 Solution

For the outer $ns,np$ valence electrons, Slater's rules predict a modest initial rise down group 15, followed by approximately constant values. Write the effective nuclear charge as $Z_{\mathrm{eff}}=Z-S$, where $S$ is the shielding constant. Each atom has $n{s}^{2}n{p}^3$, so the other four electrons in the outer group contribute $4(0.35)=1.40$. Electrons in shell $n-1$ contribute $0.85$ each, and those deeper contribute $1.00$ each.^[ref]

Applying those weights gives the following original calculations:The increasing nuclear electric charge is largely offset by additional inner-electron shielding; once the preceding shell contains $18$ electrons, these simple weights give a plateau. The $n-1$ shell includes its d electrons. This trend concerns outer-shell values, not every orbital: a $1s$ electron is shielded only by its partner, so $Z_{\mathrm{eff}}(1s)=Z-0.30$ rises strongly down the group. The larger principal shell also means nearly constant outer $Z_{\mathrm{eff}}$ does not imply nearly constant atomic size or binding energy.