QUANTUM

NUMBERS

ELECTRON
CONFIGURATION
 ELECTRON
CONFIGURATION
Electron Configuration
Electron Configuration Three Principles

Aufbau Principle

Pauli Exclusion
Principle

Hund’s Rule
Electron Configuration Three Principles

Aufbau Principle
Proposed by Neils
Bohr, meaning
“building up”
Electrons enter orbital
from lowest energy
level first.
Electron Configuration Three Principles

Pauli Exclusion
Principle
Proposed by
Wolfgang Pauli
No two electrons can
have the same set of
quantum numbers
Electron Configuration Three Principles

Hund’s Rule
Discovered by
Friedrich Hund.
When electrons
occupy orbitals of the
same energy, electrons
filled singly first
before pairing starts.
Electron Configuration
 Electron Configuration

Valence electrons are the

electrons in the outermost
principal quantum level of an
atom.

The inner electrons are

known as core electrons.
 Condensed Electron Configuration

The electron configurations of all elements except hydrogen

and helium can be represented using a noble gas core.
The electron configuration of Potassium is:

K- 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1

K- [Ar] 4s1
Core electrons: electrons in [noble gas].
Valence electrons: electrons outside of [noble gas].
d- block Tricks

3d: 4,9
4d: 3,6,9
5d: 8
 d- block Tricks

3d: 4,9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 5 5 6 7 8 10 10
 d- block Tricks

Cr - [Ar] 4s 3d 1 5
 d- block Tricks

Cu - [Ar] 4s 3d 1 10
 d- block Tricks

4d: 3, 6, 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 4 5 5 7 8 10 10 10
QUANTUM
NUMBERS
 1803 1904 1911 1913 1926
John Dalton J.J Thomson E. Rutherford Neils Bohr Erwin Schrödinger
Three Physicist led to the development of a better model
of atom

Louie de Broglie Erwin Schrödinger Werner Karl Heisenberg

model model model
Louis de Broglie – (Louie-de-Broy)
proposed that the electron (which is thought of as a
particle) could also be thought of as a wave.
Werner Karl Heisenberg – author of
“Uncertainty Principle”, which
means that electron’s location cannot
be exactly known and how it is
moving.
Erwin Schrödinger – (Ervin- SHRO-dingur)
Used the wave idea to develop a mathematical equation
to describe the hydrogen atom

He discovered that:
- Electrons move around the nucleus in “a
cloud” not orbits.
- Orbitals help predict the area where electrons
can be found.
- The closer position to the nucleus, the higher
chance to find electrons.
Schrödinger used mathematical equations, called
wave functions (ψ), which describe the
probability of finding electrons at certain energy
levels within an atom.
• A wave function for an electron in an atom is
called an atomic orbital.
QUANTUM
NUMBERS
 QUANTUM NUMBERS ARE LIKE AN ADDRESS.
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Province City Barangay St./House #

Principal Angular Magnetic Spin
Quantum Quantum Quantum Quantum
number number number number
(n) (ℓ) (mℓ) (ms)
QUANTUM NUMBERS
The set of numbers used to describe
the position and energy of the
electron in an atom are called
QUANTUM NUMBERS.
There are four quantum numbers
namely:
-Principal
-Azimuthal/ Angular Momentum
-Magnetic
-Spin Quantum Numbers.
Principal Quantum Number (n)

Refers to the main energy levels

n
1
2
3
4
 Principal Quantum Number (n)

 Designates the size of the orbital.

Larger values of n correspond to
larger orbitals.
 The allowed values of n are integral
numbers: 1, 2, 3 and so forth.
 A collection of orbitals with the
same value of n is frequently called
a shell.
 Principal Quantum Number (n)

The lowest energy state an atom can be at is called its ground state. When
an electron in an atom has absorbed energy it is said to be in an excited
state. An excited atom is unstable and tends to rearrange itself to return to its
lowest energy state. 
 Azimuthal Quantum Number (ℓ)

 ℓ describes the shape of the orbital.

 The values of ℓ are integers that depend on the value of the
principal quantum number
 The allowed values of ℓ range from 0 to n – 1.
Example: If n = 2, ℓ can be 0 or 1.
 A collection of orbitals with the same value of n and l is
referred to as a subshell. ℓ 0 1 2 3
Orbital s p d f
designation
Azimuthal Quantum Number (ℓ)
 Relationship between (n) and (ℓ)

ℓ < n-1
n ℓ shape
n=1 ℓ=0 (s)
n=2 ℓ = 0,1 (s, p)
n=3 ℓ = 0,1,2 (s, p, d)
n=4 ℓ = 0,1,2,3 (s, p, d, f)
 Magnetic Quantum Number (mℓ)

 (mℓ) describes the orientation of the orbital in

space.
 The values of mℓ are integers that depend on the
value of ℓ : – l,…0,…+ l
Magnetic Quantum Number (mℓ)
 Magnetic Quantum Number (mℓ)

mℓ can be any integer from: - ℓ to + ℓ

Example: find mℓ
ℓ= 2
ℓ= 2
mℓ = -2, -1, 0, +1, +2
ℓ= 3
ℓ= 3
mℓ = -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3
 Relationship between (n), (ℓ), (mℓ)

Example: 3d Example:1s example:4p

Identify: Identify: Identify:
n=3 n=1 n=4
ℓℓ= 2 ℓℓ= 0 ℓℓ= 1
mℓℓ = -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 mℓℓ = 0 mℓℓ = -1, 0, 1
Relationship between (n), (ℓ), (mℓ)

example: 4f
Identify:
n=4
ℓ 3
ℓ=
m ℓ = -3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3
 Spin Quantum Number (mS)

 (ms) specifies the orientation of the spin axis of an

electron. ms = +½ or -½
 An electron can spin in only one of two directions
(sometimes called up and down).
 The Pauli exclusion principle (Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel
Prize 1945) states that no two electrons in the same
atom can have identical values for all four of their
quantum numbers.
 Spin Quantum Number (mS)

ELECTRONS IN THE SAME ORBITAL MUST HAVE

OPPOSITE SPINS.

1 1
+ or -
The value of ms = 2 2
Empty

Paramagnetic
Half-Filled are attracted to a
magnetic field

Filled Diamagnetic
 Identify the value of the four quantum
numbers:

1. 3d 2 ANSWERS

2. 2p 5 1.n=3, ℓ = 2, mℓ = -1, ms = +1/2

2.n=2, ℓ = 1, mℓ = 0, ms = -1/2
3. 2s 2
3.n=2, ℓ = 0, mℓ = 0, ms = -1/2
4. 4f 7
4.n= 4, ℓ = 3, mℓ = 3, ms = +1/2

5. 3s 1 5.n=3, ℓ = 0, mℓ = 0, ms = +1/2
Write the values of quantum numbers for the
bold electrons in the following diagrams.

1) 3p orbitals
2) 5s orbitals

3) 4d orbitals

4) 3d orbitals