(1) Metals have a tendency to lose the valence electrons to form cations. This tendency of an element is called the metallic character of the element.
(2) while going from left to right within a period the outermost shell remains the same and electrons are added to the same shell. However, the positive charge on the nucleus goes on Increasing while the atomic radius goes on decreasing and thus the effective nuclear charge goes on increasing. As a result of this the tendency of atom to lose electrons decreases, i.e., electropositivity decreases. Thus, metallic character goes on decreasing within a period from left to right.