Copy of Copy of orbitals and…

Figuring out the amount of orbitals & electrons.

To determine the amount of orbitals in an element you can
take n (what period the element is in) and square it (n^2)
and to determine the total amount of electrons you can
take n (what period the elements in) and apply it to 2n^2 (2
x n^2) for example: element Ge is period 4 so it has 16
orbitals and 32 electrons.

Electron configuration.
Electron configuration displays the orbitals and the
electrons they contain. This is written with orbital names
(written with a number (the energy level) then a letter
(either s,p,d or f)) followed by the number of electrons
within the orbital. For example Ge is written as 1s2 2s2
2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2 this can be simplified by using
an element with a smaller electron configuration infront to
represent some of the start of the electron configuration.
For example Ge can be written as [Ar] 3d10 4s2
4p2 where Ar is [Ne] 3s2 3p6.

The initial number in a section of the electron configuration

(1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2) represent what i
know as a ‘shell of electrons’ where the first shell can hold
2, the second can hold 8, the third can hold 8 and so on,
whereas, in this the first (or ‘s’) can hold 2, followed by ‘p’
which can hold 6 then ‘d’ which can hold 10 and finally ‘f’
being able to hold 14 electrons this means that the ‘s’
subshell has only one orbital, ‘p’ subshell has three
orbitals, ‘d’ subshell has five orbitals and ‘f’ subshell has
seven orbitals.

The letter (1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2) signifies
the type of orbital (sharp, principle, diffuse and
fundamental (in the order s,p,d,f)) and each type of orbital
can hold a different amount of electrons. s-orbitals can
hold 2 electrons, p-orbitals can hold 6, d-orbitals can hold
10 and f-orbitals can hold 14. Each orbital also differs in
shape (looking into this it gets too confusing after the p-
orbital but the s-orbital is spherical and the p-orbital is
dumbbell shaped)

Sub-note:
If an orbital is not complete (for example 4p2) where p
would normally be 3 orbitals (or 6 electrons as
each orbital contains 2 electrons) it is incomplete, so it
only has/is worth 1 orbital. Which is why 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2
3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2 may seem like it is not 16 orbitals at
first glance, but in fact, is.

Electrons are evenly spread between orbitals so orbital

2p4 looks like this when ‘split up’: (up arrows
meaning up spin and down arrows meaning down
spin) This is known as Hund’s law*)

*The last of the three rules for constructing electron

arrangements requires electrons to be placed one
at a time in a set of orbitals within the same
sublevel. This minimizes the natural repulsive
forces that one electron has for another. Hund’s
rule states that orbitals of equal energy are each
occupied by one electron before any orbital is
occupied by a second electron and that each of the
single electrons must have the same spin.

The ground state of an atom: the energy level it

normally occupies, is the lowest possible energy an
atom can have.

The Aufbau principle:

in the ground state of an atom or ion, electrons fill
subshells of the lowest available energy, then they fill
subshells of higher energy. For example, the 1s
subshell is filled before the 2s subshell is occupied. In
this way, the electrons of an atom or ion form the most
stable electron configuration possible. An example is
the configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p3 for the
phosphorus atom, meaning that the 1s subshell has 2
electrons, and so on.

The pauli exclusion principle:

Electrons have certain characteristics such as
configuration, spin and position in an atom. These
characteristics are defined by quantum numbers. To
completely describe an electron in an atom, four
quantum numbers are needed: energy (n), angular
momentum (ℓ), magnetic moment (mℓ), and spin (ms).

The four quantum numbers:

Principle Quantum Number (Denoted by ‘n’):

● It also denotes size of the orbital and energy
level of the electron. So larger ‘n’ means larger
size of the orbital and hence indicates larger
atomic radius.
● If the atomic radius is large, the force of
attraction between an electron and a nucleus is
not so strong. Hence ionisation energy, the
energy needed to remove electrons, is smaller
as compared to atoms with small radii.
● The value of ‘n’ is any positive integer. It
cannot be zero and cannot be a negative
integer because an atom cannot have zero
energy or negative energy. When n = 1, it
designates the innermost shell or first principal
shell which is the ground state or the lowest
energy shell. It can have values such as n=1, 2,
3, 4…
● An electron can jump up to higher energy
levels by absorbing photons or energy which
increases the value of ‘n’
● An electron can also fall down to lower energy
levels, lowering the value of ‘n’ and causing a
photon to be lost.

Azimuthal Quantum Number (denoted by ‘ℓ’):

● Also known as orbital/angular momentum

quantum number, it refers to the subshell to
which an electron belongs. The value of ‘ℓ’ tells
the specific subshell; s, p, d and f each having a
unique shape.
● It also designates the shape of the given
orbital. The value of ‘ℓ’ tells the total number of
angular nodes in an orbital.
● Value of ‘ℓ’ can be greater than or equal to
zero and less than or equal to n-1.
● Value of ‘ℓ’ is dependent on the value of ‘n’. If
n= 3, ‘ℓ’ can have values 0, 1 and 2. When ℓ = 0,
it means the subshell is ‘s’. When ℓ= 1 it means
‘p’ subshell and when ℓ= 2 it means ‘d’ subshell.
For n= 3, the possible subshells are 3s, 3p and
3d.
Magnetic Quantum Number (Denoted by ‘ ’):

Before I continue with the Magnetic Quantum

Number I need to clarify that each electron occurs
in a shell. Each shell is divided into subshells and
each subshell is further divided into orbitals which
hold different amounts of electrons.

● This determines the number of orbitals in a

subshell and the orientation of these orbitals.
● It gives the projection of angular momentum
corresponding to the orbital along a given axis.
● It provides the projection of angular momentum
according to the orbital along a given axis.
● The value of ‘m’ is dependent on the value of ‘ℓ’.
Magnetic quantum numbers can have a total of (2 ℓ
+ 1) values. For a given value of ‘ℓ’ magnetic
quantum number can have values ranging from –x
to +x. so it can be a positive integer, zero and a
negative integer. Therefore, the value of ‘mℓ’
indirectly depends on the value of ‘n’.
● Example: The possible total number of orbitals in
a given subshell for n= 4 and ℓ = 3 is (2*3+ 1) 7.
The values of magnetic quantum numbers will be
-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, and +3. Each orbital can
accommodate 2 electrons so there will be a total of
14 or (7 *2) electrons in 3f subshell.

Electron Spin Quantum Number (denoted by ‘ ’)

● It is not dependent on other quantum numbers
such as on the values of n, ℓ and m.
● It gives information about the direction in
which the electron spins in a given orbital. An
electron spins like a spinning top in an orbital. It
can spin in clockwise or in an anti- clockwise
direction.
● It can only have values of +1/2 and -1/2.
●  A positive value of ms (+1/2) indicates an
upward spin of the electron and is called ‘spin
up’. It is represented by ↑.
● A negative value of ms (-1/2) indicates a
downward spin of the electron and is called
‘spin down’. It is represented by ↓.
● Electrons first occupy the orbitals singly and
then they pair up. In each orbital a maximum of
two electrons can fit and their orientation will be
opposite to each other. If one electron is in a
spin up position, the other will be spin down.
● It also suggests whether the atom has the
ability to produce magnetic fields or not. Due to
spin an electron behaves like a small magnet.
● If in an atom all the electrons are paired in the
orbitals, their spins with opposite values cancel
each other and the atom is said to be
diamagnetic*. If we add up their spins the total
is zero and they repel magnetic fields.
● If an atom contains unpaired electrons in the
orbitals, the electron in the orbital has a net spin
and the spins do not cancel each other out. As
a result the atom has a net spin and is attracted
to a magnetic field. Such atoms are called

paramagnetic. Electronic configuration of O- It

has 1 unpaired electron, so it's paramagnetic .

*(of a substance or body) tending to become magnetized in a

direction at 180° to the applied magnetic field.
*(of a substance or body) very weakly attracted by the poles of a
magnet, but not retaining any permanent magnetism.
(Will touch more on these later)

Quantum number summary image:

The first electron in an orbital will have always

have a spin of +½.
Diamagnetism:
● Any time two electrons share the same orbital,
their spin quantum numbers have to be
different. In other words, one of the electrons

has to be “spin-up,” with , while the

other electron is “spin-down,” with

● In order to decide whether electron spins
cancel, add their spin quantum numbers
together. Whenever two electrons are paired
together in an orbital, or their total spin is 0, they
are called diamagnetic electrons.
● Since electrons in the same orbital always
have opposite values for their spin quantum
numbers ( ), they will always end up
canceling each other out. In other words, there
is no leftover spin in an orbital that contains two
electrons.
● Diamagnetic atoms are not attracted to a
magnetic field, but rather are slightly repelled.

Paramagnetism:
● Electrons that are alone in an orbital are
called paramagnetic electrons.
● If an electron is alone in an orbital, the orbital
has a net spin, because the spin of the lone
electron does not get canceled out.
● An atom could have 10 paired (diamagnetic)
electrons, but as long as it also has one
unpaired (paramagnetic) electron, it is still
considered a paramagnetic atom.
● Just as diamagnetic atoms are slightly
repelled from a magnetic field, paramagnetic
atoms are slightly attracted to a magnetic field.
● Paramagnetic properties are due to the
realignment of the electron paths caused by the
external magnetic field.
● Paramagnets do not retain any magnetization
in the absence of an externally applied
magnetic field, because thermal motion
(random movements of subatomic particles
which will rise with the temperature of those
subatomic atoms) randomises the spin
orientations (i presume because in the presence
of an external magnetic field the paramagnetic
atom will align itself with said external magnetic
field but when there is no external magnetic
field it will move randomly due to thermal
motion, randomising the spin of the electrons).
Stronger magnetic effects are typically only
observed when d- or f-electrons are involved.

The size of the magnetic moment* on a lanthanide

atom can be quite large, as it can carry up to
seven unpaired electrons, in the case of
gadolinium(III) (hence its use in MRI).

*Magnetic moment, also known as magnetic dipole moment, is the

measure of the object's tendency to align with a magnetic field.
“Magnetic Moment is defined as magnetic strength and orientation
of a magnet or other object that produces a magnetic field.” The
magnetic moment is a vector quantity.

lanthanide, any of the series of 15 consecutive chemical

elements in the periodic table from lanthanum to lutetium (atomic
numbers 57–71). With scandium and yttrium, they make up the
rare-earth metals.

Cation: a positively charged ion, i.e. one that

would be attracted to the cathode in electrolysis.
Anion: a negatively charged ion, i.e. one that
would be attracted to the anode in electrolysis.

Ionic radii:
● The ionic radius is the distance between the
nucleus and the electron in the outermost shell
of an ion.
● When an atom loses an electron to form a
cation, the lost electron no longer contributes to
shielding the other electrons from the charge of
the nucleus; consequently, the other electrons
are more strongly attracted to the nucleus, and
the radius of the atom gets smaller.
● When an electron is added to an atom,
forming an anion, the added electron repels
other electrons, resulting in an increase in the
size of the atom.
● The trend observed in the size of ionic radii is
due to shielding of the outermost electrons by
the inner-shell electrons so that the outer shell
electrons do not “feel” the entire positive charge
of the nucleus.
● Ions may be larger or smaller than the neutral
atom, depending on the ion’s charge.
● If an atom loses an electron it becomes a
cation the lost electron no longer contributes to
shielding the other electrons from the charge of
the nucleus.
● If an atom gains an electron it becomes an
anion the added electron repels other electrons,
resulting in an increase in the size of the atom.

ionisation energy:
● The ionisation energy is the energy required
to remove an electron from its orbital around an
atom to a point where it is no longer associated
with that atom.
● The ionisation energy of an element increases
as one moves across a period(horizontal rows)
in the periodic table because the electrons are
held tighter by the higher effective nuclear
charge(The effective nuclear charge is the
actual amount of positive charge experienced
by an electron in a polyelectronic atom( An
atom containing more than one electron)).
● The ionisation energy of the elements
increases as one moves up a given
group(vertical columns) because the electrons
are held in lower-energy orbitals, closer to the
nucleus (this is because there are more protons
creating a stronger positive charge, pulling the
negative electrons closer to the nucleus) and
therefore are more tightly bound (harder to
remove).
● In order to remove an electron from an atom,
enough energy must be supplied to break the
bond between the negatively charged electron
and the positively charged nucleus; this is the
ionisation energy.
● remove an electron from an atom or molecule
to infinity(The infinity level represents the
highest possible energy an electron can have
as a part of an atom. If the electron exceeds
that energy, it is no longer a part of the atom.
The infinity level represents the point at which
ionisation of the atom occurs to form a positively
charged ion.)
● Large atoms or molecules have low ionisation
energy, while small molecules tend to have
higher ionisation energies.
● Based on these two principles, the easiest
element to ionise is francium and the hardest to
ionise is helium. Although, in actuality Caesium
has the lowest ionisation energy as the amount
of protons in francium increases the ionisation
energy.
The first ionisation energy is the energy it takes to
remove an electron from a neutral atom.
The second ionisation energy is the energy it takes to
remove an electron from a 1+ ion. (That means that
the atom has already lost one electron, you are now
removing the second.)
The third ionisation energy is the energy it takes to
remove an electron from a 2+ ion. (That means that
the atom has already lost two electrons, you are now
removing the third.)
And 2nd ionisation energy is higher than 1st ionisation
energy, 3rd is higher than 2nd, and so forth.
2nd i.e. is not the energy it takes to remove 2 electrons
together; it's the energy it takes to remove 1 electron
from an atom that has already lost 1 electron before.