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2: Atomic Orbitals

  • Page ID
    401662
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    • 2.1: The Wave Behavior of Matter
    • 2.2: Electronic Structure of Atoms
      Electrons in atoms have quantized energies. The state of electrons in atoms is described by four quantum numbers. Electrons are organized into shells and subshells about the nucleus of an atom.
    • 2.3: Electron Configurations
      There are a set of general rules that are used to figure out the electron configuration of an atomic species: Aufbau Principle, Hund's Rule and the Pauli-Exclusion Principle.
    • 2.4: Electron Configurations and the Periodic Table
      The arrangement of electrons in atoms is responsible for the shape of the periodic table. Electron configurations can be predicted by the position of an atom on the periodic table
    • 2.5: Effective Nuclear Charge
      The calculation of orbital energies in atoms or ions with more than one electron (multielectron atoms or ions) is complicated by repulsive interactions between the electrons. The concept of electron shielding, in which intervening electrons act to reduce the positive nuclear charge experienced by an electron, allows the use of hydrogen-like orbitals and an effective nuclear charge (Zeff) to describe electron distributions in more complex atoms or ions.
    • 2.6: Slater's Rules
      Slater's rules allow you to estimate the effective nuclear charge from the real number of protons in the nucleus and the effective shielding of electrons in each orbital "shell" (e.g., to compare the effective nuclear charge and shielding 3d and 4s in transition metals). Slater's rules are fairly simple and produce fairly accurate predictions of things like the electron configurations and ionization energies.
    • 2.7: Magnetic Properties of Atoms and Ions
    • 2.8: Sizes of Atoms and Ions
    • 2.9: Ionization Energy
    • 2.10: Electron Affinities
    • 2.11: Electronegativity


    2: Atomic Orbitals is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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