Chapter 4

Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms

Section 1, The Development of a New Atomic Model

• The Rutherford model did not explain how the atom’s negatively charged electrons
are distributed in the space surrounding its positively charged nucleus

• It did not explain either how electrons were kept separate from the positively charges
nucleus.

Light has characteristics of both particles and waves

• Light has particle-like characteristics, but it can be describes in terms of waves

• Visible light is a kind of electromagnetic radiation

• This is a form of energy that exhibits wavelike behavior as it travels through space

• X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared light, microwaves, and radio waves are all examples
of electromagnetic radiation

• These all form part of the electromagnetic spectrum (all of the frequencies or
wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation)

• Electromagnetic radiation moves at 3.00 x 108 m/s

• It moves faster through a vacuum than matter

• 3.00 x 108 m/s is also light’s speed through air

• It can be expressed in meters, centimeters, or nanometers

• The significant feature of a wave motion is its repetitive nature, characterized by the
measurable properties of wavelength and frequency

• Wavelength is the distance between corresponding points on adjacent waves

• The unit for wavelength is λ

• Frequency (ν) is defined as the number of waves that pass a given point in a specific
time, usually one second

• Frequency is expressed in waves per second, or hertz (Hz)

• Hz = s-1

• Heinrich Hertz was a pioneer in the study of electromagnetic radiation. The hertz is
named after him

• The mathematical relationship between frequency and wavelength is c = λν

 • C is the speed of light (m/s)

• λ is the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave (m)

• ν is the frequency of the electromagnetic wave (s-1)

When certain frequencies of light strikes a metal, electrons are emitted

• Scientists conducted two important experiments involving interactions of light

and matter:

• The first involved a phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect

• The photoelectric effect refers to the emission of electrons from a metal

when light shines on the metal

• Scientists could not understand how no electrons were emitted when the
light’s frequency was below a certain minimum. They could not explain
either why light had to be of a minimum frequency in order for the
photoelectric effect to occur

• The wave theory of light predicted that light of any frequency could supply
enough energy to eject an electron

The Particle Description of Light

• Max Planck, german physicist, proposed that a hot object does not emit
electromagnetic energy continuously

• He suggested that the object emits energy in small, specific packets called
quanta

• A quantum of energy is the minimum quantity of energy that can be lost or

gained by an atom

• Planck proposed the relationship of Quantum of Energy, E = hν

• E is energy (Joules)

• ν is the frequency (s-1)

• H is Planck’s constant (h = 6.626 x 10-34 J • s)

• Albert Einstein suggested that electromagnetic radiation has a dual wave-

particle nature

• Light can be thought as a stream of particles

• Each particle carries a quantum of energy

• Einstein called these particles photons

• A photon is a particle of electromagnetic radiation having zero mass and

carrying a quantum of energy

• Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by proposing that electromagnetic

radiation is absorbed by matter only in whole numbers of photons

• Electrons in different metals are bound more or less tightly, so different metals
require different minimum frequencies to exhibit the photoelectric effect

Electrons exist only in a very specific energy states for atoms of each element

• The potential energy of gas atoms increase when current is passed through a
gas at low pressure

• The lowest energy state of an atom is its ground state

• A state in which an atom has a higher potential energy than it has in its ground
state is an excited state

• Only one ground-state energy for atoms is possible for a given element

• When an exited atom returns to its ground state or a lower-energy excited

state, it gives off the energy it gained in the form of electromagnetic radiation

• Scientists passed electric current through a vacuum containing hydrogen. It

gave off a pinkish glow.

• When a narrow beam of the emitted light was passed through a prism, it was
separated into four specific colors of the visible spectrum. The four bands of
light were part of what is known as hydrogen’s emission-line spectrum

 • The wavelengths of some of the spectral series are known as the Lyman,
Balmer, and Paschen series, after their discoveries

• It was predicted that hydrogen atoms would be excited by whatever amount of

energy was added to them

• Scientists had expected to observe the emission of a continuous range of

frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, a continuous spectrum

• The quantum theory tried to explain why hydrogen atoms gave off only
specific frequencies of light

• When an excited hydrogen atom falls to its ground state, it emits a photon of
radiation

• The energy of the photon is equal to the difference in energy between the
atom’s initial state and its final state

• The fact that hydrogen atoms emit only specific frequencies of light indicated
that the energy differences between the atom’s energy was fixed. This
suggested that the electron of a hydrogen atom exists only in very specific
energy states

Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom explained electron transition states

• Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, proposed a hydrogen-atom model that showed

that the electron can circle the nucleus only in allowed parts, or orbits

• When the electron is in its orbit, the atom has a definite, fixed energy

• The electron is in its lowest energy state when it is in the orbit closest to the
nucleus

• The energy of the electron is higher when the electron is in orbits that are
successively farther from the nucleus

• How does Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom explain the observed spectral
lines?

• The electron is neither gaining nor losing energy while in an orbit

 • It can move to a higher-energy orbit by gaining an amount of energy equal to

the difference in energy between the higher-energy orbit and the initial lower-
energy orbit

• When an atomic in the excited state, it is in one of the higher-energy orbits

• When the electron falls to a lower energy level, a photon is emitted, and the
process is called emission

• The photon’s energy is equal to the energy difference between the initial
higher level and the final lower energy level

• Absorption is the process in which energy is added to an atom to move the

electron from a lower energy level to a higher energy level

• The energy of each absorbed or emitted photon corresponds to a particular

frequency of emitted radiation, Ephoton = hν

• Bohr calculated the allowed energy levels for the hydrogen atom

Section 2, The Quantum Model of the Atom

• Scientists had to change the way they viewed the nature of the electron in
order to explain why atomic energy states are quantized.

Electrons have wavelike properties

• Louis de Broglie, French scientist, pointed out that electrons behaved similar
to a wave

• He suggested that electrons be considered waves confined to the space

around an atomic nucleus

• Electron waves could exist only at specific frequencies

• According to E = hν, these frequencies corresponded to specific energies

• It was proven that electrons can be bent, or diffracted

• Diffraction refers to the bending of a wave as it passes by the edge of an

object or through a small opening

• Electron beams can interfere with each other

• Interference occurs when waves overlap

• This overlapping occurs results in a reduction of energy in some areas and an

increase of energy in others

The velocity and position of an electron cannot be measured simultaneously

• Werner Heinsberg, German theoretical, made a proposal that involved the

detection of electrons

• Electrons are detected by their interaction with photons

• Because photons have about the same energy as electrons, any attempt to
locate a specific electron with a photon knocks the electron off its course. As
a result, there is always a basic uncertainty in trying to locate an electron

• The Heinsberg uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to determine

simultaneously both the position and velocity of an electron or other particle

Orbitals indicate probable electron locations

• Erwin Schrödinger, Australian physicist, used the hypothesis that electrons

have a dual wave-particle nature to develop an equation that treated electrons
in atoms as waves

• Only waves of specific energies, and therefore frequencies, provided

solutions to the equation

• The Schrödinger wave equation laid the foundation for modern quantum
theory

• Quantum theory describes mathematically the wave properties of electrons

and other very small particles

• Solutions to the Schrödinger wave equation are known as wave functions

• Based on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, early developers of quantum

theory determined that wave functions give only the probability of finding an
electron at a given place around the nucleus

• Electrons do not travel around the nucleus in neat orbits

• They exist in certain regions called orbitals

• An orbital is a three-dimensional region around the nucleus that indicates the

probable location of an electron

Quantum numbers describe atomic orbitals

• According to the Schrödinger wave equation, electrons in atomic orbitals also

have quantized energies

• An electron’s energy level is not the only characteristic of an orbital

• Scientists used quantum numbers to describe orbitals accurately

• Quantum numbers specify the properties of atomic orbitals and the

properties of electrons in orbitals

• The first three quantum numbers result from solutions to the Schrödinger
equation. They indicate the main energy level, the shape, and the orientation
of an orbital

• The fourth, the spin quantum number, describes a fundamental state of the
electron that occupies the orbital

Principal Quantum Number

• The principal quantum number, n, indicates the main energy level occupied by
the electron

• Values of n are positive integers only

• As n increases, the electron’s energy and its average distance from the
nucleus increase

• More than one electron can have the same n value

• These electrons are said to be in the same electron shell

• The total number of orbitals in a given shell is equal to n2

Angular Momentum Quantum Number

• Except at the first main energy level, orbitals of different shapes exist for a
given value of n

• These are known as sub-levels

• The angular momentum quantum number, ℓ, indicates the shape of the orbital

• For a specific main energy level, the number of orbital shapes possible is
equal to n.
• The values of ℓ allowed are zero and all positive integers less than or equal to
n. The values of ℓ allowed are zero and all positive integers less than or equal
to n - 1

• Each atomic orbital is designated by the principal quantum number followed

by the letter of the sub-level

Magnetic Quantum Number

•Atomic orbitals can have the same shape but

different orientations around the nucleus

•The magnetic quantum number, m, indicates

the orientation of an orbital around the
nucleus

•Values of m are integers, including zero, from

-ℓ to +ℓ

• The total number of orbitals in a main energy level increases with the value of n

• The number of orbitals at each main energy level equals the square of the
principal quantum number, n2

Spin Quantum Number

• The electron exists in one of two possible spin states, which creates a
magnetic field

• To account for the magnetic properties of the electron, theoreticians of the

early twentieth century created the spin quantum number

• The spin quantum number has only two possible values (+1/2, -1/2) which
indicate the two fundamental spin states of an electron in an orbital

• A single orbital can hold a maximum of two electrons, but the two electrons
must have opposite spin states

School notes

• Quantum numbers

• Principal quantum number, n (energy level)= 1,2,3

• Angular momentum quantum number, ℓ (shape)= n-1

• Magnetic quantum number, m (orientation)= -ℓ to ℓ

• Spin quantum number= (direction of the spin) has only two possible values
(+1/2 or -1/2)

• To find the amount of electrons:

• Total # of orbitals at each energy level= n2

• Total # of electrons at each energy level= 2n2

Section 3, Electron Configuration

• The quantum model of the atom describes the arrangements of electrons in

atoms other than hydrogen

• The arrangement of electrons in an atom is known as the atom’s electron

configuration

• A unique electron configuration exists for the atoms of each element

• The lowest-energy arrangement of the electrons for each element is called the
element’s ground-state electron configuration

Electrons fill in the lowest-energy orbitals first

• To built up electron configurations for the ground state of an atom, first the
energy levels of the orbitals are determined

• Then electrons are added to the orbitals according to 3 rules

• 1st rule- shows the order in which electrons occupy orbitals

• Aufbau principle- an electron occupies the lowest-energy orbital that can

receive it

• 2nd rule- reflects the importance of the spin quantum number

• Pauli exclusion principle- no two electrons in the same atom can have the
same set of four quantum numbers

• The two values of the spin quantum number reflects the fact that for two
electrons to occupy the same orbital, they must have opposite spin states

• 3rd rule- requires placing as many unpaired electrons as possible in separate

orbitals in the same sub level

• Electron-electron repulsion is minimized so that the electron arrangements

have the lowest energy possible

• Hund’s rule- orbitals of equal energy are each occupied by one electron
before any orbital os occupied by a second electron, and all electrons in
singly occupied orbitals must have the same spin state

There are three ways to indicate electron configuration

• Three methods (notations) are used to indicate electron configurations

Orbital Notation

• In orbital notation, an unoccupied orbital is represented by a line, __, with the

orbital’s name underneath it

An orbital containing
An orbital containing
one electron two electrons

Electron-Configuration Notation

• Electron-configuration notation eliminates the lines and arrows of orbital

notation

• The number of electrons in a sub level is shown by adding a superscript to the

sub level designation

No electrons can occupy a higher-energy sub level until the sub-level below it is
filled

• According to the Aufbau principle, after the 1s orbital is filled, the next electron
occupies the s subleven in the second main energy level

• The highest-occupied energy level is the electron-containing main energy level

with the highest principal quantum number

• Inner-shell electrons are electrons that are not in the highest-occupied energy
level

Noble-Gas Notation

• The Group 18 elements are called the noble gases.

• A noble-gas configuration refers to an outer main energy level occupied, in

most cases, by eight electrons

School notes:

• 1n22s22p2 is the electron configuration of carbon

• The electron configuration is the arrangements of electrons in the atom

• The lowest-energy arrangement of the electrons for each element is called the
element’s ground-state electron configuration

• Aufbau principle- an electron occupies the lowest-energy orbital that can

receive it

• Pauli exclusion principle- no two electrons in the same atom can have the
same set of four quantum numbers

• Hund’s rule- orbitals of equal energy are each occupied by one electron before
any orbital is occupied by a second electron, and all electrons in singly
occupied orbitals must have the same spin state.

• An unoccupied orbital is represented by a line, with the orbital’s name written

underneath the line

Quizlet of the quiz:

https://quizlet.com/162716589/chapter-4-section-2-flash-cards/

https://quizlet.com/15474297/chemistry-chapter-4-quantum-numbers-flash-cards/

Questions I had wrong in the quiz:

1. According to the Aufbau principle, which of the following sub levels is lowest
in energy?

4s- use the pyramid

2. In the ground-state electron configuration of neon, how many of neon’s p

orbitals are completely filled?

3- p has 3 orbitals
3. In oxygen’s electron configuration, how many inner-shell electrons does
oxygen have?

2- it’s every energy level that is not the last one