Orbitals

Question 1

How do electrons behave?

Answer 1

-waves and particles
-behave as standing (stationary) waves in an atom. These are waves that vibrate in time but do not move in space.

Question 2

What are orbitals? + how many electrons can they hold?

Answer 2

Different sizes and shapes of standing wave possible around the nucleus.

They can hold a maximum of 2 electrons

Question 3

What are quanta?

Answer 3

fixed amounts of energy that electrons within atoms have

Question 4

s type orbital

Answer 4

-holds up to 2 electrons
-spherical

Question 5

p type orbital

Answer 5

-holds up to 6 electrons
-3 suborbital in the 3 axises
-each can hold 2 electrons
-peanut shape

Question 6

d type orbital

Answer 6

-holds up to 10 electrons
-5 suborbital
-each can hold 2 electrons
different shapes

Question 7

n quantum number

Answer 7

-the principle quantum number
-indicates the main energy level for an electron and is related to the size of the orbital

Question 8

l quantum number

Answer 8

-the angular momentum quantum number
-determines the shape of the sun shell and can have values from 0 to n-1

s=0
p=1
d=2

Question 9

m quantum number

Answer 9

-the magnetic quantum number
-determines the orientation of the orbital and can have values between -l and +l

Question 10

s quantum number

Answer 10

-the spin magnetic quantum number
-determines the direction of spin and can have values of +1/2 or -1/2

Question 11

The aufbau principle

Answer 11

electrons fill orbitals in order of increasing energy

1s
2s 2p
3s 3p 3d
4s 4p 4d 4f
5s 5p 5d
6s 6p
7s

Question 12

Hund’s rule

Answer 12

when degenerate orbitals are available, electrons fill each singly, keeping their spins parallel before spin pairing starts

Question 13

The Pauli exclusion principle

Answer 13

no two electrons in one atom can have the same set of 4 quantum numbers, therefore, no orbital can hold more than two electrons and these two electrons must have opposite spins

Question 14

what does degenerate mean?

Answer 14

equal energy

Question 15

Other rules for the way that electrons are arranged in atoms

Answer 15

1-half full and full orbitals provide more stability (except chromium and copper)

(2nd ionisation energy of Cr is slightly higher as 2nd e- comes from a stable half shell)
(2nd ionisation energy of Cu is slightly higher as 2nd e- comes from a stable full shell

2-When transition metals form an ion, they always lose their 4s electrons first
-Always write the electronic configuration of the atom first and then remove the electrons

Question 16

In an isolated atom, what word can be used to describe each subshell in the orbitals

Answer 16

degenerate

Question 17

Elements of what atomic numbers can use electronic configuration using spectroscopic notation and box notation?

Answer 17

1-36

Question 18

How is the periodic table split?

Answer 18

subdivided into 4 blocks (s, p, d and f) corresponding to the outer electronic configurations of the elements within these blocks

Question 19

(higher) factors affecting ionisation energy

Answer 19

atomic size
nuclear charge
screening effect

full and half shells provide stability for atoms