CHAPTER 8: Electron configurations,

Atomic Properties and the Periodic Table

1. The Periodic Table & Electron configuration:
The Aufbau Principle, Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hunds Rule
spdf notation and orbital diagrams
2. Periodic Atomic Properties of the Elements
Shielding and Zeff
Atomic radii
Ionic radii
Ionization energies
Electron affinities
Metallic character
SNSJ CHAP8 1
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
Recall that it is most probable to find e- close to the
nucleus rather than away from it. e- are away from
nucleus only when excited.

Recall Fig 8.5 e- fill up subshells with lowest E first

Electron configuration is a system that we use to write

the address of e- at ground state

2 ways of writing electron configuration: spdf notation

and orbital diagram

SNSJ CHAP8 2
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
E.g. Hydrogen only has 1 electron which means that the
electron must occupy the lowest energy orbital which is
the 1s orbital.
The electron configuration of H is 1s1 which means that
the electron is located in the orbital of n=1 and the
superscript refers to the number of electrons in that
orbital which is 1

Orbital diagram for Hydrogen is

by convention, we draw arrow pointing upward first,
followed by arrow pointing downward

SNSJ CHAP8 3
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
3 things to apply when writing electron conf:
1. Aufbau Principle uses the idea of building up an
atom. A principle used to write the electron configuration
of multielectron atoms by adding e- to a H atom

2. Pauli Exclusion Principle: since electrons of the same

orbital have the same values of n, and m, then they
must have different values of ms. i.e. There can be no
more than 2 electrons in an orbital, and they must have
opposite spins

3. The Hunds rule states that the lowest energy

configuration for an atom is the one having the
maximum number of unpaired electrons with parallel
spins
SNSJ CHAP8 4
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
The Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hunds rule basically can be
explained in terms of the energy level of an atom. Minimum
e- repulsion is necessary to maintain the lowest energy state
of an atom.
With the exception of Cr and Cu, all elements has electron
configuration that follows Hunds rule. Cr is found to be
[Ar]4s13d5 while Cu is found to be [Ar]4s13d10 (because they
are most stable this way)
Recall: Transition metals can carry 1 or more charges due to
its complex d and f orbital shapes. There are 5 subshells in a d
orbital, and all d subshells are degenerate. Therefore, e- have
more choice in selecting the subshells in which it can occupy

SNSJ CHAP8 5
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
More spdf notations and orbital diagrams
Helium has 2 electrons. Therefore, both electrons will occupy
the 1s orbital keeping in mind that the 2 electrons spin in
opposite directions which allows us to write the electron
configuration of helium as 1s2

Lithium has 3 electrons. Therefore, just like helium, 2

electrons spinning in opposite directions occupy the 1s orbital,
and one electron occupying the next lowest energy orbital
which is the 2s orbital. Therefore, the electron configuration of
lithium is 1s22s1

6
SNSJ CHAP8
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
For nitrogen, 2 electrons of opposite spins occupy the 1s
orbital, 2 electrons of opposite spins occupy the 2s orbital and
3 electrons occupy the 2p orbital. All 3 electrons in the 2p
orbital are unpaired as that would correspond to Hunds rule.
Hence, the electron configuration of nitrogen is 1s22s22p3

For oxygen, the electron configuration is 1s22s22p4 in which

one of the 2p electrons will have paired up with the fourth
electron.

SNSJ CHAP8 7
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
We find that the electron configurations of the Group 8
elements are full (all available orbitals are completely
filled). This is why Group 8 elements are stable/inert and
monatomic.

In fact, because of their completely filled orbitals, we can

write the electron configuration of elements in terms of the
electron configuration of the noble gases (based on the
Aufbau Principle). E.g. K has electron configuration of
1s22s22p63s23p64s1 or we can simply write this as [Ar]4s1
This is known as condensed electronic conf.

SNSJ CHAP8 8
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
Types of e-:
1. Outer: e- occupying the outermost shell. E.g. Be has 2
outer e- in the 2s orbital
2. Inner/core: e- occupying inner shells that are completely
filled. E.g. Be has 2 inner e- in the 1s orbital
3. Valence: is the same as outer e- for main group
elements. For transition elements, must include e- in
the d orbital

Recall: elements in the same group have the same number

of valence electron. And this gave rise to similar chemical
properties of elements in the same group.

SNSJ CHAP8 9
The Periodic Table : Electron Configuration
Anions: produced when 1 or more e- are added into an
atom. Just like before, e- are added to the lowest E orbital
Cations: produced when 1 or more e- are removed from an
atom. For main group elements, e- are removed from the
highest n orbital first. For transition elements, e- are
removed from the highest n orbital before (n-1)d e- are
removed
The e- conf of ions are therefore possible by keeping track
of the number of e- present in that ion
E.g. K+ has e- conf of [Ar] ( or equivalently [Ar]4s0)
compared to its atomic e- conf of [Ar]4s1
Similarly for an anion like Br-, the e- conf is [Kr]

SNSJ CHAP8 10
Periodic Trends
Refer to Fig 8.21 p 315

Notice some similar physical appearance of metals and

nonmetals for the 3rd period elements

Recall that theres 1 additional e- in the valence shell of an

atom as you go across a period (left to right). 1 e- can cause
a lot of trouble!

Elements in the same group has similar chemical

properties because they have the same number of valence
e-
SNSJ CHAP8 11
Periodic Trends
Recall that an atom consists of p+, e-, n0.
e- feel the attraction of p+ in the nucleus and at the same
time, feel the repulsion by other e-. Attraction causes lower
E, repulsion causes higher E.
All atom attain lowest E possible by maximizing the p+ and
e- attraction and minimizing the electron-electron repulsion.
How does an atom do this? It is by making the subshells
expand and shrink depending on the number of e- in the
subshells.
With only 1 e- in the outer subshell, that single e- does not
feel much repulsion. When there is many e- in any subshell,
there is more electron-electron repulsion. Thus, the only
way to reduce this repulsion is by pulling the subshell closer
to the nucleus, thus maximizing the p+ and e- attraction and
minimizing the electron-electron repulsion.
SNSJ CHAP8 12
Periodic Trends
In fact, an atom will make the inner electrons (completed
shells) very close to the nucleus to attain lowest E possible.
This leaves the outer subshell further from the nucleus, and
the e- in it less attracted to the nucleus resulting in higher E
for that particular e-.

SNSJ CHAP8 13
Periodic Trends
Periodic trends are caused by 2 factors only:
1. Going down a group is due to increasing principle
quantum number, n
2. Going across the period is due to increasing Zeff

What is Zeff? Zeff is caused by shielding/screening of e-

Definition of shielding: the ability of other e-, especially the inner

e-, to lessen the nuclear attraction for outer e-
Definition of Zeff : the nuclear charge an e- actually experiences as
a result of shielding by other e-

SNSJ CHAP8 14
Atomic radii
Fig 8.16 p 332 Trend of atomic radii:

Going down a group: increasing atomic radii due to

increasing n

Across the period: decreasing atomic radii due to

increasing Zeff. This can be explained by the increasing
principal quantum number moving down a group

SNSJ CHAP8 15
Ionic radii
Ionic radii is slightly more complicated compared to atomic
radii. This is because cations are smaller than the atoms
from which they are formed, while anions are larger than
the atoms from which they are formed. Fig 8.29

WHY? Think about the increase or decrease in e- repulsion

after the formation of ions

Trend going down a group, ionic radii increase due to

increasing n

SNSJ CHAP8 16
Ionic radii
Trend across the period:
for cations: the greater the positive charge, the smaller
the ion
For anions: the greater the charge, the larger the ion

An isoelectronic species can either be atoms or ions having

the same number of e- (therefore, e- conf is also the same)
For a series of isoelectronic species (ions or atoms), the
greater the nuclear charge, the smaller the species. i.e. in
inc order of ionic radii, you would put cations prior to
anions, and species in higher period is always larger than
elements in lower period
SNSJ CHAP8 17
Ionization energy
Ionization energy (IE) is the energy needed to remove 1 mol
of e- from a gaseous atom/ion in the gaseous state
B(g) B+(g) + e- IE1 = 801 kJ/mol

IE1 is the first ionization energy corresponding to the 1st e-

removed from the element, IE2 is the second ionization
energy corresponding to the 2nd e- removed from the
element etc.

Notice the +ve sign which indicates an endothermic rxn. IE

is always positive because energy is required to remove e-
from a stable element/atom
SNSJ CHAP8 18
Ionization energy
It is of course easier to ionize Group 1 and 2 metals
compared to ionizing Group 7 elements because Group 1
and 2 metals readily give up e- to form cations
Therefore, we see an increase in IE1 going up a group due to
decreasing n and across a period due to increasing Zeff.
Anomalies or irregularities are observed for the following
elements: B, O, Al and S where they have a slight dip in IE1
Removing the first e- from these elements actually produces
a more stable condition for these elements (half-filled and
completely-filled orbitals are stable and desirable).
Therefore, it does not take much energy to remove their
first e-. A partially-filled orbital is unstable and undesirable.
SNSJ CHAP8 19
Ionization energy
Successive IE (IE1, IE2) shows more energy is required to
remove subsequent e- because e- are removed from a more
positively charged ion.

Table 8.4 shows how we can determine the group of

elements based on their successive IE trend.

The biggest jump in IE indicates the removal of the 1st core

e- from that element.

Group 1 elements show the biggest jump at IE2 while Group

2 elements show the biggest jump at IE3 etc.

SNSJ CHAP8 20
Electron affinity
First Electron Affinity (EA) is the energy involved when 1
mol of e- is added to a gaseous atom

F(g) + e- F-(g) EA1 = -382 kJ/mol

Notice the -ve sign which indicates an exothermic rxn. The

EA1 is usually ve. With the example of Halogens, a lot of
energy is released when a more stable (now octet
configuration) is achieved.

It is of course easier to add an e- to a Group 7 element

compared to adding e- to a Group 1 and 2 element because
Group 1 and 2 metals readily give up e- to form cations

Therefore, we see a more negative EA going up a group and

going across a period
SNSJ CHAP8 21
Electron affinity
Second EA is the energy change involved when 1 mol of e-
is added to a gaseous anion

F- (g) + e- F2-(g) EA2 > 0 kJ/mol

The EA1 is usually ve, but the EA2 is always +ve. EA2 is
always +ve because a lot of E is needed/absorbed to
overcome electrostatic repulsion when adding another e-

adding an e- to a negatively charged ion introduces more

repulsion than the element can cope. (note that now there is
2 additional e- whilst the number of proton remained the
same)

SNSJ CHAP8 22
Metallic character
A metallic element is such that it is easy to remove an
e- from its atom. This would correspond to an element
with low IE

Therefore, it is expected that we see more metallic

character going down a group and going from right to
left across the period

SNSJ CHAP8 23
Trends across a periodic table
Increasing IE, more negative EA, more nonmetallic character

Increasing atomic radii and metallic character

SNSJ CHAP8 24
Summary of Chap 7 & 8
Electrons and the way they are distributed in an atom are
key to many macroscopic phenomena. i.e. how e-
behaves at the microscopic level affects the macroscopic
world

A system will always try to reduce/maintain a low energy

for itself by rearranging itself

SNSJ CHAP8 25