Electronic configuration and orbitalsEdexcel A-Level Chemistry: Flashcards

What these 13 flashcards ask

What does atomic emission evidence show about electrons?
What does a large jump in successive ionisation energies show?
What does the fall in first ionisation energy from Be to B show?
How many electrons fill the first four quantum shells?
Define an orbital.
State the shapes of s and p orbitals.
How many electrons can s, p and d sub-shells hold?
State Hund's rule.
Write the electronic configuration of chromium.
Write the electronic configuration of copper.
Write the electronic configuration of Cl⁻.
Which sub-shell fills first, 4s or 3d?
What determines the block of an element?

Exam questions on Electronic configuration and orbitals

A student is revising the electronic configurations of atoms and ions of elements up to atomic number 36, using the periodic table to help her.
Write the electronic configuration of an iron atom (Z = 26) in 1s notation and deduce the number of unpaired electrons it contains.2 marks
The first ionisation energies of four successive elements, in kJ mol⁻¹, are: lithium 520, beryllium 900, boron 801 and carbon 1086.
Explain why the first ionisation energy of boron is lower than that of beryllium.2 marks
Nitrogen has atomic number 7. Its atoms have electrons in s and p orbitals.
Describe the shape of an s orbital and the shape of a p orbital, and state how many electrons an orbital can hold.3 marks

Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).