ATOMIC ORBITALS AND QUANTUM NUMBERS
• Orbital – region where an electron is likely to be found (are basically wavefunctions)
• Wavefunction (ψ) – the precise trajectory of a particle
• The Schrodinger equation is used to calculate wave function and the corresponding energy
• Probability distribution – intensity of colour can be used to indicate the probability value of
finding an electron in an given point in space
• Orbital size is difficult to define precisely – picture it as a 3D electron density map
Energy levels
Example questions:
If an electron jumped from energy
level n = 5 to energy level n = 3, did
absorption or emission of a photon
occur?
Answer = emission because energy is lost
by release of a photon
If l=4, how many angular nodes does the
atom have?
Answer = the number of angular nodes is
equal to the value of l, so the number of
nodes is also 4
Types of orbitals
1s2 2p6
3d10
4f14
Pauli Exclusion principle
• No two electrons can have the same set of quantum numbers
• Therefore, two electrons in one orbital must have opposite spins
• No orbital can hold more than two electrons
Polyelectronic atoms (atoms with more than one electron)
• Electron correlation problem – since electron pathways are unknown, the electron
repulsions cannot be calculated exactly
• When electrons are placed in a particular quantum level, they ‘prefer’ the orbitals in the
following order
s→ p → d → f
Penetration effect
• An electron in the 2s orbital penetrates to the nucleus more than one in the 2p orbital
(attracted to the nucleus more strongly)
• Therefore, the 2s orbital is lower in energy than the 2p orbitals in a polyelectronic atom
Hund’s rule
• The lowest energy configuration for an atom is the one having the maximum
number of unpaired electrons
Orbital notation:
Valence electrons – the electrons in the outermost quantum level of an atom
e.g., 1s22s22p6 (valence electrons = 8)
o The elements in the same main group on the periodic table have the same valence electron
configuration
Atomic radii increases down the group – number of shells (n) increases, more shielding
Atomic radii decreases across the period – same number of shells but increased nuclear charge
Excited electron states
• In an excited-state electron configuration, an electron has been promoted from a lower energy
orbital to a higher energy orbital
• This occurs when the electron is given extra energy by absorbing a photon or collides with a
nearby atom or particle
• To determine the neutral element represented in an excited-state electron configuration, sum
the superscript numbers to determine the total number of electrons (equal to atomic number)
Orbital examples
n=3 contains sublevels s, p, and d
o s has 1 orbital (ml = 0)
o p has 3 orbitals (-1, 0, +1)
o d has 5 orbitals (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2)
o Altogether n=3 has 9 orbitals – each orbital has 2 electrons, so total electrons in n=3 is 18
n = 2 has eight electrons
o There are four orbitals (a single 2s orbital and three 2p orbitals)
How many electrons in an atom can be described by n = 3, l = 2
o There are 5 different ml values, so 10 electrons
How many electrons in an atom can be described by n = 3, l = 2, ml = -2
o 2 – there are only 2 electrons in each orbital
The number of subshells is equal to the principal quantum number (n)
o In n = 2 there are 2
What is the value of l in 4s
o For n = 4, l can have values 0, 1, 2, 3 (so there are s, p, d and f subshells)
o l = 0 is the s subshell
An electron is in one of the 3d orbitals – five the possible values of n, l, and m for this
electron
o In n = 3, it can have the value of 0, 1, 2
o The d orbital would be l = 2
o ml would be -2, -1, 0, 1 or 2
How many electrons can be accommodated by n = 4, l = 3
o l=3 is the f subshell
o There can be fourteen electrons as there are 7 orbitals
How many different orbitals in an l = 3 subshell
o 7 orbitals - -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3