Shell Game and Go Figure Activities

Opening Questions

Recall: We arranged electrons into “shells” labeled n = 1, 2, 3 to indicate the 1st shell, the 2nd shell, etc. Each “shell” has further divisions called subshells – designated s, p, d, and f. Where do subshells start? s: 1st energy level p: 2nd energy level d: 3rd energy level f: 4th energy level n = 1 n = 2 2e Carbon’s subshells

Post-Activity Questions What is the relationship between the structure of the periodic table and electron subshells? Which area of the periodic table might you label as the p-block? s-block? If you know where an element is located on the periodic table, what do you know about its electron structure?

5 electrons in 3p subshell Shell Game Summary Electron configuration: a list of all the subshells that have electrons for a given element the number of electrons in a subshell is specified as a superscripted number Example: 1s22s22p63s23p5 What element has the above electron configuration? 5 electrons in 3p subshell

Shell Game Summary How many e- in each subshell? s: 2 electrons Write the electron configuration for this element. Period 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 3d 4d 5d 6d 2p 3p 4p 5p 6p 4f 5f Periodic Table: Subshells 2 elements 10 elements 6 elements 14 elements How many e- in each subshell? s: 2 electrons p: 6 electrons d: 10 electrons f: 14 electrons

Wrap-up Identify the element with the following electron configuration. 1s22s22p63s22p64s23d104p3 What is the outermost subshell for bromine, Br? Name an element with electrons in the f-block. What is the electron configuration for the element with the atomic number 13? How many valence electrons does krypton, Kr, have? How do you know?

Shorthand Electron Configurations Instead of writing out all the filled subshells, you can use a shorthand (or noble gas) configuration. Use the last noble gas as your starting point. EXAMPLE: Bromine’s electron configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p5 Bromine’s shorthand configuration: [Ar]4s23d104p5

Aluminum’s shorthand: [Ne]3s23p1

D-block Elements Period 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 3d 4d 5d 6d 2p 3p 4p 5p 6p 4f 5f Periodic Table: Subshells 2 elements 10 elements 6 elements 14 elements The d-block elements do not follow the nice pattern seen in groups 1, 2, 13-18. D-block elements tend to have 2 valence electrons because the s-block before them is full. Those s-block electrons are the valence electrons. However, it is possible for the first 5 d-block electrons to be valence electrons.