Electronic Structure
of Atoms
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Other Subatomic Particles
• Protons were discovered by Rutherford
in 1919.
• Neutrons were discovered by James
Chadwick in 1932.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Subatomic Particles
• Protons and electrons are the only particles that
have a charge.
• Protons and neutrons have essentially the same
mass.
• The mass of an electron is so small we ignore it.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
SYMBOLS OF ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS ARE SYMBOLIZED BY ONE OR
TWO LETTERS.
Electronic
Structure
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc. of Atoms
ATOMIC NUMBER
ALL ATOMS OF THE SAME ELEMENT HAVE
THE SAME NUMBER OF PROTONS:
THE ATOMIC NUMBER (Z)
Electronic
Structure
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc. of Atoms
ATOMIC MASS
THE MASS OF AN ATOM IN ATOMIC MASS
UNITS (AMU) IS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
PROTONS AND NEUTRONS IN THE ATOM.
Electronic
Structure
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc. of Atoms
Principal Quantum Number (n)
• The principal quantum number, n,
describes the energy level on which the
orbital resides.
• The values of n are integers ≥ 1.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Angular Momentum Quantum
Number (l)
• This quantum number defines the
shape of the orbital.
• Allowed values of l are integers ranging
from 0 to n − 1.
• We use letter designations to
communicate the different values of l
and, therefore, the shapes and types of
orbitals. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Angular Momentum Quantum
Number (l)
Value of l 0 1 2 3
Type of orbital s p d f
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Magnetic Quantum Number (ml)
• The magnetic quantum number
describes the three-dimensional
orientation of the orbital.
• Allowed values of ml are integers
ranging from -l to l:
−l ≤ ml ≤ l.
• Therefore, on any given energy level,
there can be up to 1 s orbital, 3 p
Electronic
orbitals, 5 d orbitals, 7 f orbitals, etc. Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Magnetic Quantum Number (ml)
• Orbitals with the same value of n form a shell.
• Different orbital types within a shell are
subshells.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
s Orbitals
• The value of l for s
orbitals is 0.
• They are spherical in
shape.
• The radius of the
sphere increases with
the value of n.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
p Orbitals
• The value of l for p orbitals is 1.
• They have two lobes with a node between
them.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
d Orbitals
• The value of l for a
d orbital is 2.
• Four of the five d
orbitals have 4
lobes; the other
resembles a p
orbital with a
doughnut around
the center.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Spin Quantum Number, ms
• In the 1920s, it was
discovered that two
electrons in the same
orbital do not have
exactly the same energy.
• The “spin” of an electron
describes its magnetic
field, which affects its
energy. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Spin Quantum Number, ms
• This led to a fourth
quantum number, the
spin quantum number,
ms.
• The spin quantum
number has only 2
allowed values: +1/2
and −1/2.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Pauli Exclusion Principle
• No two electrons in the
same atom can have
exactly the same energy.
• Therefore, no two
electrons in the same
atom can have identical
sets of quantum
numbers.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Electron Configurations
• This shows the
distribution of all
electrons in an atom.
• Each component
consists of
– A number denoting the
energy level,
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Electron Configurations
• This shows the
distribution of all
electrons in an atom
• Each component
consists of
– A number denoting the
energy level,
– A letter denoting the type
of orbital,
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Electron Configurations
• This shows the
distribution of all
electrons in an atom.
• Each component
consists of
– A number denoting the
energy level,
– A letter denoting the type
of orbital,
– A superscript denoting
the number of electrons
in those orbitals. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Orbital Diagrams
• Each box in the
diagram represents
one orbital.
• Half-arrows represent
the electrons.
• The direction of the
arrow represents the
relative spin of the
electron. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Hund’s Rule
“For degenerate
orbitals, the lowest
energy is attained
when the number of
electrons with the
same spin is
maximized.”
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Periodic Table
• We fill orbitals in
increasing order of
energy.
• Different blocks on the
periodic table (shaded
in different colors in
this chart) correspond
to different types of
orbitals. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Some Anomalies
Some
irregularities
occur when there
are enough
electrons to half-
fill s and d
orbitals on a
given row.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Some Anomalies
For instance, the
electron
configuration for
copper is
[Ar] 4s1 3d5
rather than the
expected
[Ar] 4s2 3d4.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Some Anomalies
• This occurs
because the 4s
and 3d orbitals
are very close in
energy.
• These anomalies
occur in f-block
atoms, as well.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2009, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
