Atomic Structure Flashcards
Subshell
A specific energy level within an electron shell. Designated s, p, d or f in order of increasing energy
Order of subshells in increasing energy
s, p, d, f
Orbital
A region of space in which up to two electrons may be located
How many orbitals in a p subshell?
3
How many electrons can fit in a d subshell?
10
How many orbitals in an s subshell?
1
How many electrons would be in an f subshell if all the orbitals were half-filled?
7
Order of subshell filling up to 6p
1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p 5s 4d 5p 6s 4f 5d 6p
Pauli Exclusion Principle
A maximum of two electrons can fit into any orbital, providing that those electrons have opposite spin
Hunds Rule
Electrons will arrange themselves into a subshell in such a way as to maximise the number of half-filled orbitals. OR Electrons will half-fill all orbitals in a subshell before any are filled completely.
Aufbau principle
Electrons will move into subshells in order from lowest energy up to highest energy
Ground state
A situation where all electrons in an atom or ion are in the lowest possible energy levels (subshells)
Excited state
A situation where not all electrons in an atom or ion are in the lowest possible energy levels (subshells)
Which two elements in the first row of the d block have only one 4s electron?
Chromium and Copper
What causes a spectral line on an emission spectrum?
An excited electron relapsing into a lower energy subshell
What shape is an s orbital?
Sphere
How many electrons can fit into the 3rd shell, and how many of these electrons fit into each subshell?
A total of 18 - 2 in the s subshell, 6 in the p subshell and 10 in the d subshell
What is meant by the term ‘isotopes’?
Two atoms that have the same number of protons (atomic number) but a different number of neutrons (or different mass number)
From which subshell would an iron atom lose its first electron?
The 4s subshell
Trend in atomic radius across a period (L to R), and why
Atomic radius decreases because core charge increases but the number of shells remains the same