ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF

ATOMS
 ENERGIZER

JUMBLED WORDS
DIRECTION: ARRANGE THE FOLLOWING
WORDS. USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED
TO GET THE CORRECT ANSWER.
1. A NEGATIVELY CHARGED SUBATOMIC PARTICLE. IT CAN
BE EITHER FREE (NOT ATTACHED TO ANY ATOM), OR
BOUND TO THE NUCLEUS OF AN ATOM.

LECETORN

ELECTRON
2. IN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS, A MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION, CALLED A
WAVE FUNCTION, THAT DESCRIBES PROPERTIES CHARACTERISTIC OF NO
MORE THAN TWO ELECTRONS IN THE VICINITY OF AN ATOMIC NUCLEUS
OR OF A SYSTEM OF NUCLEI AS IN A MOLECULE.

RBITASLO

ORBITALS
3. A PURE SUBSTANCE CONSISTING ONLY OF ATOMS THAT ALL HAVE
THE SAME NUMBERS OF PROTONS IN THEIR NUCLEI.

LEMETSNE

ELEMENTS
4. IS A DISTURBANCE THAT MOVES ENERGY FROM
ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER.

VEWA
WAVE
 OBJECTIVES
• DESCRIBE THE QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL OF THE ATOMS
• DRAW AN ORBITAL DIAGRAM TO REPRESENT THE ELECTRONIC
CONFIGURATION OF ATOMS
• APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TOPIC.
 Quantum mechanical
description of the atom
 HISTORY
• BOHR’S ATOMIC MODEL (1922)
DESCRIBES THE ATOM IS LIKE
A SOLAR SYSTEM, WHERE HE
CONSIDERED ELECTRONS AS
PARTICLES MOVING AROUND
THE NUCLEUS IN SPECIFIC
CIRCULAR PATHS CALLED
ORBITS, THESE ORBITS ARE
FOUND AT FIXED DISTANCES
FROM THE NUCLEUS.
• MUCH LATER, SCIENTIST DISCOVERED THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE
THE EXACT LOCATION OF ELECTRONS IN AN ATOM.
• BOHR’S IDEA THAT ELECTRONS ARE FOUND IN DEFINITE ORBITS AROUND THE
NUCLEUS WAS REJECTED.
• THREE PHYSICISTS LED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BETTER MODEL OF THE ATOM.
THESE WERE ; LOUIS DE BROGLIE, ERWIN SCHRODINGER AND WERNER
HEISENBERG
 LOUIS DE BROGLIE (1892-
1987)
• DE BROGLIE PROPOSED
THAT THE ELECTRON
( WHICH IS THOUGHT OF
AS A PARTICLE) COULD
ALSO BE THOUGHT OF AS
A WAVE.
 ERWIN SCHRODINGER (1892-
1987)

• SCHRODINGER USED THIS IDEA

OF DE BROGLIE ( THAT
ELECTRONS ARE WAVE
PARTICLES) TO DEVELOP A
MATHEMATICAL EQUATION TO
DESCRIBE THE PROBABLE
LOCATION OF AN ELECTRON
AROUND THE NUCLEUS
 SCHRODINGER’S MODEL OF THE HYDROGEN
ATOM AND
WAVE FUNCTIONS

• THE HYDROGEN ATOM, CONSISTING OF AN ELECTRON AND A PROTON, IS A TWO-

PARTICLE SYSTEM, AND THE INTERNAL MOTION OF TWO PARTICLES AROUND
THEIR CENTER OF MASS IS EQUIVALENT TO THE MOTION OF A SINGLE PARTICLE
WITH A REDUCED MASS.

• THIS REDUCED PARTICLE IS LOCATED AT R , WHERE R IS THE VECTOR

SPECIFYING THE POSITION OF THE ELECTRON RELATIVE TO THE POSITION OF
THE PROTON.
• THE LENGTH OF R IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PROTON AND THE
ELECTRON, AND THE DIRECTION OF R IS GIVEN BY THE ORIENTATION OF THE
VECTOR POINTING FROM THE PROTON TO THE ELECTRON. SINCE THE PROTON IS
MUCH MORE MASSIVE THAN THE ELECTRON, WE WILL ASSUME THROUGHOUT
THIS CHAPTER THAT THE REDUCED MASS EQUALS THE ELECTRON MASS AND
THE PROTON IS LOCATED AT THE CENTER OF MASS.
• THE HYDROGEN ATOM WAVEFUNCTIONS, Ψ(R,Θ,Φ) , ARE CALLED ATOMIC
ORBITALS. AN ATOMIC ORBITAL IS A FUNCTION THAT DESCRIBES ONE ELECTRON
IN AN ATOM. THE WAVEFUNCTION WITH N = 1, L L = 0 IS CALLED THE 1S
ORBITAL, AND AN ELECTRON THAT IS DESCRIBED BY THIS FUNCTION IS SAID TO
BE “IN” THE LS ORBITAL, I.E. HAVE A 1S ORBITAL STATE. THE CONSTRAINTS ON N,
L L) , AND ML THAT ARE IMPOSED DURING THE SOLUTION OF THE HYDROGEN
ATOM SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION EXPLAIN WHY THERE IS A SINGLE 1S ORBITAL,
WHY THERE ARE THREE 2P ORBITALS, FIVE 3D ORBITALS, ETC.
 WERNER HEISENBERG (1901-
1976)
• HEISENBERG DISCOVERED
THAT FOR A VERY SMALL
PARTICLES LIKE THE
ELECTRON, ITS LOCATION
CANNOT BE EXACTLY
KNOWN . THIS IS CALLED
THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.
• THESE SCIENTIST BELIEVED THAT THERE IS ONLY A PROBABILITY THAT
ELECTRONS CAN BE FOUND IN A THREE- DIMENSIONAL SPACE AROUND THE
NUCLEUS CALLED ATOMIC ORBITALS.

• THESE SCIENTIST ARRIVED WITH THE IDEA THAT THE QUANTUM MECHANICAL
MODEL OF THE ATOM DESCRIBES THE PROBABLE LOCATION OF ELECTRONS
WITHIN THE ATOM USING ATOMIC ORBITAL.
• THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF ATOMIC ORBITALS THAT DIFFER IN THE
AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND SHAPES (WHERE THE ELECTRON PROBABLY IS).
• THE ATOMIC ORBITALS GET FILLED BY ELECTRONS IN A CERTAIN ORDER.
• THE QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL DESCRIBES THE REGION
OF SPACE AROUND THE NUCLEUS AS CONSISTING OF SHELLS .
THESE SHELL ARE ALSO CALLED PRINCIPAL ENERGY LEVELS.
LOOK AT THE PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS , THE ENERGY LEVELS OF THE ATOMS
CORRESPONDS TO THE ROWS OF THE TABLE.
• THE PRINCIPAL ENERGY LEVELS ARE BROKEN DOWN INTO
SUBLEVELS. THESE SUBLEVELS DEFINE THE ORBITAL SHAPE
( S, P D, F )
 ✔ THE PRINCIPAL ENERGY LEVELS ARE ALWAYS EQUAL TO THE
NUMBER OF SUBLEVELS

⮚ N= 1, 1 sublevel (s) the first energy level have 1 sublevel (s orbital)

⮚ N=2, 2 sublevels (s, p) the second energy level have 2 sublevels (s, p orbitals)
⮚ N= 3, 3 sublevels (s, p, d) the 3rd energy level have 3 sublevels ( s, p, d orbitals)
⮚ N= 4, 4 sublevels (s, p, d, f) the 4th energy level have 4 sublevels ( s, p, d , f orbitals)
• EACH SUBLEVEL HAS A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ORBITALS. THIS IS DUE TO
THE ORIENTATION OF THE SUBLEVELS ALONG THE X, Y AND Z AXES. THUS,
THERE ARE DIFFERENT ORIENTATIONS IN SPACE FOR P, D AND F ORBITALS
EXCEPT FOR S ORBITALS BECAUSE OF IT’S SPHERICAL SHAPE
• EACH ORBITAL CAN HOLD A MAXIMUM OF 2 ELECTRONS . SINCE THE P. D AND F
ORBITALS HAVE DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ORIENTATION, EACH ORBITAL
ORIENTATION ALSO HOLDS A MAXIMUM OF ELECTRONS. THUS, THE MAXIMUM
NUMBER OF ELECTRONS THAT CAN OCCUPY A PRINCIPAL ENERGY LEVEL IS
GIVEN BY THE FORMULA 2N2 ,WHERE N IS THE PRINCIPAL ENERGY LEVEL.
• THEREFORE, THE QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL DESCRIBES THE
PROBABLE LOCATION OF ELECTRONS IN ATOMS USING IT’S PRINCIPAL
ENERGY LEVELS (N), SUBLEVELS (S,P,D,F) AND ORIENTATION OF ORBITALS
IN A THREE- DIMENSIONAL SPACE.
 QUANTUM NUMBERS

• SCHRÖDINGER’S APPROACH REQUIRES THREE QUANTUM NUMBERS ( N , L , AND

ML ) TO SPECIFY A WAVEFUNCTION FOR THE ELECTRON. THE QUANTUM
NUMBERS PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF AN
ELECTRON. ALTHOUGH N CAN BE ANY POSITIVE INTEGER (NOT ZERO), ONLY
CERTAIN VALUES OF L AND ML ARE ALLOWED FOR A GIVEN VALUE OF (N).
 THREE QUANTUM NUMBERS

• THE PRINCIPAL QUANTUM NUMBER (N)

• THE AZIMUTHAL QUANTUM NUMBER
• THE MAGNETIC QUANTUM NUMBER
 THE PRINCIPAL QUANTUM
NUMBER (N)
• ONE OF THREE QUANTUM NUMBERS THAT TELLS THE AVERAGE RELATIVE DISTANCE
OF AN ELECTRON FROM THE NUCLEUS. INDICATES THE ENERGY OF THE ELECTRON
AND THE AVERAGE DISTANCE OF AN ELECTRON FROM THE NUCLEUS
 THE AZIMUTHAL QUANTUM NUMBER

• THE SECOND QUANTUM NUMBER IS OFTEN CALLED THE AZIMUTHAL QUANTUM

NUMBER (L). ONE OF THREE QUANTUM NUMBERS THAT DESCRIBES THE SHAPE
OF THE REGION OF SPACE OCCUPIED BY AN ELECTRON.. THE VALUE OF L
DESCRIBES THE SHAPE OF THE REGION OF SPACE OCCUPIED BY THE ELECTRON.
THE ALLOWED VALUES OF L DEPEND ON THE VALUE OF N AND CAN RANGE
FROM 0 TO N − 1
 THE MAGNETIC QUANTUM NUMBER

• THE THIRD QUANTUM NUMBER IS THE MAGNETIC QUANTUM NUMBER ( ML ). ONE OF

THREE QUANTUM NUMBERS THAT DESCRIBES THE ORIENTATION OF THE REGION OF
SPACE OCCUPIED BY AN ELECTRON WITH RESPECT TO AN APPLIED MAGNETIC FIELD.
 Activity time!

NAME THE ORBITALS DESCRIBED BY THE FOLLOWING QUANTUM

NUMBERS
1.) N = 3, L = 0
2.) N = 3, L = 1
3.) N = 3, L = 2
4.) N = 5, L = 0
• ANSWERS
1. 3S
2. 3P
3. 3D
4. 5S
 ELECTRON
CONFIGURATION

• DESCRIBES THE ELECTRON ARRANGEMENT IN ATOMS.

• ALSO CALLED ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, THE ARRANGEMENT OF ELECTRONS IN
ENERGY LEVELS AROUND AN ATOMIC NUCLEUS.
 AUFBAU PRINCIPLE

• THE AUFBAU PRINCIPLE DICTATES THE MANNER IN WHICH ELECTRONS ARE

FILLED IN THE ATOMIC ORBITALS OF AN ATOM IN ITS GROUND STATE. IT STATES
THAT ELECTRONS ARE FILLED INTO ATOMIC ORBITALS IN THE INCREASING
ORDER OF ORBITAL ENERGY LEVEL. ACCORDING TO THE AUFBAU PRINCIPLE,
THE AVAILABLE ATOMIC ORBITALS WITH THE LOWEST ENERGY LEVELS ARE
OCCUPIED BEFORE THOSE WITH HIGHER ENERGY LEVELS.
The word ‘Aufbau’ has German roots and can be roughly
translated as ‘construct’ or ‘build up’. A diagram
illustrating the order in which atomic orbitals are filled is
provided below. Here, ‘n’ refers to the principal quantum
number and ‘l’ is the azimuthal quantum number.
 PAULI EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE

• STATES THAT, IN AN ATOM OR MOLECULE, NO TWO ELECTRONS CAN HAVE THE

SAME FOUR ELECTRONIC QUANTUM NUMBERS. AS AN ORBITAL CAN CONTAIN A
MAXIMUM OF ONLY TWO ELECTRONS, THE TWO ELECTRONS MUST HAVE
OPPOSING SPINS. THIS MEANS IF ONE ELECTRON IS ASSIGNED AS A SPIN UP (+1/2)
ELECTRON, THE OTHER ELECTRON MUST BE SPIN-DOWN (-1/2) ELECTRON.
 PAULI EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE

• ELECTRONS IN THE SAME ORBITAL HAVE THE SAME FIRST THREE QUANTUM
NUMBERS, E.G., N=1 , L=0 , ML=0 FOR THE 1S SUBSHELL.
• ONLY TWO ELECTRONS CAN HAVE THESE NUMBERS, SO THAT THEIR SPIN MOMENTS
MUST BE EITHER MS=−1/2 OR MS=+1/2 . IF THE 1S ORBITAL CONTAINS ONLY ONE
ELECTRON, WE HAVE ONE MS VALUE AND THE ELECTRON CONFIGURATION IS
WRITTEN AS 1S1 (CORRESPONDING TO HYDROGEN). IF IT IS FULLY OCCUPIED, WE
HAVE TWO MS VALUES, AND THE ELECTRON CONFIGURATION IS 1S2
(CORRESPONDING TO HELIUM). VISUALLY THESE TWO CASES CAN BE
REPRESENTED AS
 HUND'S RULES

• THE AUFBAU SECTION DISCUSSED HOW ELECTRONS FILL THE LOWEST ENERGY
ORBITALS FIRST, AND THEN MOVE UP TO HIGHER ENERGY ORBITALS ONLY
AFTER THE LOWER ENERGY ORBITALS ARE FULL. HOWEVER, THERE IS A
PROBLEM WITH THIS RULE. CERTAINLY, 1S ORBITALS SHOULD BE FILLED BEFORE
2S ORBITALS, BECAUSE THE 1S ORBITALS HAVE A LOWER VALUE OF N , AND
THUS A LOWER ENERGY. WHAT ABOUT FILLING THE THREE DIFFERENT 2P
ORBITALS? IN WHAT ORDER SHOULD THEY BE FILLED? THE ANSWER TO THIS
QUESTION INVOLVES HUND'S RULE.
 HUND'S RULE

• HUND'S RULE STATES THAT:

• EVERY ORBITAL IN A SUBLEVEL IS SINGLY OCCUPIED BEFORE ANY ORBITAL IS

DOUBLY OCCUPIED.
• ALL OF THE ELECTRONS IN SINGLY OCCUPIED ORBITALS HAVE THE SAME SPIN
(TO MAXIMIZE TOTAL SPIN).
 EXAMPLE 1 : NITROGEN
ATOMS
• CONSIDER THE CORRECT ELECTRON CONFIGURATION OF THE
NITROGEN (Z = 7) ATOM: 1S2 2S2 2P3

The p orbitals are half-filled; there are three electrons and three p orbitals. This is because
the three electrons in the 2p subshell will fill all the empty orbitals first before pairing with
electrons in them.
 EXAMPLE 2 : OXYGEN
ATOMS
• CONSIDER OXYGEN (Z = 8) ATOM, THE ELEMENT AFTER NITROGEN IN THE
SAME PERIOD; ITS ELECTRON CONFIGURATION IS: 1S2 2S2 2P4

Oxygen has one more electron than nitrogen; as the orbitals are all half-filled, the new
electron must pair up. Keep in mind that elemental oxygen is found in nature
typically as molecular oxygen, O2 , which has molecular orbitals instead of atomic
orbitals as demonstrated above.
 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 MS=+1/2, WHILE THE OTHER ELECTRON IS “SPIN-DOWN,” WITH MS=−1/2.

• THIS IS IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO DETERMINING THE TOTAL SPIN IN AN ELECTRON

ORBITAL. 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.
 PARAMAGNETISM

• ELECTRONS THAT ARE ALONE IN AN ORBITAL ARE CALLED PARAMAGNETIC

ELECTRONS.
• REMEMBER THAT 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.
• EVEN ONE ORBITAL HAS A NET SPIN, THE ENTIRE ATOM WILL HAVE A NET SPIN.
THEREFORE, AN ATOM IS CONSIDERED TO BE PARAMAGNETIC WHEN IT CONTAINS AT
LEAST ONE PARAMAGNETIC ELECTRON. IN OTHER WORDS, 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.
 ORBITAL DIAGRAMS

• ARE PICTORIAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ELECTRONS IN AN ATOM. THREE RULES

ARE USEFUL IN FORMING ORBITAL DIAGRAMS. ACCORDING TO THE AUFBAU
PRINCIPLE, EACH ELECTRON OCCUPIES THE LOWEST ENERGY ORBITAL. THE
PAULI EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE SAYS THAT ONLY TWO ELECTRONS CAN FIT INTO A
SINGLE ORBITAL. HUND’S RULE STATES THAT ELECTRONS GO INTO DIFFERENT
ORBITALS IN THE SAME SUB-LEVEL BEFORE DOUBLING UP INSIDE ORBITALS.