1. Shell Game and Go Figure Activities

2. Opening Questions

3. 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

4. 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. 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

6. 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

7. 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?

8. 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

9. Aluminum’s shorthand: [Ne]3s23p1

10. 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,
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.