Orbitals and Electron Configurations

Where are the electrons? Tuesday, October 7th 2008

The Rutherford Atom

Problems with Rutherfords Atom

Electrons should be attracted to the nucleus and repel each other Couldnt answer the question
Why

do the electrons stay in the electron cloud? Why dont the electrons collapse into the massively positive nucleus?

The Bohr Atom

Problems with the Bohr Atom

Fundamentally incorrect - only worked for the element Hydrogen Couldnt explain where the electrons were in atoms that had more than one electron We dont really know where an electron is at any one time, and we cant predict it either

Things Bohr got right

Energy Levels Ground State

What we saw in the flame test lab

How we saw the light in the flame test lab

How we explain the light in terms of energy levels of the electrons in the atom

Max Plancks contribution

German Physicist in the early 1900s Said that light is made up of discrete bundles of energy called quanta (plural of quantum) Now known as photon

The difference between continuous and quantized energy levels

Wave-Mechanical Model

Also called the quantum-mechanical model Electrons behave like light and only have specific energy levels This idea worked for all atoms, not just hydrogen (yay!)

Wave Mechanical Model

1. 2.

3.

4.

Electrons do not follow definite paths Electrons are in a diffuse cloud of negative charge around the nucleus (like the Rutherford atom) There are areas around the nucleus that correspond with certain energy levels (like the Bohr Model) The areas around the nucleus where the electron probably is (energy levels) are called orbitals

Orbitals

Do not have distinct boundaries (like earths atmosphere) Boundary is mapped at 90% electron probability (by convention) Electrons can be found outside of this boundary We can never map exactly where an electron is at any given moment All elements have all of the orbitals, they just dont use all of them all the time

The Hydrogen 1s Orbital

The first four principle energy levels

Sub-Levels

As the Energy Level number increases, the further away from the nucleus the electron is, and the higher the energy level Each Energy level is divided further into sub-levels

Principle energy levels are divided into sub-levels (s,p,d,f)

Second Principle Energy Level with sublevels corresponding to orbitals

1s and 2s orbitals

The 2p orbitals (three of them)

Diagram of Principle Energy Levels 1 and 2

Relative size of the 1s, 2s, 3s orbitals

The 3d orbitals

Electron Filling
Aufbau Principle - electrons prefer the space closest to the nucleus Therefore all of the electrons are arranged around the nucleus from lowest energy level to highest energy level The most attractive orbital to any electron is the 1s orbital, then 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, and so on This corresponds to Bohrs idea of the ground state

Electron filling
Pauli Exclusion Principle - orbitals can hold a maximum of two electrons Electrons repel each other and dont want to share the same space (because theyre both negative) Electrons will share the same space if they are spinning in opposite directions (like a magnet)