General Chemistry Flashcards
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an absorption a photon of the highest frequency? n=1 to n=2 n=4 to n=1 n=1 to n=3 n=2 to n=3
n=1 to n=3 Correct!
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an absorption of the highest energy photon? n=2 to n=4 n=5 to n=2 n=1 to n=3 n=3 to n=5
n=1 to n=3 Correct! Therefore n=5 to n=2 would correspond to an emission of a photon (rather than an absorption) and is eliminated. The remaining three choices all involve a jump of two shells in energy but the gaps between energy levels are larger the lower in energy the shells and thereforethe the largest jump in energy would be the transition from n=1 to n=3
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an absorption of the highest energy photon? n=1 to n=2 n=2 to n=3 n=1 to n=3 n=4 to n=1
n=1 to n=3 Correct!
Which of the following is diamagnetic? Ca+ Cu+ Mn2+ Fe3+
Cu+ Correct! First see how many electrons each species has; if it has an odd number of electrons, then it must have unpaired electrons and can be eliminated. Ca+ has 19 electrons Mn2+ has 23 electrons Fe3+ has 23 electrons Cu+ has 28 electrons Cu+ is the only species with can be diamagnetic as the other 3 will have unpaired electrons having an odd number of electrons. Further inspection of the electron configuration of Cu+ confirms that it is indeed diamagnetic as all its shells and subshells are full. Cu+: [Ar]3d10
How many electrons maximum can occupy the third shell (n = 3) of an atom? 18 32 9 16
18 Correct! maximum number of electrons held by any shell is 2
Which of the following is a possible set of quantum numbers [n,l,ml,ms] for an electron? [3,3,0,-1/2] [3,2,1,-1] [5,0,0,-1/2] [4,1,2,+1/2]
[5,0,0,-1/2] Correct!
What is the maximum number of electrons that could occupy the 4th shell of an atom? 4 18 32 8
32 Correct!
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an emission of a photon of the shortest wavelength? n=3 to n=2 n=3 to n=1 n=5 to n=1 n=1 to n=5
n=5 to n=1 Correct! The key to choosing the correct answer from here is knowing that the energy and wavelength of a photon are indirectly proportional, so the highest energy photon will have the shortest wavelength. For the remaining three choices the largest drop in energy (and shortest wavelength photon) would be the transition from n=5 to n=1
Which of the following is a possible set of quantum numbers [n,l,ml,ms] for a valence electron in bromine? [4,0,0,-1/2] [3,1,1,+1/2] [4,1,-2,+1/2] [3,2,-1,-1/2]
[4,0,0,-1/2] Correct! The electron configuration of Br is 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p5. The 4s and 4p electrons are considered the 7 valence electrons of Br and so the set of quantum numbers could describe an electron in either the 4s or 4p subshells. To be in the 4th shell, n=4 which eliminates choices B and D. To be in an s or p subshell, l=0 (s) or l=1 (p) so so far choices A or C could work. But ml is restricted in being an integer between –l and +l. This rules out choice C as -2 is not between -1 and 1. That leaves choice A.
Which of the following is paramagnetic? Cl- Ag Mg2+ Cu+
Ag Correct! The quick route here is to first see how many electrons each species has; if it has an odd number of electrons, then it must have unpaired electrons. Cl- has 18 electrons Ag has 47 electrons Mg2+ has 10 electrons Cu+ has 28 electrons.
How many orbitals does the 3rd shell (n = 3) of an atom contain? 9 18 3 4
9 Correct! The shortcut is that there are n2 orbitals in each shell. So the 3rd shell has 32 or 9 orbitals. Other than this you could have simply determined that the 3rd shell has 1 s orbital, 3 p orbitals, and 5 d orbitals for a total of 9.
Which of the following could be a set of quantum numbers [n,l,ml,ms] for an electron in a 5f orbital? [4,3,-1,+1/2] [5,4,0,-1/2] [5,3,4,+1/2] [5,3,-1,-1/2]
[5,3,-1,-1/2] Correct! The principal quantum number, n, describes the shell an electron is in and an electron in a 5f orbital is in the 5th shell so n = 5. Therefore all answers besides [5,4,0,-1/2], [5,3,4,+1/2] and [5,3,-1,-1/2] can be eliminated. The azimuthal quantum number, l, decribes what type of subshell (s, p, d, f) an electron lives in as follows: l=0 means s l=1 means p l=2 means d l= 3 means f Since the electron is in an f orbital, l=3. Therefore all answers besides [5,3,4,+1/2] and [5,3,-1,-1/2] can be eliminated. The magnetic quantum number, ml, takes on integer values from –l to +l. Since in this case l=3, ml could either be -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, or +3. This eliminates [5,3,4,+1/2] as 4 is not a possible value for ml in this case leaving [5,3,-1,-1/2] as the correct answer. But we can verify that ms is correct as well. The spin quantum number, ms, will always be either +1/2 or -1/2 for an electron and is -1/2 in the correct answer [4,1,-1,+1/2].
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an absorption a photon of the longest wavelength? n=1 to n=4 n=1 to n=3 n=4 to n=1 n=2 to n=3
n=2 to n=3 Correct! he key to choosing the correct answer from here is knowing that the energy and wavelength of a photon are indirectly proportional, so the lowest energy photon will have the longest wavelength. For the remaining three choices the smallest jump in energy (and longest wavelength photon) would be the transition from n=2 to n=3
Which of the following is diamagnetic? Mn2+ Cr3+ Cu2+ Sc3+
Sc3+ Correct! The quick route here is to first see how many electrons each species has; if it has an odd number of electrons, then it must have unpaired electrons and can be eliminated. Cr3+ has 21 electrons Cu2+ has 27 electrons Sc3+ has 18 electrons Mn2+ has 23 electrons
Which of the following is paramagnetic? O2- Cl- Li+ None of these
None of these Correct! An atom is paramagnetic if it has unpaired electrons. Each of these ions is isoelectronic with a noble gas and therefore has a filled valence shell in which every electron will be be paired, therefore, none of these is paramagnetic.
Which of the following electronic transitions in the hydrogen atom would involve an emission a photon of the highest frequency? n=1 to n=3 n=4 to n=3 n=2 to n=3 n=5 to n=2
n=5 to n=2 Correct! The key to choosing the correct answer from here is knowing that the energy and frequency of a photon are directly proportional, so the highest energy photon will have the highest frequency.
Which of the following is most likely to be radioactive? carbon-12 oxygen-16 magnesium-24 gold-196
1st look for odd numbers of protons and neutrons. If we can’t come to a likely answer based upon this, then 2nd we could examine the N/Z ratios for elements with Z < 20. A significant deviation from a 1:1 ratio for an element with Z <20 would likely be radioactive. Oxygen-16: 8 protons, 8 neutrons Carbon-12: 6 protons, 6 neutrons Gold-196: 79 protons, 117 neutrons Magnesium-24: 12 protons, 12 neutrons Gold-196 has an odd number of both protons and neutrons and will in all likelihood be radioactive. No comparison of N/Z ratios is needed here.




What is the product of gamma emission of 60Co?
- nickel-60
- iron-60
- manganese-56
- cobalt-60
cobalt-60


Which of the following is most likely to decay by beta emission?
- calcium-40
- oxygen-16
- carbon-14
- nitrogen-14
carbon-14 because the N/Z is equal to 8/6 which is too high
Which of the following result in the conversion of a proton into a neutron?
- Positron emission
- Beta decay
- Electron capture
- Both positron emission and electron capture
Both positron emission and electron capture
Which of the following is most likely to decay by alpha emission?
- uranium-235
- sodium -23
- carbon-14
- helium-4
uranium-235















































































































