ATOMIC STRUCTURE

1.1.1 Particles in the Atom & Atomic Structure YOUR NOTES

Structure of an Atom

 All matter is composed of atoms, which are the smallest

parts of an element that can take place in chemical
reactions
 Atoms are mostly made up of empty space around a very
small, dense nucleus that contains protons and neutrons
 The nucleus has an overall positive charge
o The protons have a positive charge and the
neutrons have a neutral charge
 Negatively charged electrons are found in orbitals in the
empty space around the nucleus

Subatomic Particles

 The protons, neutrons and electrons that an atom is
made up of are called subatomic particles
 These subatomic particles are so small that it is not
possible to measure their masses and charges
using conventional units (such as grams or coulombs)
 Instead, their masses and charges are compared to each
other, and so are called ‘relative atomic masses’ and
‘relative atomic charges’
 These are not actual charges and masses but charges and
masses of particles relative to each other
o Protons and neutrons have a very similar mass,
so each is assigned a relative mass of 1 o Electrons
are 1836
times
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
smaller than a proton and neutron, and so their YOUR NOTES
mass is often described as being negligible
 The relative mass and charge of the subatomic particles
are:

Relative mass & charge of subatomic particles table

Exam Tip
You can see from the table how the relative mass of an
electron is almost negligible

The charge of a single electron is -1.602 x 10-19  coulombs,

whereas the charge of a proton is +1.602 x 10-19  coulombs.
So, relative to each other, their charges are -1 and +1
respectively

Atoms: Key Terms

 The atomic number (or proton number) is the number

of protons in the nucleus of an atom and has
the symbol Z
o The atomic number is also equal to the number
of electrons present in a neutral atom of an
element
o E.g. the atomic number of lithium is 3, meaning
that a neutral lithium atom has 3 protons and
therefore, also has 3 electrons
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The mass number (or nucleon number) is the total YOUR NOTES
number of protons + neutrons in the nucleus of an
atom, and has the  symbol A
 The number of neutrons can be calculated by:

Number of neutrons = mass number – atomic number

o Protons and neutrons are also called nucleons,

because they are found in the nucleus

Exam Tip

1.1.2 Mass, Charge & Subatomic Particles

Mass & Charge Distribution
 The mass of an atom is concentrated in the nucleus,
because the nucleus contains the heaviest subatomic
particles (the neutrons and protons)
o The mass of the electron is negligible
 The nucleus is also positively charged due to the
protons
 Electrons orbit the nucleus of the atom, contributing very
little to its overall mass, but creating a ‘cloud’ of
negative charge.
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The electrostatic attraction between the positive
nucleus and negatively charged electrons orbiting
around it is what holds an atom together

Behavior of Subatomic Particles in an Electric Field

 Protons, neutrons and electrons behave differently when

they move at the same velocity in an electric field
 When a beam of electrons is fired past the electrically
charged plates, the electrons are deflected very
easily away from the negative plate towards the positive
plate
o This proves that the electrons
are negatively charged; like charges repel each
other
o It also shows that electrons have a very small
mass, as they are easily deflected
 A beam of protons is deflected away from the positive
plate and towards the negative plate
o This proves that the proton is positively charged
o As protons are deflected less than electrons, this
also shows that protons are heavier than
electrons
 A beam of neutrons is not deflected at all

YOUR NOTES
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o Which proves that the particle is neutral in YOUR NOTES
character; it is not attracted to, or repelled by,
the negative or positive plate.

1.1.3 Determining Subatomic Structure

Determining the Subatomic Structure of Atoms &
Ions
 An atom is neutral and has no overall charge
 Ions on the other hand are formed when atoms
either gain or lose electrons, causing them to
become charged
 The number of subatomic particles in atoms and ions
can be determined given their atomic (proton) number,
mass (nucleon) number and charge

Protons

 The atomic number of an atom and ion determines which

element it is
 Therefore, all atoms and ions of the same element have
the same number of protons (atomic number) in the
nucleus
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o E.g. lithium has an atomic number of 3 (three
protons) whereas beryllium has atomic number
of 4 (4 protons)
 The number of protons equals the atomic (proton)
number
 The number of protons of an unknown element can be
calculated by using its mass number and number of
neutrons:

Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons

Number of protons = mass number – number of neutrons

Electrons

 An atom is neutral and therefore has the same number

of protons and electrons
 Ions have a different number of electrons to their atomic
number depending on their charge
o A positively charged ion has lost electrons and
therefore has fewer electrons than protons
o A negatively charged ion has gained electrons
and therefore has more electrons than protons

Neutrons

 The mass and atomic numbers can be used to find the

number of neutrons in ions and atoms:

Number of neutrons = mass number (A) – number of protons

(Z)

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 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
1.1.4 Atomic & Ionic Radius YOUR NOTES
Atomic & Ionic Radius
Atomic radius

 The atomic radius of an element is a measure of the size

of an atom
 It is half the distance between the two nuclei of two
covalently bonded atoms of the same type

 Atomic radii show predictable patterns across the

Periodic Table
o They generally decrease across each Period
o They generally increase down each Group
 These trends can be explained by
the electron shell theory
o Atomic radii decrease as you move across a
Period as the atomic number increases (increased
positive nuclear charge) but at the same time
extra electrons are added to the
same principal quantum shell
o The larger the nuclear charge, the greater the pull
of the nuclei on the electrons which results in
smaller atoms
o Atomic radii increase moving down a Group as
there is an increased number of shells going
down the Group
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o The electrons in the inner shells repel the
electrons in the outermost
shells, shielding them from the positive nuclear
charge
o This weakens the pull of the nuclei on the
electrons resulting in larger atoms

 The diagram shows that the atomic radius increases

sharply between the noble gas at the end of each period
and the alkali metal at the beginning of the next period
 This is because the alkali metals at the beginning of the
next period have one extra principal quantum shell
o This increases shielding of the outermost
electrons and therefore increases the atomic
radius

Ionic radius

 The ionic radius of an element is a measure of the size

of an ion
 Ionic radii show predictable patterns
o Ionic radii increase with increasing negative
charge

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 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o Ionic radii decrease with increasing positive
charge
 These trends can also be explained by
the electron shell theory
o Ions with negative charges are formed by
atoms accepting extra electrons while
the nuclear charge remains the same
o The outermost electrons are further away from
the positively charged nucleus and are therefore
held only weakly to the nucleus which increases
the ionic radius
o The greater the negative charge, the larger the
ionic radius
o Positively charged ions are formed by
atoms losing electrons
o The nuclear charge remains the same but there
are now fewer electrons which undergo
a greater electrostatic force of attraction to the
nucleus which decreases the ionic radius
o The greater the positive charger, the smaller the
ionic radius

YOUR NOTES 1.1.5 Isotopes

 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Isotopes: Basics YOUR NOTES

 Isotopes are atoms of the same element that contain

the same number of protons and electrons but a
different number of neutrons
 The symbol for an isotope is
the chemical symbol (or word) followed by
a dash and then the mass number
o Eg. carbon-12 and carbon-14 are isotopes of
carbon containing 6 and 8 neutrons
respectively

Isotopes: Chemical & Physical Properties

 Isotopes have similar chemical properties but different

physical properties

Chemical properties

 Isotopes of the same element display the same chemical

characteristics
 This is because they have the same number of electrons
in their outer shells
 Electrons take part in chemical reactions and therefore
determine the chemistry of an atom
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Physical properties YOUR NOTES

 The only difference between isotopes is the number

of neutrons
 Since these are neutral subatomic particles, they only
add mass to the atom
 As a result of this, isotopes have different physical
properties such as small differences in
their mass and density

1.1.6 Electronic Structure

Electron Shells: Basics
Shells
 The arrangement of electrons in an atom is called
the electronic configuration
 Electrons are arranged around the nucleus in principal
energy levels or principal quantum shells
 Principal quantum numbers (n) are used to number the
energy levels or quantum shells
o The lower the principal quantum number, the
closer the shell is to the nucleus
o The higher the principal quantum number, the
lesser the energy of the shell
 Each principal quantum number has a fixed number of
electrons it can hold
o n = 1 : up to 2 electrons
o n = 2 : up to 8 electrons
o n = 3 : up to 18 electrons
o n = 4 : up to 32 electrons
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Subshells YOUR NOTES

 The principal quantum shells are split

into subshells which are given the letters s, p and d
o Elements with more than 57 electrons also have
an f shell
o The energy of the electrons in the subshells
increases in the order s < p < d
 The order of subshells appear to overlap for the higher
principal quantum shells as seen in the diagram below:

Orbitals

 Subshells contain one or more atomic orbitals

 Orbitals exist at specific energy levels and electrons can
only be found at these specific levels, not in between
them
o Each atomic orbital can be occupied by a
maximum of two electrons
 This means that the number of orbitals in each subshell
is as follows:
o s : one orbital (1 x 2 = total of 2 electrons)
o p : three orbitals ( 3 x 2 = total of 6 electrons)
o d : five orbitals (5 x 2 = total of 10 electrons)
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o f : seven orbitals (7 x 2 = total of 14 electrons YOUR NOTES
 The orbitals have specific 3-D shapes

 Note that the shape of the d orbitals is not required at AS

Level

Ground state

 The ground state is the most stable electronic

configuration of an atom which has the lowest amount
of energy
 This is achieved by filling the subshells of energy with
the lowest energy first (1s)
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The order of the subshells in terms of increasing energy
does not follow a regular pattern at n= 3 and higher.

1.1.7 Electron Subshells & Orbitals

Electron Orbitals

 Each shell can be divided further into subshells,

labelled s, p, d and f
 Each subshell can hold a specific number of orbitals:
o s subshell : 1 orbital
o p subshell : 3 orbitals labelled px, py and pz
o d subshell : 5 orbitals
o f subshell : 7 orbitals
 Each orbital can hold a maximum number of 2
electrons so the maximum number of electrons in each
subshell are as follows:
o s : 1 x 2 = total of 2 electrons
o p : 3 x 2 = total of 6 electrons
o d : 5 x 2 = total of 10 electrons
o f : 7 x 2 = total of 14 electrons

YOUR NOTES
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
In the ground state, orbitals in the same subshell have YOUR NOTES
the same energy and are said to be degenerate, so the
energy of a px orbital is the same as a py orbital

Summary of the arrangement of electrons in atoms table

 ATOMIC STRUCTURE YOUR NOTES
Subshells & Energy

 The principal quantum shells increase in energy with

increasing principal quantum number
o E.g. n = 4 is higher in energy than n = 2
 The subshells increase in energy as follows: s ＜ p ＜ d
＜f
o The only exception to these rules is the 3d orbital
which has slightly higher energy than the 4s
orbital
o Because of this, the 4s orbital is filled before the
3d orbital
 All the orbitals in the same subshell have the same
energy and are said to be degenerate
o E.g. px, py and pz are all equal in energy.

The s & p Orbitals

s orbitals

 The s orbitals are spherical in shape

 The size of the s orbitals increases with increasing shell
number
o E.g. the s orbital of the third quantum shell (n =
3) is bigger than the s orbital of
the first quantum shell (n = 1)
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE YOUR NOTES

p orbitals

 The p orbitals are dumbbell-shaped

 Every shell has three p orbitals except for the first one
(n = 1)
 The p orbitals occupy the x, y and z-axis and point at
right angles to each other so are
oriented perpendicular to one another
 The lobes of the p orbitals
become larger and longer with increasing shell number

Electron Configurations: Basics

 The electron configuration gives information about the

number of electrons in each shell,
subshell and orbital of an atom
 The subshells are filled in order of increasing energy

Electron Configurations: Explained

 Electrons can be imagined as small spinning

charges which rotate around their own axis in either
a clockwise or anticlockwise direction
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o The spin of the electron is represented by its
direction

 Electrons with similar spin repel each other which is

also called spin-pair repulsion
 Electrons will therefore occupy separate orbitals in the
same subshell to minimize this repulsion and have
their spin in the same direction
o Eg. if there are three electrons in a p subshell,
one electron will go into each px, py and pz orbital

 Electrons are only paired when there are no more empty

orbitals available within a subshell in which case the
spins are the opposite spins to minimize repulsion
o Eg. if there are four electrons in a p subshell, one
p orbital contains 2 electrons with opposite spin
and two orbitals contain one electron only

 The principal quantum number indicates the energy level

of a particular shell but also indicates the energy of the o A 2p
electrons in that shell electron is in
the second
YOUR NOTES
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
shell and therefore has an energy corresponding
to n = 2
 Even though there is repulsion between negatively
charged electrons (inter-electrons repulsion), they
occupy the same region of space in orbitals
 This is because the energy required to jump
to successive empty orbital is greater than the inter-
electron repulsion
 For this reason, they pair up and occupy the lower
energy levels first.

Electron Box Notation

 The electron configuration can also be represented

using the electrons in boxes notation
 Each box represents an atomic orbital
 The boxes are arranged in order of increasing energy
from lowest to highest
 The electrons are represented by opposite arrows to
show the spin of the electrons
o Eg. the box notation for titanium is shown below
o Note that since the 3d subshell cannot be either
full or half full, the second 4s electron is not
promoted to the 3d level and stays in the 4s
orbital

Free Radicals
YOUR NOTES
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
A free radical is a species with one or more unpaired
electron
 The unpaired electron in the free radical is shown as
a dot
o Eg. a chlorine free radical has the electron
configuration 1s22s22p63s23p5
o Two of the three p orbitals have paired electrons
whereas one of them has an unpaired electron

Exam Tip

Free radicals are formed when a molecule

undergoes homolytic fission where the two
electrons of a covalent bond are split evenly
between the two atoms.

Determining Electronic Configurations

 Writing out the electronic configuration tells us how

the electrons in an atom or ion are arranged in their
shells, subshells and orbitals
 This can be done using the full electron configuration or
the shorthand version
o The full electron configuration describes the
arrangement of all electrons from the 1s subshell
up

YOUR NOTES
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o The shorthand electron configuration includes
using the symbol of the nearest
preceding noble gas to account for however
many electrons are in that noble gas
 Ions are formed when atoms lose or gain electrons
o Negative ions are formed by adding electrons to
the outer subshell
o Positive ions are formed by removing electrons
from the outer subshell
o The transition metals fill the 4s subshell before
the 3d subshell but lose electrons from the 4s
first and not from the 3d subshell (the 4s subshell
is lower in energy)
 The Periodic Table is split up into four main blocks
depending on their electronic configuration:
o s block elements
 Have their valence electron(s) in an s
orbital
o p block elements
 Have their valence electron(s) in a p
orbital
o d block elements
 Have their valence electron(s) in a d
orbital
o f block elements
 Have their valence electron(s) in an f
orbital.

Exceptions
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Chromium and copper have the following electron
configurations, which are different to what you may
expect:
o Cr is [Ar] 3d5 4s1 not [Ar] 3d4 4s2
o Cu is [Ar] 3d10 4s1 not [Ar] 3d9 4s2
 This is because the [Ar] 3d5 4s1 and [Ar]
3d10 4s1 configurations are energetically stable

Answer 1: Potassium has 19 electrons so the full electronic

configuration is:

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1

The 4s orbital is lower in energy than the 3d subshell and is

therefore filled first

The nearest preceding noble gas to potassium is argon which

accounts for 18 electrons so the shorthand electron
configuration is:

[Ar] 4s1

Answer 2: Calcium has 20 electrons so

the full electronic configuration is:

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2

The 4s orbital is lower in energy than the 3d subshell and is

therefore filled first

The shorthand version is [Ar] 4s2 since argon is the nearest

preceding noble gas to calcium which accounts for 18 electrons

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 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Answer 3: Gallium has 31 electrons so YOUR NOTES
the full electronic configuration is:

 [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p1

Answer 4: What this means is that if you ionise calcium and

remove two of its outer electrons, the electronic configuration of
the Ca2+ ion is identical to that of argon

Ca2+ is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6                                                           

Ar is also 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6

1.1.10 Ionisation Energy

First Ionisation Energy

 The Ionisation Energy (IE) of an element is the

amount of energy required to remove one mole of
electrons from one mole of gaseous atoms of an
element to form one mole of gaseous ions
 Ionisation energies are measured under standard
conditions which are 298 K and 1 atm
 The units of IE are kilojoules per mole (kJ mol-1)
 The first ionisation energy (IE1) is the energy
required to remove one mole of electrons from one
mole of atoms of an element to form one mole of 1+
ions
o E.g. the first ionisation energy of gaseous
calcium:

Ca(g) → Ca+ (g) + e–          IE1 = +590 kJ mol-1

Ionisation Energies: Equations

 The second ionisation energy (IE2) is the energy

required to remove the second mole of electrons from
each +1 ion in a mole of gaseous +1 ions, to form one
mole of +2 ions
 The third ionisation energy (IE3) is the energy
required to remove the third mole of electrons from
each +2 ion in a mole of gaseous +2 ions, to form one
mole of +3 ions
 And so on…
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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The electrons from an atom can be continued to be YOUR NOTES
removed until only the nucleus is left
 This sequence of ionisation energies is
called successive ionisation energies

Successive Ionization Energies of Beryllium Table

Exam Tip

Remember that equations to represent ionisation energies

must have gaseous (g) state symbols for
the atoms and ions but not for the electrons.

You will lose the mark in your exam if you do not include
the state symbols, even if the question does not specify for
you to include them.

1.1.11 Ionisation Energy Trends

Ionisation Energies: Trends

 Ionisation energies show periodicity – a trend across a

period of the Periodic Table
 As could be expected from their electronic
configuration, the group I metals have a relatively low
ionisation energy, whereas the noble gases have very
high ionisation energies
 The size of the first ionisation energy is affected by
four factors:
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
o Size of the nuclear charge YOUR NOTES
 The nuclear charge increases with
increasing atomic number, which
means that there are
greater attractive forces between the
nucleus and electrons, so more energy
is required to overcome these attractive
forces when removing an electron
o Distance of outer electrons from the nucleus
 Electrons in shells that are further away
from the nucleus are less attracted to
the nucleus – the nuclear attraction is
weaker – so the further the outer
electron shell is from the nucleus,
the lower the ionisation energy
o Shielding effect of inner electrons
 The shielding effect is when the
electrons in full inner shells repel
electrons in outer shells, preventing
them from feeling the full nuclear
charge, so the more shells an atom has,
the greater the shielding effect, and the
lower the ionisation energy
o Spin-pair repulsion
 Electrons in the same atomic orbital in
a subshell repel each other more than
electrons in different atomic orbitals
which makes it easier to remove an
electron (which is why the first
ionization energy is always the lowest)
 So, the first ionisation energy increases across a
period and decreases down a group
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Ionisation energy across a period YOUR NOTES

 The ionisation energy over a period increases due to

the following factors:
o Across a period the nuclear charge increases
o This causes the atomic radius of the atoms
to decrease, as the outer shell is pulled closer
to the nucleus, so the distance between the
nucleus and the outer electrons decreases
o The shielding by inner shell electrons remain
reasonably constant as electrons are being
added to the same shell
o It becomes harder to remove an electron as
you move across a period; more energy is
needed
o So, the ionisation energy increases
 There is a rapid decrease in ionisation energy between
the last element in one period, and the first element in
the next period because:
o There is increased distance between the
nucleus and the outer electrons as you have
added a new shell
o There is increased shielding by inner electrons
because of the added shell
o These two factors outweigh the
increased nuclear charge
 There is a slight decrease in
IE1 between beryllium and boron as the fifth electron
in boron is in the 2p subshell, which is further away
from the nucleus than the 2s subshell of beryllium
o Beryllium has a first ionisation energy of 900
kJ mol-1 as its electron configuration is 1s2 2s2
o Boron has a first ionisation energy of 800 kJ
mol-1 as its electron configuration
is 1s2 2s2 2px1
 There is a slight decrease in
IE1 between nitrogen and oxygen and phosphorus du
e to spin-pair repulsion in the 2px orbital of oxygen
o Nitrogen has a first ionisation energy of 1400
kJ mol-1 as its electron configuration is
1s2 2s2 2px1 2py1 2pz1
o Oxygen has a first ionisation energy of 1310
kJ mol-1 as its electron configuration is
1s2 2s2 2px2 2py1 2pz1
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Ionisation energy down a group YOUR NOTES

 The ionisation energy down a group decreases due to

the following factors:
o The number of protons in the atom is
increased, so the nuclear charge increases
o But, the atomic radius of the atoms increases
as you are adding more shells of electrons,
making the atoms bigger
o So, the distance between the nucleus and outer
electron increases as you descend the group
o The shielding by inner shell
electrons increases as there are more shells of
electrons
o These factors outweigh the increased nuclear
charge, meaning it becomes easier to remove
the outer electron as you descend a group
o So, the ionisation energy decreases

Ionisation energy trends across a period & going down a

group table
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Successive ionisation energies of an element YOUR NOTES

 The successive ionisation energies of an
element increase
 This is because once you have removed the outer
electron from an atom, you have formed a positive ion
 Removing an electron from a positive ion is more
difficult than from a neutral atom
 As more electrons are removed, the attractive forces
increase due to decreasing shielding and an increase in
the proton to electron ratio
 The increase in ionisation energy, however, is not
constant and is dependent on the atom’s electronic
configuration
 Taking calcium as an example:

Ionisation energies of calcium table

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ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The first electron removed has a low IE1 as it is easily
removed from the atom due to the spin-pair repulsion of
the electrons in the 4s orbital YOUR NOTES
 The second electron is more difficult to remove than the
first electron as there is no spin-pair repulsion
 The third electron is much more difficult to remove than
the second one corresponding to the fact that the third
electron is in a principal quantum shell which is closer
to the nucleus (3p)

 Removal of the fourth electron is more difficult as the

orbital is no longer full, and there is less spin-pair
repulsion.

Exam Tip

It is easy to remove electrons from a full subshell as they

undergo spin-pair repulsion.

It gets more difficult to remove electrons from principal

quantum shells that get closer to the nucleus as there is
less shielding and an increase in attractive forces between
the electrons and nuclear charge.

1.1.12 Ionisation Energies & Electronic

Configurations
Ionisation Energies: Explained

 Energy is required to remove an outer shell electron as

this involves breaking the attractive forces between the
electron and the positively charged nucleus
 There are several factors which affect the magnitude of
the ionisation energy:
 Nuclear charge
o Positive nuclear charge increases with increasing
number of protons
o The greater the positive charge, the greater the
attractive forces between the outer electron(s)
and the nucleus
o More energy is required to overcome these forces
so ionisation energy increases with increasing
nuclear charge
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
 Shielding YOUR NOTES
o Electrons repel each other and electrons
occupying the inner shells repel electrons located
in shells further outside the nucleus and prevent
them from feeling the full effect of the nuclear
charge
o The greater the shielding effect is, the weaker the
attractive forces between the positive nucleus and
the negatively charged electrons
o Less energy is required to overcome the weakened
attractive forces so ionisation
energy decreases with increasing shielding effects

 Atomic/ionic radius
o The larger the radius, the greater the distance
between the nucleus and the outer shell
electron(s)
o Increasing distance weakens the strength of the
attractive forces
o Larger atoms/ions also result in
greater shielding due to the presence of more
inner electrons
o Less energy is required to remove the outer shell
electron(s) so ionisation energy decreases with
increasing atomic/ionic radius
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE YOUR NOTES

 Spin-pair repulsion
o Spin pair repulsion occurs when the electron
being removed is spin paired with another
electron in the same orbital
o The proximity of the like charges of electrons in
the orbital results in repulsion
o Less energy is required to remove one of the
electrons so ionisation energy decreases when
there is spin-pair repulsion

Ionisation Energies: Electronic Configuration

 Successive ionisation data can be used to:

o Predict or confirm the simple electronic
configuration of elements
o Confirm the number of electrons in the outer
shell of an element
o Deduce the Group an element belongs to in the
Periodic Table
 By analyzing where the large jumps appear and the
number of electrons removed when these large jumps
occur, the electron configuration of an atom can be
determined
 Na, Mg and Al will be used as examples to deduce the
electronic configuration and positions of elements in the
Periodic Table using their successive ionisation energies
 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Successive ionisation energies table

Sodium

 For sodium, there is a huge jump from the first to

the second ionisation energy, indicating that it is much
easier to remove the first electron than the second
 Therefore, the first electron to be removed must be the
last electron in the valence shell thus Na belongs to
group I
 The large jump corresponds to moving from the 3s to the
full 2p subshell
Na       1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1

Magnesium

 There is a huge increase from the second to

the third ionisation energy, indicating that it is far easier
to remove the first two electrons than the third
 Therefore the valence shell must contain only two
electrons indicating that magnesium belongs to group II
 The large jump corresponds to moving from the 3s to the
full 2p subshell
Mg       1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2

Aluminium

 There is a huge increase from the third to

the fourth ionisation energy, indicating that it is far
easier to remove the first three electrons than the fourth.

YOUR NOTES
 
ATOMIC STRUCTURE
The 3p electron and 3s electrons are relatively easy to
remove compared with the 2p electrons which are
located closer to the nucleus and experience
greater nuclear charge
 This is due to weakened shielding effects through the
loss of three electrons

 The large jump corresponds to moving from the third

shell to the second shell
Al         1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1

Exam Tip
Find the large jumps by subtracting the successive ionisation
energies from each other to identify when an electron has
been removed from a different subshell.