of another nonmetallic element might have similar behavior. to which element should she turn her attention?]

Elements of the same group show similar chemical properties as they have the same number of valence electrons. Sulfur belongs to the group 16 or 6 A or the oxygen family with 6 valence electrons. The elements of group 6 A are Oxygen, Sulfur, Selenium, Tellurium and Polonium. All of these elements show similar chemical properties. Therefore, when a biochemist studying the properties a sulfur containing biochemical compounds in the body wants to look at any other non-metal with similar properties, he has to consider other elements of the group 6 A like Oxygen (O), Selenium (Se), Tellurium (Te) and Polonium (Po).

It is known that sulfur is a group 16 element. And, elements which are present in the same tend to show similar chemical properties because they contain same number of valence electrons.

As a result, they tend to show similar chemical reactivity and other similar chemical properties.

All the elements of group 16 are O, S, Se, Te, and Po.

Generally oxygen exists as a diatomic molecule or non-metal. But S and Se exists as polyatomic non-metals.

Thus, we can conclude that she should turn her attention to selenium (Se) element.