Orbitals, Electron Configuration & The Periodic Table Flashcards
What is the maximum number of electrons an orbital can hold?
2 electrons
each box in orbital box notation represents a subshell
How do you calculate the difference between energy levels?
Higher energy level - lower energy level
Even though hydrogen only has one electron, why does it have many lines on the emission spectrum?
There are multiple combinations of electron transitions between the energy levels in the atom
How would you explain discrete lines?
Electrons, like photons, also display the properties of both particles and waves. Electrons behave as standing (stationary) waves in an atom. These are waves that vibrate in time but do not move in space
What is the principle quantum number and what is its symbol?
The principal quantum number indicates the main energy level for an electron and is related to the size of the orbital
Symbol: n
What is the angular momentum quantum and what is its symbol?
The angular momentum quantum number determines the shape of the subshell and can have values from zero to n-1
Symbol: L - (its supposed to be lowercase but its easy to confuse it with a 1)
What the magnetic quantum number and what is its symbol?
The magnetic quantum number determines the orientation of the orbital (for non-spherical orbitals) and can have values between -L and +L
Symbol: mL
What the spin magnetic quantum number and what is its symbol?
The spin magnetic quantum number ms determines the direction of spin and can have values of +½ or -½
Symbol: ms
What is the aufbau principle?
Electrons fill orbitals in order of increasing energy
What is the Pauli exclusion principle?
No two electrons in one atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers, therefore, no orbital can hold more than two electrons and these two electrons must have opposite spins
What is Hund’s rule?
When degenerate orbitals are available, electrons fill each singly, keeping their spins parallel before spin pairing starts
What does degenerate mean?
Orbitals that have the same energy
e.g. the p orbitals: px, py and pz are three different orbitals, but because they have the same energy, they are degenerate.
What type of subshells have special stability?
Half filled subshells and full subshells
Non-bonding pairs of electrons are also known as…?
Lone pairs
What can the valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory be used to predict?
The shapes of molecules and polyatomic ions by using the total number of bonding and non-bonding pairs of electrons
