Chem163 Fall 2018

Chem 163 Problem Set #2 is due, with Sapling HW 2, at the start of class Wednesday, Sept. 12.

1. Give the electronic configuration for each of the following gas-phase atoms or ions (e.g., Na:
1s22s22s63s1 or [Ne]3s1). Note that all 3+ ions of the lanthanide series are 6s05d0.
(a) S (b) F– (c) Pb2+ (c) Sm3+

2. For each atom or ion in Problem 1, draw an energy ladder and fill
it up with electrons (as in the example for Na at right). 3s
For the heavier elements, parts (c) and (d), don’t give all the core
electrons, just show the valence orbitals. I define ‘valence 2s 2p
orbitals’ as orbitals that could be filled for some chemical state of
that element, or used in chemical bonding in some compound. Na: 1s22s2 2p63s1
(i) Give the number of unpaired electrons in each case. 1s

3. (a) Give the ground state electronic configurations of a sodium atom and a sodium ion, Na and
Na+.
(b) Give the ground state electronic configuration of a magnesium ion, Mg2+. What is the
difference between Na+ and Mg2+? (The difference could be in the electrons or in something
else.)
(c) Yellow sodium vapor lights (at least the low-pressure ones that
don’t have any mercury in them), emit light primarily at 589 nm
(see spectrum at right). This is called the sodium D line (which you
do not have to remember). The emission is the result of the
relaxation of the first excited state of sodium, [Ne]3p1, to the
ground state. (The electricity that powers the lamp generates this
excited state via an electric arc in the vapor.)
Which of the following are also reasonable excited states for a sodium atom? For the one(s) that
are not reasonable, explain why.
(i) [Ne]3d1 (ii) [Ne]3f1 (iii) [Ne]4s1 (iv) [Ne]4p1 (v) 1s22s22p53s2 (vi) 1s22s22p53s23p1
2 2 7
(vii) 1s 2s 2p
(d) For the reasonable excited states, is the energy released on relaxation to the ground state
higher or lower than that for the sodium D line? How do you know? Are there any where you
can’t tell without looking up the actual numbers? Is the wavelength of light that they emit
higher or lower? Is the light more towards the red or infrared (IR) [lower energy], or more
towards blue and the ultraviolet (UV) [higher energy]?

4. (a) What is the electron configuration of an aluminum atom?

(b) What is the electron configuration of a gallium atom?
(c) How many valence electrons does Al have?
(d) Aside: Look on the web for definitions of “valence electrons.” If you look at three
definitions, I predict you’ll find at least two different ones. Give your favorites.
(e) Al and Ga have very similar chemical properties. For instance, they almost always form 3+
ions, and they never form ions with a charge greater than +3. On that basis, how many valence
electrons does Ga have?
(f) Consider the electron configuration of a chromium atom. Since the 4s and 3d orbitals are
very close in energy (as stated in class), this is not a simple question and there are three possible
reasonable answers. Give these three configurations.
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(g) Imagine that for a Cr atom the 4s and 3d orbitals are exactly at the same energy, which
would be called “accidentally degenerate” in the language of Quantum Mechanics. For this
case, apply Hund’s rule and predict the most stable configuration of the three from part (f).
(h) Consider your answers to parts (f) and (g), and the fact that the most common ion for
chromium is Cr3+. On that basis, in your opinion how many valence electrons does a Cr atom
have?
(h) Why is the situation for a Cr atom different than for a Ga atom in part (e) above?

5. There’s a question on the Sapling HW 2 that asks you to draw two different Lewis dot structures
of SO2. This question explores these two structures in more detail.
(a) A sulfur atom has the configuration [Ne]3s23p4. Which orbitals would you think would be the
next highest in energy, above the 3p? One possible answer is the 3d; what is the other possible
answer? Explain your thinking.
(b) In one of your Lewis-dot structures for SO2, the S atom has five (lines + lone pairs) and
violates the octet rule. In the standard interpretation, each line and lone pair represents a pair of
electrons, and each pair of electrons occupies one orbital, so in this interpretation S must have
five valence orbitals (it must be “hypervalent”). Do you think it is reasonable for S to use in
bonding either a 3d orbital or the orbital that you gave as your answer to question 5a? Do you
consider either of these two orbitals valence orbitals for S?

6. Based on the trends we have discussed in class, predict for each pair of elements below:
(a) Which element has the larger atomic radius? (b) Which has the larger electronegativity?
(c) Which has the larger first ionization energy (ionization potential)?
(i) C vs. Si (ii) C vs. N (iii) C vs. P (iv) Si vs. P
Note: “I can’t predict” based on the trends could be the correct answer.
(d) Now look up the values for these parameters for these elements from Appendix F of Oxtoby and
fill in the Table below. Are the predictions based on the trends accurate?
atomic radius (pm) electronegativity first ionization energy (kJ/mol)
C
N
Si
P
(d) Which of the three parameters, atomic radius, electronegativity, and ionization energy, is
accurately measured, with a clear definition? On the other hand, I would say that one or two of
these parameters are ‘made up’ or only crudely roughly estimated. For the atomic radius, it might
help you to look at the electron probability density for a hydrogen atom shown in Figure 5.6
(Oxtoby p. 186).

7. Have a brief look at the paper Chen, M.-K.; Mecca, A. P.; Naganawa, M.; Finnema, S. J.;
Toyonaga, T.; Lin, S.-F.; Najafzadeh, S.; Ropchan, J.; Lu, Y.; McDonald, J. W.; Michalak, H.
R.; Nabulsi, N. B.; Arnsten, A. F. T.; Huang, Y.; Carson, R. E.; van Dyck, C. H.; “Assessing
Synaptic Density in Alzheimer Disease With Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein 2A Positron
Emission Tomographic Imaging” JAMA Neurol. Published online July 16, 2018.
doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.1836 JAMA is short for Journal of the American Medical
Association, one of the leading medical journals. The Neurology part of this is relatively new,
and is just published online so it doesn’t have normal page numbers. Rather it is identified by its
“digital object identifier” or doi. You can put “doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.1836” into Google
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 Chem 163 Fall 2018

(or your favorite search engine) and it should come up with this paper. You can also just search
the title. As on problem set 1, you will have to be working from a Yale IP address to download
or read the full article.
This is a very complicated article that I understand only a little of. Please don’t spend a lot of time
studying it. Just try to find the answers to the questions below. You can find the answers in the
paper or on the web. In some cases, you can almost cut and paste answers from the paper, which
would be fine for this question.
(a) Where was the work done? [This is a coincidence, as I found this article by a circuitous
route.] Who is the “corresponding author”? This is typically the “lead” author, the one to write
to if a reader has a question or comment about the study). Who provided the funding for this
work?
(b) In Positron Emission Tomographic Imaging (or Positron Emission Tomography, PET), a
radioactive nucleus is used that decays by emission of a positron, a positive electron. When a
positron is formed and encounters a normal electron – which happens really quickly because all
matter is full of electrons – the two annihilate each other, with the production of two very high
energy photons (gamma rays) that are detected.
What is the composition of a 11C nucleus? With your Chem163 knowledge, you couldn’t have
predicted the half-life, but you could have predicted that this would be unstable. How?
(c) What is the half-life of 11C? Do you think that this is an easy material to use in a clinical
setting?

9. Dr. Oliver Sacks was a famous neurologist and writer about the brain who sadly passed away
last year. He is perhaps best known for his books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and
Awakenings, which was turned into a movie starring Robin Williams. There are lots of tributes
to Dr. Sacks on the web; I particularly like Oliver Sacks: Diverse Elements in Harmony by
Erica Goode (8/31/2015)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/science/oliver-sacks-diverse-elements-in-harmony.html

But what I want you to read is one of his last writings, the “op ed” piece linked below, Oliver
Sacks: My Periodic Table, 7/24/15:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/opinion/my-periodic-table.html?emc=eta1
Growing up, Sacks had a passion for chemistry, as is beautifully told in his first memoir, My
Uncle Tungsten (I strongly recommend it). In a way, the article mentioned above is a musing on
his life, a life that was influenced by the beauty of Chemistry. I find this article very moving,
and I wanted to share it with you, as you set out on an independent life that will hopefully be
influenced by Chemistry. I know some mathematicians who believe that Math should be studied
for its pure beauty, like art, not because it can be used for something. Do you think there should
be an element of that in Chemistry? (Pun intended.) [No answer needed, this is just for you to
think about.]