An element's placement in the periodic table is determined by its electron configuration. The chemical properties of various elements are intimately related to their valence electron configurations. The periodic table is divided into four blocks (s, p, d, f) based on which sublevel is in the process of being filled.
The electronic configuration of an element is related to its position on the periodic table. The links are: the number of circles in the electronic configuration of an element is represented in the periodic table as the period number that element is situated in.
So, any element within the same group will have the same number of valence electrons, which will then lead to other shared characteristics, such as chemical properties (how an atom reacts during a chemical reaction, for example)
