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Electronic Structure of Matter

The electronic structure of atoms refers to the arrangement of electrons in orbitals around the nucleus. Electrons occupy discrete energy levels and follow four quantum rules. Electrons fill atomic orbitals based on the Pauli exclusion principle, Aufbau principle, and Hund's rule to determine the unique electronic configuration for each element.

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1K views3 pages

Electronic Structure of Matter

The electronic structure of atoms refers to the arrangement of electrons in orbitals around the nucleus. Electrons occupy discrete energy levels and follow four quantum rules. Electrons fill atomic orbitals based on the Pauli exclusion principle, Aufbau principle, and Hund's rule to determine the unique electronic configuration for each element.

Uploaded by

Alyssa Crizel Calotes
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF MATTER

The electron is one of the most fundamental and most important of elementary particles. The
arrangement of electrons in an atom is called electronic structure. It refers not only to the number of
electrons that atoms possess but also to their electronic distribution around the atom.

QUANTUM MECHANICAL MODEL OF ATOM


 Classical physics dictates that stationary, negatively charged electrons should be pulled into the
positively charged nucleus
 In 1913 Niels Bohr proposed a model of the atom in which electrons are arranged in concentric circular
paths (orbits) around the nucleus; patterned after the motion of the planets around the sun.
❖ Bohr further went on to explain that electrons in particular orbits possessed fixed amounts of
energy.
❖ The energy level of an electron is the region around the nucleus where it is likely to be moving.
❖ A quantum of energy is the amount of energy required to move an electron from its present energy
level to the next higher one.

 The modern description of electrons in atoms is derived from solutions of the Schrodinger equation,
and is known as the quantum mechanical model.
 Similar to the Bohr model, electrons are found in quantized energy levels, however, the exact paths of
the electrons (the orbits) are not defined. Instead, the location of an electron is defined in terms of
probabilities (the likelihood of finding an electron in a particular region of space).
QUANTUM NUMBERS
Electrons can be organized by four quantum numbers. This combination of numbers is unique for
any given element. The first three numbers were created by Erwin Schrödinger and the last number was
created by Wolfgang Pauli.

1. Principal quantum number (n - introduced by Bohr is a whole number (1,2,3...) that specifies the
energy level of an atomic orbital and its relative size. The greatest number of electrons allowed at any
energy level is 2n2.

Principal Energy Level Maximum Number of Electrons Allowed


n=1 2
n=2 8
n=3 18
n=4 32

2. Secondary quantum (l) - describes an orbital’s shape. The numbers range from 0 to n-1. An s
sublevel = 0, a p sublevel = 1, a d sublevel = 2, an f = 3, g = 4, h = 5...etc. The number n will give the
number of sublevels. The number n2 will give the number of orbitals at that energy level.

Principal Energy Maximum Number of Number of Type of Sublevel


Level Electrons Allowed Sublevels

n=1 2 1 1s (1 orbital)

n=2 8 2 2s (1 orbital), 2p (3 orbitals)

n=3 18 3 3s (1 orbital), 3p (3 orbitals), 3d (5


orbitals)

n=4 32 4 4s (1 orbital), 4p (3 orbitals), 4d (5


orbitals), 4f (7 orbitals)
Orbital: a region in an atom where the electron charge density, or the probability of finding an electron, is
high.
Orbital Types (a.k.a. Energy Sublevels)
 s orbital- Simplest of all orbitals Unlike other sublevels, the s sublevel contains only one orbital. It
can hold 2 electrons.Has a spherical shape
 p orbitals - Contains three dumbbell shaped orbitals arranged around the x, y, and z axes.Each
shell of n=2 or greater has three p orbitals
 d orbitals - There are five orbitals in the d sublevel.Any shell of n=3 or greater has five d orbitals
- Since each orbital holds two electrons, there can be a maximum of ten electrons in each d
sublevel.
 f sublevel - There are seven orbitals in the f sublevel.Since each orbital can hold two electrons,
each f sublevel can hold a maximum of 14 electrons.
3. The magnetic quantum number, ml, indicates the number of orientations a sublevel may have.
They are numbers from –l to +l.

Example: l = 1, ml = +1. 0 , -1 (corresponds to three orbitals)


Each orbital in an atom is identified by set of values for n, l, and ml

Example: Orbital described by quantum numbers: n =2, l =1, ml = 0 Ans. 2p orbitals


4. Spin quantum number, ms - it describes the spin of an electron. In order to get two electrons into the
same orbital the electrons must have opposite spin. There are only two values: -1/2 and +1/2.

ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION
 The way an atom’s electron’s are distributed among its orbitals is called its “electron configuration.”
 The electrons want to be in the lowest possible energy level, but they can’t all crowd into the 1s orbital.
The way the electrons fill atomic orbitals (attain their electron configuration) is dictated by three
rules.
1. The Pauli Exclusion Principle: An atomic orbital may describe at most two electrons. A quantum
property of electrons is spin (clockwise or counter clockwise). Electrons occupying the same orbital must
have opposite spins can be used to determine filling order.
Here are the first 20 electrons (Ca) listed according to their set of quantum numbers.
Electron number principal orbital magnetic spin
1 1 0 0 +1/2
2 1 0 0 - 1/2
3 2 0 0 +1/2
4 2 0 0 - 1/2
5 2 1 -1 +1/2
6 2 1 0 +1/2
7 2 1 +1 +1/2
8 2 1 -1 - 1/2
9 2 1 0 - 1/2
10 2 1 +1 - 1/2
11 3 0 0 +1/2
12 3 0 0 - 1/2
13 3 1 -1 +1/2
14 3 1 0 +1/2
15 3 1 +1 +1/2
16 3 1 -1 -1/2
17 3 1 0 -1/2
18 3 1 +1 -1/2
19 4 0 0 +1/2
20 4 0 0 -1/2

2. The Aufbau Principle: Electrons enter orbital of lower energy


first. Within an energy level, the s-orbital is always of lowest
energy. Sometimes there is overlap of high energy orbitals in one
energy level with low energy orbital in the next energy level. The
diagonal rule
3. Hund’s Rule: When electrons occupy orbital of equal energy, one electron enters each orbital until all
the orbitals contain one electron with parallel spins.

 Practicing electron configuration:


◦ Lithium:
 Lithium has 3 electrons (element 3 on periodic table).
 The orbital with lowest possible energy, the 1s, is filled first and it holds 2 electrons.
 The remaining electron must fill the next available orbital, the 2s.

Li: __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 1s 2s 2p

Lithium has an electron configuration of 1s22s1

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