1. Electron Configuration and Periodicity
Chapter 8
Electron Configuration and Periodicity
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

2. Overview Electron Structure of Atoms Periodicity of the Elements
Electron spin and the Pauli Exclusion Principle.
Aufbau Principle and the Periodic Table
Electron Configuration
Orbital Diagram of atoms; Hund’s Rule
Periodicity of the Elements
Mendelev’s periodic table predicted undiscovered elements.
Periodic Properties
Periodicity and the main group elements.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

3. Orbitals in Multielectron Atoms
Electrons are attracted to the nucleus but also repelled by each other.
Repulsion from other electrons reduces the attraction to the nucleus by a small amount giving rise to an “effective nuclear charge”
Effective nuclear charge: the net nuclear charge felt by an electron after shielding from other electrons in the atom is taken into account. Zeff = Zact  Zshield.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

4. Diagonal Rule for Build-up Rule1s
2s 2p
3s 3p 3d
4s 4p 4d 4f
5s 5p 5d 5f
6s 6p 6d 6f
The periodic table can also be used to determine the electron configuration of an element.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

5. Electron configurations of multielectron atoms (Aufbau principle)
Electron configuration determined since electrons tend to be in lowest energy orbitals.
The Aufbau principle guides us in the filling of orbitals:
Fill lowest energies first.
Maximum of two electrons with opposite spins in each orbital.
Degenerate orbitals (orbitals with same energy) follow Hund’s rule
Hund’s rule: If two or more orbitals have the same energy, fill each orbital with one electron before pairing electrons.
E.g. Determine the electron configurations of H and He
H  1s1; 
He  1s2; 
E.g. 2 Determine the electron configuration of the second row elements.
E.g.3 Determine the electron configuration of the 4th row elements.
Shorthand: electron configuration of arsenic is [Ar]4s23d104p3.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

6. Magnetic Properties
Although an electron behaves like a tiny magnet, two electrons that are opposite in spin cancel each other. Only atoms with unpaired electrons exhibit magnetic susceptibility (see Fig. 8.2).
A paramagnetic substance is one that is weakly attracted by a magnetic field, usually the result of unpaired electrons.
A diamagnetic substance is not attracted by a magnetic field generally because it has only paired electrons.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

7. Periodic Table and Electron Configurations
Build-up order given by position on periodic table; row by row.
Elements in same column will have the same outer shell electron configuration.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

8. Anomalous Electron Configurations
A few exceptions to the Aufbau principles exist. Stable configuration:
half-filled d shell:
Cr has [Ar]4s13d5;
Mo has [Kr] 5s14d5
filled d subshell:
Cu has [Ar]4s13d10
Ag has [Kr]5s14d10.
Au has [Xe]6s14f145d10
Exceptions occur with larger elements where orbital energies are similar.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

9. Electron Configuration of Excited States & Ions
Metals form cations by losing e; nonmetals become anions by gaining e.
Both adopt inert gas electron configuration.
E.g. The alkali metals will lose a single electron to become M+. The electron configuration is [He], [Ne], [Ar], [Kr], and [Xe] for Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+ respectively.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

10. ISOELECTRONIC SUBSTANCES and EXCITED STATES
Substances with the same number of electrons are isoelectronic ions.
Isoelectronic ions (or molecules) ions (or molecules) with the same number of valence electrons.
Isoelectronic substances: P3, S2, Cl, Ar, K+, Ca2+.
The electron configation of an element in an excited state will have an electron in a high-energy state
E.g. [Ar]4s13d94p1 is an excited-state electron configuration for Cu.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

11. Development of the Periodic Table
Mendeleev developed periodic table to group elements in terms of chemical properties.
Alkali metals develop +1 charge, alkaline earth metals + 2
Nonmetals usually develop negative charge (1 for halides, 2 for group 6A, etc.)
Blank spots where elements should be were observed.
Discovery of elements with correct properties.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

12. Periodic Properties
Periodic law = elements arranged by atomic number gives physical and chemical properties varying periodically.
We will study the following periodic trends:
Atomic radii
Ionization energy
Electron affinity
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

13. Atomic Radius Fig. 8.17 Atomic Radii for Main Group Elements
Atomic radii actually decrease across a row in the periodic table. Due to an increase in the effective nuclear charge.
Within each group (vertical column), the atomic radius tends to increase with the period number.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

14. Atomic Radius 2
If positively charged the radius decreases while if the charge is negatively the radius increases (relative to the atom).
When substances have the same number of electrons (isoelectronic), the radius will depend upon which has the largest number of protons.
E.g. Predict which of the following substances has the largest radius: P3, S2, Cl, Ar, K+, Ca2+.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

15. IONIZATION ENERGY
Ionization energy, Ei: minimum energy required to remove an electron from the ground state of atom (molecule) in the gas phase. M(g) + h  M+ + e.
Ei related to electron configuration. Higher energies = stable ground states.
Sign of the ionization energy is always positive, i.e. it requires energy for ionization to occur.
The ionization energy is inversely proportional to the radius and directly related to Zeff.
Exceptions to trend:
B, Al, Ga, etc.: their ionization energies are slightly less than the ionization energy of the element preceding them in their period.
Before ionization ns2np1.
After ionization is ns2. Higher energy  smaller radius.
Group 6A elements.
Before ionization ns2np4.
After ionization ns2np3 where each p electron in different orbital (Hund’s rule).
Electron-electron repulsion by two electrons in same orbital increases the energy (lowers EI).
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

16. Ionization Energy: Periodic table
Fig Ionization Energy vs atomic #
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

17. HIGHER IONIZATION ENERGIES
The energies for the subsequent loss of more electrons are increasingly higher. For the second ionization reaction written as
M+(g) + h  M2+ + e Ei2.
Large increases in the ionization energies vary in a zig-zag way across the periodic table.
States with higher ionization energies have: 1s22s22p6 (stable).
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

18. ELECTRON AFFINITY
Electron Affinity, Eea, is the energy change that occurs when an isolated atom in the gas phase gains an electron.
E.g. Cl + e  Cl Eea = 348.6 kJ/mol
Energy is often released during the process.
Magnitude of released energy indicates the tendency of the atom to gain an electron.
From the data in the table the halogens clearly have a strong tendency to become negatively charged
Inert gases and group I & II elements have a very small Eea.
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211

19. Fig. 8.2 Stern-Gerlach Experiment
Hydrogen atoms split into two beams when passed through magnetic field. Beams correspond to spin on atom.
Return to slide 6
John A. Schreifels
Chemistry 211