Important Concepts

Bohr model of the atom

Quantum mechanical model of the atom
Electronic configurations
Atomic theory

Important Equations
λν = c
E = hν
PRACTICE EXERCISES
Multiple-Choice
1. Albert Einstein was given the Nobel Prize for the discovery and
explanation of the photoelectric effect. What is this effect?
(A) It is spectroscopy using visible light.
(B) It is the ejection of electrons from a surface by photons.
(C) It measures =E mc 2 for any element.

(D) It is another way of stating the Heisenberg uncertainty

principle.
2. Which orbital diagram represents the outer electrons of the ground
state of an element?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)

3. The wave-particle duality of nature applies to only

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 (A) everything
(B) light because of its wave properties
(C) gamma rays since they are the most energetic
electromagnetic radiation
(D) electrons because they determine the chemical nature of the
elements
4. Which of the following best depicts a p orbital?
(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

5. Calcium can have an electron in an orbital f

(A) if the calcium is in the elemental state
(B) if the calcium is in an excited state
(C) if the calcium is a positive ion
(D) if the calcium is a negative ion
6. What is the complete electron configuration for silicon?
(A) [Ne] 3 s 3p2 2

(B) 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p
2 2 6 2 4

(C) 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p
2 2 6 2 6 2 10 4

(D) 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p
2 2 6 2 2

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 x
7. Which electromagnetic wave has the highest energy? The -axis
y
is time, and the -axis is amplitude.

(A) Wave A
(B) Wave B
(C) Wave C
(D) Wave D
8. What is the wavelength of light that has a frequency of 4.00 ×
1014 s−1? (The speed of light is 3.00 × 108 m s−1.)
(A) 7.5 nm because this is the result of speed divided by
frequency
(B) 1,333 nm because this is the result of frequency divided by
speed
(C) 750. nm when the correct metric prefix is used
(D) 1.33 cm−1 since the speed of light should have units of
cm/s
9. Which of the following elements has the greatest number of p
electrons?
(A) Arsenic since it has the highest atomic number and so the
others can’t have more

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 (B) Silicon since it is alphabetically last in this group
d
(C) Iron since it has the most electrons
p
(D) Chlorine since it has 5 electrons in its period

10. Which of the following shows the valence electrons of an

uncharged atom of Sb?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)

11. Which region of the expanded periodic table has elements that
d
have electrons listed last in their electron configurations?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)

12. How many protons, neutrons, and electrons does the neutral
atom of the chromium-52 isotope have (also written as 52Cr)?
(A) 52 p, 28 n, and 52 e −

(B) 28 p, 24 n, and 24 e −

(C) 26 p, 26 n, and 26 e −

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 (D) 24 p, 28 n, and 24 e −

13. Which element has an electronic configuration that has the largest
number of unpaired electrons?
(A) Fe because it is in the middle of the d block and has 4
unpaired electrons
(B) Al since it forms the Al3+ ion and has all unpaired electrons
d
(C) Ag because silver has 9 electrons and 9 unpaired electrons
(D) Ni since it has 2 unpaired electrons

14. Which electronic configuration corresponds to that of a noble

gas?
s s 2p
(A) 1 2 2 2 6 3s 3p 4s because it has the most energy
2 6 1

levels
(B) 1s 2s 2p
2 2 6 3s 3p since it ends with s and p electrons
2 4

(C) 1s 2s 2p
2 2 6 3s 3p since it has the ns np structure of a
2 6 2 6

noble gas
(D) 1s 2s 2p
2 2 6 3s since it has the characteristic ns np
1

structure of a noble gas

15. Which electronic transition requires the addition of the most

energy?
(A) n n
= 1 to = 3 because this has the largest energy increase
(B) n n
= 5 to = 2 since this has the largest size decrease
(C) n = 2 to n = 3 because this has the smallest mass increase
(D) n = 4 to n = 1 because this has the largest momentum
decrease

16. What is the maximum number of valence electrons that any atom
may possess?
(A) 32 is the maximum number of electrons because the orbital s
p
can have 2 electrons, the orbital can have 6 electrons,

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 d f
the orbital can have 10 electrons, and the orbital can
have 14 electrons, which all add up to 32 electrons.
(B) 2 valence electrons are the most that an s orbital can
contain.
f
(C) 14 electrons are in the largest orbital.
s p
(D) 2 electrons and 6 electrons add up to 8, which is the
maximum number of valence electrons possible.

17. Which was used to determine the charge of the electron?

(A) The gold foil experiment
(B) Deflection of cathode rays by electric and magnetic fields
(C) The oil drop experiment
(D) The mass spectrometer

18. Which of the following principles is NOT part of Dalton’s atomic

theory?
(A) Chemical reactions are simple rearrangements of atoms.
(B) Atoms follow the law of multiple proportions.
(C) Each atom of an element is identical to every other atom of
that element.
(D) All matter is composed of atoms.

19. Which statement is correct?

(A) Technetium, Tc, has 15 p electrons.
(B) Argon has 18 valence electrons.
(C) Oxygen has 4 electrons.
f
(D) Tungsten has 14 electrons.

20. Which quantum number describes the shape of an orbital?

(A) The principal quantum number, n
ℓ
(B) , which is the second term in an electron configuration

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 (C) mℓ, because it tells the number of directions to which the
suborbitals point
(D) ms, which is the spin quantum number
21. You have just discovered a new, fundamental particle of nature.
When measuring its mass, you obtain the following data for four
samples:
4.72 × 10−34 gram
9.44 × 10−34 gram
1.18 × 10−33 gram
1.65 × 10−33 gram

Millikan found the mass of an electron by finding the common

factor in a mass of data. What is the common factor in the data
presented?
(A) 1.18 × 10−34 g
(B) 2.36 × 10−34 g
(C) 4.72 × 10−34 g
(D) 9.44 × 10−34 g

CHALLENGE
22. Which of the following is FALSE?
d
(A) The 4 orbitals are in the fourth period of the periodic table.
s
(B) The 7 orbitals are in the seventh period of the periodic
table.
f
(C) The 4 orbitals are in the sixth period of the periodic table.
(D) The 6s orbitals are spherical in shape.

23. The f sublevel may contain a maximum of

(A) 14 electrons

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 (B) 10 electrons
(C) 6 electrons
(D) 2 electrons

24. The valence electrons are

(A) all electrons in an atom beyond the preceding noble gas
(B) all outermost electrons in a sublevel
(C) s p
and any electrons in the highest energy level or shell
(D) electrons in the last unfilled sublevel

25. Which equation best expresses the energy of a photon?

(A)
(B) E = mc2

(C) E = IR
(D) E = hn
Answer Key
1. (B)
2. (C)
3. (A)
4. (B)
5. (B)
6. (D)
7. (C)
8. (C)
9. (A)
10. (C)
11. (C)
12. (D)
13. (A)
14. (C)
15. (A)

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