Chemistry Practice Problems

Periodic Trend: Effective Nuclear Charge and Atomic Ionic Radii

Questions:

1. For each of the following pairs, select the one with the larger radius.
a. K or Cs
b. P or Cl
c. C or Br
d. Cl– or Cl
e. Ni+ or Ni2+
f. Br– or Rb+
2. Using shielding and effective nuclear charge, explain the following.
a. The atomic radius of Cl is smaller than that of P.
b. Fe and Ni have similar atomic radii?

Answers:
1.
a. Cs: For comparison of atoms, the trend in atomic radius is increasing radii
from top to bottom and right to left on the periodic table. ↓←
b. P: See explanation in part a.
c. Br: See explanation in part a.
d. Cl has 17 protons and 17 electrons. Cl– has 17 protons and 18 electrons.
Anions are larger than their parent atom. The anion has more electrons
with the same number of protons in the nucleus than the atom. Therefore,
Cl–- is larger.
e. Ni+ has 28 protons and 27 electrons. Ni2+ has 28 protons and only 26
electrons. Cations are smaller than their parent atom. The greater the
positive charge, the smaller the ion is. Therefore, Ni+ is the larger ion.
f. Br– has 35 protons and 36 electrons. Rb+ has has 37 protons and 36
electrons. These are isoelectronic ions. The ion with the fewest number of
protons attracting the same number of electrons will have the largest radii.
Br– is the larger ion.
Note: a common error with the isoelectronic series is to just use the trend
in size that is used for part a, b, and c. Increasing ↓and ←. But that trend
is for atoms and cannot be use when comparing ions.
 Chemistry Practice Problems

2. For both parts, look at the electron configuration and do a rough estimate of the
effective nuclear charge: Zeff = Z – σ. Where σ is “shielding” from the inner shell
electrons.
a. Cl: [Ne]3s23p5 Zeff = 17-10=7 (There are 10 electrons in the inner,
neon, core.)
P: [Ne]3s23p3 Zeff = 15-10=5
The valence shell electrons in chlorine feel a pull of a +7 from the nucleus.
The valence shell electrons in phosphorus feel a pull of a +5 from the
nucleus. The stronger the attractive force from the larger effective nuclear
charge, the smaller the atom. Across a period (in the representative
elements), the nuclear charge increases as the shielding remains
constant. Therefore Cl is smaller than P – the trend is that the atoms will
decrease in size from left to right across the periodic table for this reason.
b. Fe: [Ar]4s23d6 The electrons in the 4s subshell are the farthest away
from the nucleus. Shielding will occur from the electrons in the Ar inner
core as well as the six electrons in the 3d subshell.
For Fe, Zeff = 26 – (18+6) = 2
Ni: [Ar]4s23d8 Zeff = 28 – (18+8) = 2
The effective nuclear charge is the roughly the same for both atoms.
Therefore the size trend flattens out across the transition metals.