1.3 Atomic structure and the Periodic Table

What are the s, p, d, and f groups of the periodic table

• the S group are the alkali metals and the alkali earth metals, including helium following hydrogen

• the P group are the halogens and noble gasses excluding helium

• the D group are the transition metals (n-1)

• the F group are the Lanthanides and Actinides (n-2)

These are important to know as they allow you to know the increasing order of filled orbitals and the electrons within them by simply by following the periodic table in increasing order of electrons until you reach your desired element.

what is a shortcut for finding the electron configuration of a high # electron atom

1. Denote the last noble gas before your desired element

2. put that noble gas in square brackets before your configuration

3. find the configuration starting from that noble gas until you reach your desired element

what is an electron energy level diagram

an electron energy level diagram also known as an orbital box diagram is a diagram visualizing the organization of electrons from an atom or ion, using boxes to represent orbitals, and arrows to represent electrons

steps for drawing an electron energy level diagram

1. find the electron configuration of the desired atom

2. draw boxes to represent orbitals, drawing orbitals slightly higher for successive energy levels

• not a full boxes height higher for orbitals within the same energy level

3. arrows representing atoms are added sequentially into the boxes, following the three rules for electron organization

what is a discrepancy in Electron configuration

Electrons can sometimes promote themselves to a higher energy level in order to partially fill a completely empty orbital or when the higher energy sublevel only requires one more electron to be completely full.

• especially the case for d orbitals

explain why multivalent metals have more than one possible oxidation state

Atoms from elements in the transition metals of the 4th row of the periodic table have final electrons organized in the 4s and 3d orbitals. These orbitals are very close together in energy level, making the pulling of electrons from both levels easy. So, atoms of these metals can remove a 3d electron along with their 4s electrons aslong as the 3d sublevel remains stable, (no empty orbitals after removing a 3d electron)

why then does zinc only have one oxidation state unlike its nearby multivalent neighbours

the electrons for zinc is [Ar] 4s² 3d¹⁰, this results in a complete 3d sublevel as all its 5 orbitals have each their max of 2 electrons. Therefore, zinc will not remove a 3d electron as it will leave it unstable.