Electron Structure Flashcards
What is the electronic configuration of an atom?
describes the arrangement of electrons in shells
How are electrons placed?
Into shells starting with the lowest energy level first
how many electrons can the third and fourth shell hold?
-18
-32
What is an orbital?
A region around the nucleus that can hold two electrons, with opposite spins
What do the energy levels (shells) of principal quantum numbers contain instead of having precise energy values?
subshells
What do subshells contain?
-orbitals with different energy values
What spins can electrons have?
-up spins
-down spins
What is an electron?
-cloud of negative charge
-the negative charge cloud has the shape of the orbital occupied by the electron
what must two electrons in the same orbital have?
opposite spins
what are the different sub shells?
-S
-P
-D
-F
what is an s-subshell?
-contains one orbital (the s orbital)- it is an electron cloud with the shape of a sphere
-The greater the shell number (n), the greater the radius of it’s s-orbital
what is the p-sub shell?
contains 3-orbitals, each orbital is an electron cloud held within a dumb-bell shape
what is a d sub shell?
-Contains five orbitals
how many orbitals does an f-sub shell contain?
Seven orbitals
What happens to electrons in the same orbital?
They repel
What happens if we have orbitals with the same energy?
we put electrons in into individual orbitals before we pair them
how do all electrons spin?
on axis: either clockwise or anti clockwise
What is the electronic configuration for chromium and copper?
They both only contain one electron in the 4s (half filled)
Why do chromium and copper have only one electron in the 4s orbital?
-by placing an electron into 3d sub shell, this creates either a full or half filled 3d orbital, which gives the atom increased stability
when electrons are lost where are they lost from?
-Electron shells (when positive ions are formed)
-or will be added to the outer energy levels (when negative ions are formed)
what happens when electrons are lost in transitional metal ions?
-The 4s are always lost before the 3d electrons (d-block elements)
What is each block named after?
The subshell containing the highest energy electron for elements in that block
