HOLY CHILDHOOD HIGH SCHOOL

CHEMISTRY 601

TOPIC: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE

NAME: Briana Barton DATE: November 25,2020.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer ALL questions in the spaces provided.

1. (a) Briefly describe how the emission spectrum of hydrogen is obtained

experimentally.
[4 marks]
Get a hydrogen discharge tube that contains hydrogen gas at low pressure with an electrode at
each end. If a high voltage is put across this, the tube will light up with a bright pink glow. If the
light is passed through a prism or diffraction grating, it will split into its various colors.

(b) Why are no two emission spectra for different elements the same? [2 marks]

Every atom gives discontinuous line spectra. Each line in the spectra corresponds to a specific
wavelength and it is unique to a given element so no two elements give same pattern of lines in
their spectra.

(c) The hydrogen emission spectrum includes a line at a wavelength of 434 nm.
What is the energy of this radiation? (h= 6.626 x 10-34Js; c = 2.998 x 108 ms-1 ).
[3 marks]
2.998 × 108 ms-1
E=h× c E= 6.626 × 10-34Js ×
 λ 434 × 10-9 m
= 4.577 × 10-21 J

2. The diagram below shows the pattern of lines in the Lyman series of the atomic emission
spectrum of hydrogen.
 a) Which part of the electromagnetic spectrum (UV, visible or IR) is the Lyman
series found in? [1
mark]
UV
b) Why does the series consist of a number of individual lines rather than a
continuous spectrum? [2 marks]
When a hydrogen atom gets excited, its electron will jump into a higher energy level. The
electron will then fall back to a lower energy level, losing energy. The energy that is lost is
released as light. The energy levels are fixed, and an electron can only have the particular energy
of whatever level it happens to be on. As the electron falls from one fixed level to another fixed
level, it gives out light of a fixed energy. That means that only certain energies can be produced
– which means that only certain frequencies can be produced.

c) Which of the lines in the Lyman series has the lowest energy of light? Explain
your answer. [2 marks]
The furthest one to the left on the diagram has the lowest energy because it has the lowest
frequency. The energy of a particular frequency which is ‘ν’, is given by E = hν, where h is a
constant. Hence, the lower the frequency, the lower the energy.
d) The diagram below shows the arrangement of the various electron energy levels
in a hydrogen atom (not to scale).
 (i) Illustrate on the diagram at least three transitions that would give rise to
the Balmer series in the hydrogen atomic emission spectrum. [3
marks]
(ii) Which of these transitions would correspond to the lowest frequency line
in the atomic emission spectrum of hydrogen?
[1 mark]
____________________________________________________________
_____
(iii) How would the transitions differ in the Lyman series for the atomic
emission spectrum of hydrogen?
[1 mark]
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________
3. (a). Using an example define the First Ionization Energy of an element. [2 marks]
Na(g) → Na+ (g) + e
First ionization energy is the energy required to convert one mole of gaseous atoms into
gaseous ions with a single positive charge.

(b). List THREE factors which influence the value of the First Ionization Energy of an
element.
 [3 marks]
 Atomic radii (The bigger the atom the further the outer electrons are from the
nucleus and the weaker the attraction to the nucleus)
 Nuclear charge (The more protons in the nucleus the greater the attraction)
 Electron shielding (An electron in an outer shell is repelled by electrons in
complete inner shells, weakening the attraction of the nucleus)

The first eight ionization energies, IE, of an element, A, are shown in the table
below.

TABLE1: IONIZATION ENERGIES OF ELEMENT A

I.E. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th

Value/ 1000 2300 3400 4600 7000 8500 27,100 31,700
kJmol-1
(c) Suggest the group in the Periodic Table to which A belongs. Explain your
answer.

[1 mark]

Element A has a big jump between the 6th and 7th ionizations energies which means that this
element must be in group 6 of the periodic table as the 7th electron is removed from an electron
shell closer to the nucleus with less shielding and so has a larger ionization energy.

(d) Explain how the data, in Table 1 above, provides evidence for the existence of
subshells within the atom. [2
marks]
I.E
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th

1300 1100 2400 1500 18600 4600 Value of the Jump between each
1200
I.E
0
More energy should be needed for the jump between the 2nd and 3rd I.E than the 1st and 2nd I.E but
there is a decrease in the jump between the 2nd and 3rd ionization energy. The same can be seen
between the 4th and 5th I.E. This can only be explained by the existence of a sub-shells that is
slightly further from the nucleus because of shielding.

(e) Suggest the formula of the ion that element A would produce on bonding.

A+6 [1 mark]

(f) Two elements, X and Z, both with two outer electrons, have values (in kJmol-1)
for their

first three ionization energies as shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2: IONIZATION ENERGIES OF X AND Z

Element 1st I.E. 2nd I.E. 3rd I.E.

X 900 1800 14800
Y 910 1700 3800
What may be deduced from

(i) The similarity between the values of their 1st I.E. and 2nd I.E.?
[1 mark]
Both X and Y started at around the same value, the first I.E for X being 900 and the first
I.E for Y being 910.
(ii) The difference in the values of their 3rd I.E.? [1 mark]
The third I.E for X and Y are different, where element X has a larger value and element
Y has a smaller value. For element X, the 3rd I.E was very high meaning there was a jump
in the value which indicates that X is more likely to be in a different period than Y.

(g) Describe the electronic configuration of an atom of Vanadium, V, proton number

23, in terms of s, p and d orbitals. [1
mark]
 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d3

(h) Draw the shapes and spatial arrangement of all the orbitals in energy level n=2 of
an atom. [4
marks]