CHEMISTRY 123-02

Midterm #3 – answer key

November 30, 2004
Statistics:
♦ Average: 70 pts (70%);
♦ Highest: 99 pts (99%); Lowest: 31 pts (31%)
♦ Number of students performing at or above average: 56 (56%)
♦ Number of students performing at or below 55%: 16 (16%)

PART I: MULTIPLE CHOICE (Each question has a 2-point value).

1. Which wavelength of light is the fastest?

a. 418.6 nm d. 563.8 nm
b. 554.9 nm e. All have the same speed .
c. 626.1 nm

2. Determine the energy of a photon with wavelength of 645 nm (Speed of light is 3.00 × 108 m/s and h = 6.63 × 10 -34 J.s).
a. 1.43 × 10 -48 J d. 3.08 × 10-19 J
b. 3.08 × 10 -28 J e. 4.65 × 10 14 J
c. 1.99 × 10 -25 J

3. Which statement regarding the Bohr model of the atom is false?

a. Atoms produce line spectra.
b. When the electron in hydrogen gains a quantized amount of energy, it moves to the ground state.
c. Electrons cannot be located between energy levels.
d. Light is emitted when an electron moves from the excited to the ground state.
e. Electrons in the lowest energy level are in the ground state.

4. Which idea was proposed by Louis de Broglie?

a. Electrons have wave-like properties .
b. The hydrogen atom emits a continuous spectrum.
c. Electrons cannot be diffracted by a plane of atoms.
d. Energy in the atom is continuous.
e. Electrons are located in orbits.

5. Which statement regarding an orbital is false?

a. An orbital is three-dimensional.
b. Only one electron is allowed per orbital.
c. An electron shell consists of a collection of orbitals with the same principal quantum number.
d. An orbital may be designated with the letters s, p, d, f.
e. An orbital describes the location of the electron 90% of the time.
6. How many electrons can the second principal quantum level hold?
a. 2 d. 18
b. 8 e. 32
c. 16

7. How many orbitals are contained in the 4d subshell?

a. 2 d. 10
b. 5 e. 14
c. 6

8. Which statement is false?

a. The d orbitals occur in groups of 3.
b. The 3p orbitals have higher energy than the 2p orbitals.
c. The 3d and 4d orbitals hold the same number of electrons.
d. Two electrons in the same orbital will have opposite spin.
e. The 1s orbital holds up to 2 electrons.
9. Which set of quantum numbers is not allowed?
a. n = 0, l = 0, ml = 0, ms = +1/2 d. n = 3, l = 1, ml = 0, ms = +1/2
b. n = 1, l = 0, ml = 0, ms = +1/2 e. n = 4, l = 3, ml = 0, ms = -1/2
c. n = 2, l = 1, ml = 1, ms = +1/2
10. What is the correct electron configuration for bromine?
a. 1s 2 2s 22p 5 d. 1s 2 2s 22p 6 3s 2 3p 6 4s 23d 5 4p 64d 25s 2
b. 1s 2 2s 22p 6 3s 2 3p 6 3d 9 4s 24p 6 e. 1s 2 2s 22p 63s 2 3p 6 4s 24p 65s 2 5p 6 6s 1
c. 1s 2 2s 22p 63s 2 3p 6 3d 10 4s 24p 5

11. Give the element that has the electron configuration:

1s 22s 2 2p 6 3s 23p 63d 10 4s 24p 6 5s 2

a. In d. Ni
b. Pd e. Sr
c. Fe

12. What is the correct shorthand notation for the electron configuration given?

1s 22s 2 2p 6 3s 23p 64s 2 3d 104p 1

a. [Ca]3d 10 4p 1 d. [Ar] 3d 10 4s 2 4p 1
b. [Zn]4p 1 e. all of the above
c. [Ne]3s 23p 63d 10 4s 24p 1
2-
13. What is the electron configuration of O ?
a. 1s 2 2s 22p 5 d. 1s 2 2s 22p 2
b. 1s 2 2s 22p 6 e. 1s 2 2s 22p 3
c. 1s 2 2s 22p 4

14. Species that have the same electron configuration are:

a. paramagnetic. d. lanthanides.
b. diamagnetic. e. isoelectronic .
c. ferromagnetic.

15. Atoms or ions without unpaired electrons are:

a. isoelectronic. d. ferromagnetic.
b. paramagnetic. e. lanthanides.
c. diamagnetic .

16. Which element has the largest atomic radius?

a. As d. Br
b. P e. F
c. Se

17. Which of the following has the largest ionic radius?

a. Li + d. Na +
b. F- e. Cl-
c. S 2-

18. Arrange the following in order of increasing ionization energy.

Ar Cl Li Na P
a. P < Cl < Ar < Li < Na d. Cl < Ar < Na < Li < P
b. Na < Li < P < Cl < Ar e. P < Cl < Ar < Na < Li
c. Ar < Cl < Na < Li < P

19. Which element has an electron affinity greater than zero?

a. Br d. As
b. I e. Kr
c. Te

20. Which of the following statements could not describe a covalent bond?
a. The sharing of two electrons between two atoms
b. The sharing of four electrons between two atoms
c. An electrostatic interaction between two oppositely charged ions
 d. The sharing of two or more electrons equally between two atoms
e. The sharing of two or more electrons unequally between two atoms

21. Which element will have five electrons in its Lewis dot symbol?
a. beryllium d. carbon
b. neon e. nitrogen
c. oxygen

22. Which bond is longest?

a. C-O d. C-C
b. C-P e. C-N
c. C-H

23. Which bond is longest?

a. carbon-oxygen triple bond d. carbon-carbon double bond
b. carbon-oxygen single bond e. carbon-nitrogen triple bond
c. carbon-carbon single bond

24. Which bond is strongest?

a. carbon-nitrogen triple bond d. carbon-carbon triple bond
b. carbon-nitrogen double bond e. carbon-carbon single bond
c. carbon-hydrogen bond

25. From the data given below, calculate the approximate enthalpy change of reaction for the reaction below.
CH4 (g) + 2O2(g) → CO2 (g) + 2H2O(g) bond enthalpy kJ/mol
C-H 414
C-C 347
C=C 611
a. -806 kJ C-O 351
b. -98 kJ C=O 803
c. 98 kJ O-H 463
d. 120 kJ O=O 498
e. 806 kJ H-H 436

26. Which element is the most electronegative?

a. phosphorus d. nitrogen
b. silicon e. oxygen
c. carbon

27. Which of the following represents a non-polar covalent bond ?

a. O-O d. C-N
b. C-O e. C=O
c. NaCl

28. A list of non-metals is given below. Which elements cannot exceed the octet rule?
B Si N P O S F Cl
a. Si, P, S, Cl d. B, Si, N, P
b. B, N, O, F e. All eight elements can exceed the octet rule.
c. O, S, F, Cl

29. Which of the following central atoms would be expected to accommodate an octahedral or bipyramidal geometry in some of
its compounds?
a. carbon d. oxygen
b. nitrogen e. bromine
c. neon

30. If a molecular geometry is square planar, the central atom has two lone pairs and the electron-pair geometry is octahedral.
a. two, tetrahedral d. four, bent
b. four, tetrahedral e. two, octahedral
c. two, linear
 31. In a molecule with trigonal bipyramidal electron-pair geometry, where are any lone pairs on the central atom preferentially
placed?
a. Axially
b. Equatorially
c. There is no preferential placement of lone pairs
d. There can be no lone pairs on the central atom to obtain a bipyramidal electron-pair geometry
e. The placement depends on the atoms involved

32. Which of the following is the definition of a sigma bond?

a. A bond in which there is overlap of protons
b. A bond in which there is sideways orbital overlap
c. A bond in which there is no orbital overlap
d. A bond in which only electrons are involved
e. A bond in which there is orbital overlap along the internuclear axis

PART II: SHORT ANSWER (Each question has a 2-point value).

33. The first ionization energy is the amount of energy required to remove one electron from a neutral atom.

34. On a given atom, each electron must have a unique set of four quantum numbers.

35. The atomic radius decreases going from left to right across a row of the periodic table.

36. Electronegativity of an element is its ability to pull electrons towards itself when participating in a covalent bond.

PART III: LEWIS STRUCTURES, RESONANCE, VSEPR THEORY AND HYBRIDIZATION.

37. (15 pts) For each of the following species, draw the Lewis structure and predict the electron-pair and molecular geometry
using the VSEPR theory (Provide drawings that show clearly and explicitly the three-dimensional structure!).
a. The tetrachloroiodate anion, ICl4 ¯;

Solution: First, write the Lewis structure. According to the rules:

1) A = 7 + 4 x 7 + 1 = 36
2) B = 5 x 8 = 40
3) (B – A)/2 = 2 bonds – obviously not sufficient to bond all atoms. This anion is one of the expanded octet
species. The Lewis structure in such a case is written by placing I in the center and connecting it to all of
the Cl atoms (Four bonds are required).
3) Find the number of lone pairs: (36 – 8)/2 = 14 lone pairs. Place lone pairs at the terminal atoms first, to
satisfy valence octets, then place any leftover pairs at the central atom.

Cl
-1
I Cl
Cl
Cl
The structure has a central atom with 6 pairs of electrons, which means that the
electro-pair geometry is octahedral. Two of them are lone pairs, which means that the anion belongs to the general class
AX4 E2 . According to VSEPR, the two lone pairs will occupy opposite corners of the octahedron. The molecular geometry is
therefore square planar.

Cl -1 Cl
I
Cl Cl
 b. Chlorine trifluoride, ClF3 ;
Solution: First, write the Lewis structure. According to the rules:

1) A = 7 + 3 x 7 = 28
2) B = 4 x 8 = 32
3) (B – A)/2 = 2 bonds – obviously not sufficient to bond all atoms. This molecule is also one with an
expanded octet. The Lewis structure in such a case is written by placing Cl in the center and connecting
it to all of the F atoms (Three bonds are required).
4) Find the number of lone pairs: (28 – 6)/2 = 11 lone pairs. Place lone pairs at the terminal atoms first, to
satisfy valence octets, then place any leftover pairs at the central atom.

Cl F
F
The structure has a central atom with 5 pairs of electrons, which means that the
electro-pair geometry is trigonal bipyramidal (TBP). Two of them are lone pairs and the molecule belongs to the general type
AX3 E2 . According to VSEPR, the two lone pairs will occupy two equatorial positions of the trigonal bipyramid. The molecular
geometry is therefore T-shaped.

F Cl

c. The nitronium cation, NO2 +;

Solution: First, write the Lewis structure. According to the rules:

1) A = 5 + 2 x 6 - 1 = 16
2) B = 3 x 8 = 24
3) (B – A)/2 = 4 bonds.
5) Find the number of lone pairs: (16 – 8)/2 = 4 lone pairs. Place lone pairs at the terminal atoms first, to
satisfy valence octets, then place any leftover pairs at the central atom.
+1
O N O
The structure has a central atom with two double bonds. In VSEPR multiple bonds count
as single bonds, which means that we are dealing with a species of the type AX2 E0 . The electro-pair geometry is linear. The
molecular geometry is also linear .
+1
O N O

38. For each of the following species, write two valid resonance structures.
2-
a. (3 pts) The sulfite anion, SO3 ;
-1
O O
+1
-1 S -1 -1 S -1
O O O O

b. (4 pts) Dinitrogen oxide, N2 O;

-1 +1 +1 -1
N N O N N O
39. (6 pts) Given the Lewis structures below, assign the proper hybridization mode for each non-hydrogen atom.

Solution: One can easily determine the hybridization mode by finding the number of hybrid orbitals that are used at the particular
center. The number of hybrid orbitals is calculated using the formula:

# hybrid orbitals = # σ-bonds + # lone pairs for any atomic center

sp2 -1
H sp O H O sp3
C sp sp2sp3 3 sp2
C C Si sp H sp3 P
+1
N H
O N H sp3
O N 2 B sp2
sp
sp3 sp2 H O sp3
N
O H
sp2 H