Lecture Presentation

Chapter 6

Electronic
Structure of Atoms

© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.

 Electronic Structure

• This chapter is all about electronic

structure—the arrangement and energy of
electrons.
• It may seem odd to start by talking about
waves. However, extremely small particles
have properties that can only be explained
in this manner!

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Waves

• To understand the electronic structure of atoms, one must

understand the nature of electromagnetic radiation.
• Electromagnetic radiation moves as waves through
space at the speed of light.
• The distance between corresponding points on adjacent
waves is the wavelength (λ). Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Waves
• The number of waves
passing a given point per unit
of time is the frequency (ν).
• For waves traveling at the
same velocity, the longer the
wavelength, the smaller the
frequency.
• If the time associated with
the lines to the left is one
second, then the frequencies
would be 2 s–1 and 4 s–1,
respectively. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Electromagnetic Radiation

• All electromagnetic radiation travels at the same

velocity: The speed of light (c) is 3.00 × 108 m/s.
c = λν Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Electromagnetic Radiation

• There are many types of electromagnetic radiation.

• They have different wavelengths and energies from
each other.
• The typical wavelength unit used vary based on
the lengths.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.1 Concepts of Wavelength and Frequency
Two electromagnetic waves are represented in the
margin. (a) Which wave has the higher frequency?
(b) If one wave represents visible light and the other
represents infrared radiation, which wave is which?

Solution
(a) Wave 1 has a longer wavelength
(greater distance between peaks).
The longer the wavelength, the
lower the frequency ( = c/).
Thus, Wave 1 has the lower
frequency, and Wave 2 has the
higher frequency.
(b) The electromagnetic spectrum
(Figure 6.4) indicates that infrared
radiation has a longer wavelength
than visible light. Thus, Wave 1 is
infrared radiation.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.1 Concepts of Wavelength and Frequency
Continued

Practice Exercise 1
A source of electromagnetic radiation produces infrared light. Which of the following could be the wavelength of
the light?
(a) 3.0 nm (b) 4.7 cm (c) 66.8 m (d) 34.5 µm (e) 16.5 Å

Practice Exercise 2
Which type of visible light has a longer wavelelength, red or blue light?

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.2 Calculating Frequency from Wavelength
The yellow light given off by a sodium vapor lamp used for public lighting has a wavelength of 589 nm.
What is the frequency of this radiation?

Solution
Analyze We are given the wavelength, , of the radiation and asked to calculate its frequency, .

Plan The relationship between the wavelength and the frequency is given by Equation 6.1. We can
solve for  and use the values of  and c to obtain a numerical answer. (The speed of light, c, is 3.00 ×
108 m/s to three significant figures.)

Solve Solving Equation 6.1 for frequency gives  = c/. When we insert the values for c and , we note
that the units of length in these two quantities are different. We use a conversion factor to convert the
wavelength from nanometers to meters, so the units cancel:

Check The high frequency is reasonable because of the short wavelength. The units are proper
because frequency has units of “per second,” or s –1.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.2 Calculating Frequency from Wavelength
Continued

Practice Exercise 1
Consider the following three statements: (i) For any electromagnetic radiation, the product of the
wavelength and the frequency is a constant. (ii) If a source of light has a wavelength of 300 pm, its
frequency is 1.0 × 1018 Hz. (iii) The speed of ultraviolet light is greater than the speed of microwave
radiation. Which of these three statements is or are true? (a) Only one statement is true. (b) Statements (i)
and (ii) are true. (c) Statements (i) and (iii) are true. (d) Statements (ii) and (iii) are true. (e) All three
statements are true.

Practice Exercise 2
(a) A laser used in orthopedic spine surgery produces radiation with a wavelength of 2.10 µm. Calculate the
frequency of this radiation. (b) An FM radio station broadcasts electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of
103.4 MHz (megahertz; 1 MHz = 106 s–1). Calculate the wavelength of this radiation. The speed of light is
2.998 × 108 m/s to four significant figures.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Nature of Energy

The wave nature of light

does not explain how
an object can glow
when its temperature
increases.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Nature of Energy—Quanta

Max Planck explained

it by assuming that
energy comes in
packets called quanta
(singular: quantum).

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Photoelectric Effect
• Einstein used quanta to explain
the photoelectric effect.
• Each metal has a different
energy at which it ejects
electrons. At lower energy,
electrons are not emitted.
• He concluded that energy is
proportional to frequency:
E = hν
where h is Planck’s constant,
6.626 × 10−34 J∙s. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.3 Energy of a Photon
Calculate the energy of one photon of yellow light that has a wavelength of 589 nm.

Solution
Analyze Our task is to calculate the energy, E, of a photon, given its wavelength,  = 589 nm.

Plan We can use Equation 6.1 to convert the wavelength to frequency:  = c/. We can then use
Equation 6.3 to calculate energy: E = h

Solve The frequency, , is calculated from the given wavelength, as shown in Sample Exercise 6.2:

The value of the Planck constant, h, is given both in the text and in the table of physical constants on the
inside back cover of the text; thus we can easily calculate E:

Comment If one photon of radiant energy supplies 3.37 × 10 –19 J, we calculate that one mole of these
photons
will supply:

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.3 Energy of a Photon
Calculate the energy of one photon of yellow light that has a wavelength of 589 nm.

Practice Exercise 1
Which of the following expressions correctly gives the energy of a mole of photons with wavelength ?

(a) E = (b) E = (c) E = (d) E = (e) E =

Practice Exercise 2
(a) A laser emits light that has a frequency of 4.69 × 10 14 s–1. What is the energy of one photon of this
radiation? (b) If the laser emits a pulse containing 5.0 × 10 17 photons of this radiation, what is the total
energy of that pulse? (c) If the laser emits 1.3 × 10–2 J of energy during a pulse, how many photons are
emitted?

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Hydrogen Spectrum

• Johann Balmer (1885) discovered a simple

formula relating the four lines to integers.
• Johannes Rydberg advanced this formula.
(RH is called the Rydberg constant.)

• Neils Bohr explained why this mathematical

relationship works. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Bohr Model
• Niels Bohr adopted
Planck’s assumption
and explained these
phenomena in this way:
1) Only orbits of certain radii,
corresponding to specific
energies, are permitted for
the electron in a hydrogen
atom.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Bohr Model
2) An electron in a permitted
orbit is in an “allowed” energy
state. An electron in an
allowed energy state does
not radiate energy, and,
therefore, does not spiral into
the nucleus.
3) Energy is emitted or
absorbed by the electron only
as the electron changes from
one energy state to another.
This energy is is emitter of
absorbed as a photon that
has energy E = h. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 The Bohr Model
• Electrons in the lowest
energy state are in the
ground state.
• Any energy higher is called
an excited state.
• Since each orbit has a
specific value compared to
RH, transitions from one
energy level to another can
be calculated:
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Values of Transitions

• What do the values mean

using the Bohr Model?
• A positive ΔE means energy
is absorbed. A photon is
absorbed in this instance.
This happens if nf > ni.
• A negative ΔE means energy
is released. A photon is
emitted in this instance. This
happens if nf < ni.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.4 Electronic Transitions in the Hydrogen Atom
In the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom, electrons are confined to orbits with fixed radii, and those radii
can be calculated. The radii of the first four orbits are 0.53, 2.12, 4.76, and 8.46 Å, respectively, as
depicted below.
(a) If an electron makes a transition from the ni = 4 level to a lower-energy level, nf = 3, 2, or 1, which
transition would produce a photon with the shortest wavelength?
(b) What are the energy and wavelength of such a photon, and in which region of the electromagnetic
spectrum does it lie?
(c) The image on the right shows the output of a detector that measures the intensity of light emitted
from a sample of hydrogen atoms that have been excited so that each atom begins with an electron
in the n = 4 state. What is the final state, nf, of the transition being detected?

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.4 Electronic Transitions in the Hydrogen Atom
Continued

Solution
Analyze We are asked to determine the energy and wavelength associated with various transitions
involving an electron relaxing from the n = 4 state of the hydrogen atom to one of three lower-energy
states.

Plan Given the integers representing the initial and final states of the electron, we can use Equation 6.6
to calculate the energy of the photon emitted and then use the relationships E = h and c =  to convert
energy to wavelength. The photon with the highest energy will have the shortest wavelength because
photon energy is inversely proportional to wavelength.

Solve
(a) The wavelength of a photon is related to its energy through the relationship E = h = hc/. Hence, the
photon with the smallest wavelength will have the largest energy. The energy levels of the electron
orbits decrease as n decreases.

The electron loses the most energy on transitioning from the ni = 4 state to the nf = 1 state, and the
photon emitted in that transition has the highest energy and the smallest wavelength.

(b) We first calculate the energy of the photon using Equation 6.6 with ni = 4 and nf = 1:

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.4 Electronic Transitions in the Hydrogen Atom
Continued

Next we rearrange Planck’s relationship to calculate the frequency of the emitted photon.

Finally, we use the frequency to determine the wavelength.

Light with this wavelength falls in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

(c) From the graph, we estimate the wavelength of the photon to be approximately 480 nm. Starting
from the wavelength, it is easiest to estimate nf using Equation 6.4:

Rearranging:
So nf = 2, and the photons seen by the detector are those emitted when an electron transitions from
the nf = 4 to the nf = 2 state.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.4 Electronic Transitions in the Hydrogen Atom
Continued

Check Referring back to Figure 6.12, we confirm that the n = 4 to n = 1 transition should have the largest
energy of the three possible transitions.

Practice Exercise 1
In the top part of Figure 6.11, the four lines in the H atom spectrum are due to transitions from a level for
which ni > 2 to the nf = 2 level. What is the value of ni for the red line in the spectrum? (a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6
(e) 7

Practice Exercise 2
For each of the following transitions, give the sign of E and indicate whether a photon is emitted or
absorbed. Electronic
(a) n = 3 to n = 1 (b) n = 2 to n = 4 Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Limitations of the Bohr Model

• It only works for hydrogen!

• Classical physics would result in an electron
falling into the positively charged nucleus.
Bohr simply assumed it would not!
• Circular motion is not wave-like in nature.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Quantum Numbers

• Solving the wave equation gives a set

of wave functions, or orbitals, and their
corresponding energies.
• Each orbital describes a spatial
distribution of electron density.
• An orbital is described by a set of three
quantum numbers.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Principal Quantum Number (n)

• The principal quantum number, n,

describes the energy level on which the
orbital resides.
• The values of n are integers ≥ 1.
• These correspond to the values in the
Bohr model.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Angular Momentum Quantum Number (l)

• This quantum number defines the shape

of the orbital.
• Allowed values of l are integers ranging
from 0 to n − 1.
• Letter designate the different values of l.
This defines the shape of the orbitals.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Magnetic Quantum Number (ml)

• The magnetic quantum number describes

the three-dimensional orientation of the
orbital.
• Allowed values of ml are integers ranging
from −l to l including 0:
−l ≤ ml ≤ l
• Therefore, on any given energy level,
there can be up to 1 s orbital, 3 p orbitals,
5 d orbitals, 7 f orbitals, and so forth. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Magnetic Quantum Number (ml)
• Orbitals with the same value of n form an
electron shell.
• Different orbital types within a shell are subshells.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 s Orbitals

• The value of l for s orbitals is 0.

• They are spherical in shape.
• The radius of the sphere increases with the
value of n.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 p Orbitals
• The value of l for p orbitals is 1.
• They have two lobes with a node between them.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 d Orbitals

• The value of l for a

d orbital is 2.
• Four of the five d
orbitals have four
lobes; the other
resembles a p
orbital with a
doughnut around
the center.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 f Orbitals

• Very complicated shapes (not shown

in text)
• Seven equivalent orbitals in a sublevel
• l=3

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Energies of Orbitals—Hydrogen
• For a one-electron
hydrogen atom,
orbitals on the same
energy level have
the same energy.
• Chemists call them
degenerate orbitals.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.6 Subshells of the Hydrogen Atom
(a) Without referring to Table 6.2, predict the number of subshells in the fourth shell, that is, for n = 4. (b)
Give the label for each of these subshells. (c) How many orbitals are in each of these subshells?

Solution
Analyze and Plan We are given the value of the principal quantum number, n. We need to determine the
allowed values of l and ml for this given value of n and then count the number of orbitals in each subshell.

Solve There are four subshells in the fourth shell, corresponding to the four possible values of l (0, 1, 2, and
3).

These subshells are labeled 4s, 4p, 4d, and 4f. The number given in the designation of a subshell is the
principal quantum number, n; the letter designates the value of the angular momentum quantum number, l:
for l = 0, s; for l = 1, p; for l = 2, d; for l = 3, f. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.6 Subshells of the Hydrogen Atom
Continued

There is one 4s orbital (when l = 0, there is only one possible value of ml: 0). There are three 4p orbitals (when l = 1,
there are three possible values of ml: 1, 0, –1). There are five 4d orbitals (when l = 2, there are five allowed values of
ml: 2, 1, 0, –1, –2). There are seven 4f orbitals (when l = 3, there are seven permitted values of ml: 3, 2, 1, 0, –1, –2, –3).

Practice Exercise 1
An orbital has n = 4 and ml = –1. What are the possible values of l for this orbital?
(a) 0, 1, 2, 3 (b) –3, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3 (c) 1, 2, 3 (d) –3, –2 (e) 1, 2, 3, 4

Practice Exercise 2
(a) What is the designation for the subshell with n = 5 and l = 1? (b) How many orbitals are in this subshell?
(c) Indicate the values of ml for each of these orbitals.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Spin Quantum Number, ms

• In the 1920s, it was discovered that

two electrons in the same orbital do
not have exactly the same energy.
• The “spin” of an electron describes
its magnetic field, which affects its
energy.
• This led to the spin quantum
number, ms.
• The spin quantum number has only
two allowed values, +½ and –½.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Pauli Exclusion Principle
• No two electrons in the same atom can have the
same set of four quantum numbers.
• Therefore, no two electrons in the same atom can
have the exact same energy.
• This means that every electron in an atom must
differ by at least one of the four quantum number
values: n, l, ml, and ms.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Electron Configurations
• The way electrons are distributed in an atom is
called its electron configuration.
• The most stable organization is the lowest
possible energy, called the ground state.
• Each component consists of
– a number denoting the energy level;

4p 5 Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Electron Configurations
• The way electrons are distributed in an atom is
called its electron configuration.
• The most stable organization is the lowest
possible energy, called the ground state.
• Each component consists of
– a number denoting the energy level;
– a letter denoting the type of orbital;

4p 5 Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Electron Configurations
• The way electrons are distributed in an atom is
called its electron configuration.
• The most stable organization is the lowest
possible energy, called the ground state.
• Each component consists of
– a number denoting the energy level;
– a letter denoting the type of orbital;
– a superscript denoting the number of electrons in those
orbitals.

4p 5 Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Orbital Diagrams

• Each box in the

diagram represents
one orbital.
• Half-arrows represent
the electrons.
• The direction of the
arrow represents the
relative spin of the
electron.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Hund’s Rule
“When filling
degenerate orbitals
the lowest energy is
attained when the
number of electrons
having the same
spin is maximized.”

• This means that, for a set of orbitals in the same

sublevel, there must be one electron in each
orbital before pairing and the electrons have the
Electronic
same spin, as much as possible. Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.7 Orbital Diagrams and Electron Configurations
Draw the orbital diagram for the electron configuration of oxygen, atomic number 8. How many unpaired
electrons does an oxygen atom possess?

Solution
Analyze and Plan Because oxygen has an atomic number of
8, each oxygen atom has eight electrons. Figure 6.25 shows
the ordering of orbitals. The electrons (represented as half
arrows) are placed in the orbitals (represented as boxes)
beginning with the lowest-energy orbital, the 1s. Each orbital
can hold a maximum of two electrons (the Pauli exclusion
principle). Because the 2p orbitals are degenerate, we place
one electron in each of these orbitals (spin-up) before pairing
any electrons (Hund’s rule).

Solve Two electrons each go into the 1s and 2s orbitals with

their spins paired. This leaves four electrons for the three
degenerate
2p orbitals. Following Hund’s rule, we put one electron into
each
2p orbital until all three orbitals have one electron each. The
fourth electron is then paired up with one of the three
electrons already in a 2p orbital, so that the orbital diagram is

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.7 Orbital Diagrams and Electron Configurations
Continued

The corresponding electron configuration is written 1s22s22p4. The atom has two unpaired electrons.

Practice Exercise 1
How many of the elements in the second row of the periodic table (Li through Ne) will have at least one
unpaired electron in their electron configurations?
(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6 (e) 7

Practice Exercise 2
(a) Write the electron configuration for silicon, element 14, in its ground state. (b) How many unpaired
electrons does a ground-state silicon atom possess?

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Condensed Electron Configurations
• Elements in the same group of the
periodic table have the same number
of electrons in the outer most shell.
These are the valence electrons.
• The filled inner shell electrons are
called core electrons. These include
completely filled d or f sublevels.
• We write a shortened version of an
electron configuration using brackets
around a noble gas symbol and listing
only valence electrons. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Periodic Table
• We fill orbitals in increasing order of energy.
• Different blocks on the periodic table correspond to
different types of orbitals: s = blue, p = pink (s and p are
representative elements); d = orange (transition elements);
f = tan (lanthanides and actinides, or inner transition
elements)
• The s and p blocks are called the main-group elements.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Periodic Table and
Electron Configuration
• The periodic table is followed directly when
determining the electron configuration for MOST
elements.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.8 Electron Configurations for a Group
What is the characteristic valence electron configuration of the group 17 elements, the halogens?

Solution
Analyze and Plan We first locate the halogens in the periodic table, write the electron configurations for the
first two elements, and then determine the general similarity between the configurations.

Solve The first member of the halogen group is fluorine (F, element 9). Moving backward from F, we find
that the noble-gas core is [He]. Moving from He to the element of next higher atomic number brings us to Li,
element 3. Because Li is in the second period of the s block, we add electrons to the 2s subshell. Moving
across this block gives 2s2. Continuing to move to the right, we enter the p block. Counting the squares to F
gives 2p5. Thus, the condensed electron configuration for fluorine is

The electron configuration for chlorine, the second halogen, is

From these two examples, we see that the characteristic valence electron configuration of a halogen is
ns2np5, where n ranges from 2 in the case of fluorine to 6 in the case of astatine.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.8 Electron Configurations for a Group
Continued

Practice Exercise 1
A certain atom has an ns2np6 electron configuration in its outermost occupied shell. Which of the following
elements could it be? (a) Be (b) Si (c) I (d) Kr (e) Rb

Practice Exercise 2
Which group of elements is characterized by an ns2np2 electron configuration in the outermost occupied
shell?

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.9 Electron Configurations from the Periodic Table
(a) Based on its position in the periodic table, write the condensed electron configuration for bismuth,
element 83.
(b) How many unpaired electrons does a bismuth atom have?
Solution
(a) Our first step is to write the noble-gas core. We do this by locating bismuth, element 83, in the periodic
table. We then move backward to the nearest noble gas, which is Xe, element 54. Thus, the noble-gas
core is [Xe].

Next, we trace the path in order of increasing atomic numbers from Xe to Bi. Moving from Xe to Cs,
element 55, we find ourselves in period 6 of the s block. Knowing the block and the period identifies the
subshell in which we begin placing outer electrons, 6s. As we move through the s block, we add two
electrons: 6s2.

As we move beyond the s block, from element 56 to element 57, the curved arrow below the periodic
table reminds us that we are entering the f block. The first row of the f block corresponds to the 4f
subshell. As we move across this block, we add 14 electrons: 4f 14.

With element 71, we move into the third row of the d block. Because the first row of the d block is 3d,
the second row is 4d and the third row is 5d. Thus, as we move through the ten elements of the d block,
from element 71 to element 80, we fill the 5d subshell with ten electrons: 5d10.

Moving from element 80 to element 81 puts us into the p block in the 6p subshell. (Remember that the
principal quantum number in the p block is the same as that in the s block.) Moving across to Bi
requires three electrons: 6p3. The path we have taken is Putting the parts together, we obtain the
Electronic
condensed electron configuration: [Xe]6s24f 145d106p3. This configuration can also be written with the
Structure
subshells arranged in order of increasing principal quantum number: [Xe]4f 145d106s26p3.
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.9 Electron Configurations from the Periodic Table
Continued

Finally, we check our result to see if the number of electrons equals the atomic number of Bi, 83:
Because Xe has 54 electrons (its atomic number), we have 54 + 2 + 14 + 10 + 3 = 83. (If we had 14
electrons too few, we would realize that we have missed the f block.)

(b) We see from the condensed electron configuration that the only partially occupied subshell is 6p. The
orbital diagram representation for this subshell is

In accordance with Hund’s rule, the three 6p electrons occupy the three 6p orbitals singly, with their
spins parallel. Thus, there are three unpaired electrons in the bismuth atom.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Exercise 6.9 Electron Configurations from the Periodic Table
Continued

Practice Exercise 1
A certain atom has a [noble gas]5s24d105p4 electron configuration. Which element is it?
(a) Cd (b) Te (c) Sm (d) Hg (e) More information is needed

Practice Exercise 2
Use the periodic table to write the condensed electron configuration for (a) Co (element 27), (b) In (element
49).

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Some Anomalies

• Some irregularities
occur when there
are enough
electrons to half-fill
s and d orbitals on
a given row.

Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
 Chromium as an Anomaly

• For instance, the electron configuration

for chromium is
[Ar] 4s1 3d5
rather than the expected
[Ar] 4s2 3d4.
• This occurs because the 4s and 3d
orbitals are very close in energy.
• These anomalies occur in f-block atoms
with f and d orbitals, as well. Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.
Sample Integrative Exercise Putting Concepts Together
Boron, atomic number 5, occurs naturally as two isotopes, 10B and 11B, with natural abundances of 19.9% and 80.1%,
respectively. (a) In what ways do the two isotopes differ from each other? Does the electronic configuration of 10B
differ from that of 11B? (b) Draw the orbital diagram for an atom of 11B. Which electrons are the valence electrons?

Solution
(a) The two isotopes of boron differ in the number of neutrons in the nucleus. (Sections 2.3 and
2.4) Each of the isotopes contains five protons, but B contains five neutrons, whereas 11B contains
10

six neutrons. The two isotopes of boron have identical electron configurations, 1s22s22p1, because
each has five electrons.
(b) The complete orbital diagram is

The valence electrons are the ones in the outermost occupied shell, the 2s2 and 2p1 electrons. The
1s2 electrons constitute the core electrons, which we represent as [He] when we write the
condensed electron configuration, [He]2s22p1.
Electronic
Structure
of Atoms
© 2018 Pearson Education Ltd.