-Week1: QUANTUM NUMBERS
Arrangement of Electrons around the Nucleus of the First Twenty
Elements
Quantum chemistry is a branch of chemistry that focuses on
rationalizing and explaining the behavior of subatomic particles
like electrons.
The Four Quantum Numbers
The orbitals which an electron can occupy, is defined in terms of four
quantum numbers. Studies show that the energy of an electron may be
characterized by four quantum numbers.
These four quantum numbers which define an electron within an
atom are
1. The principal quantum number, n,
2. The subsidiary or azimuthal quantum number, l,
3. The magnetic quantum number, m, and
4. The spin quantum number, s.
1. The principal quantum number, n, has integral values 1, 2, 3, 4,
etc. The energy levels or shells are determined by the principal
quantum numbers.
Principal quantum number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Letter associated K L M N O P Q
Note: The maximum possible number of electrons in a shell is given by
2n2 and the total number of orbital is given by n2.
2. The Azimuthal or Subsidiary quantum number, l, has integral
values ranging from 0 to (n-1). The electrons with subsidiary
quantum numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3 are usually referred to as the s, p,
d, and f electrons respectively. Thus, this quantum number shows
how many energy sub-levels there are in each electron shell.
Table The energy sub-levels
Name of Value of Value of l Number Number Name of
electron n of values of sub- sub-
shell of l levels levels
K 1 0 One One S
L 2 0 and 1 Two Two S and p
M 3 0, 1 and Three Three S, p and
2 d
N 4 0, 1, 2 Four Four S, p, d
and 3 and f
Note o = s = sharp
1 = p = principal
2 = d = diffuse
3 = f = fundamental
3. The magnetic quantum number, m, which has integral values
ranging from -1 through 0 to 1, shows the number of orbitals in
each energy sub-levels, e.g. the p sub-shell has three p orbitals.
s
P p p
0 D D d d d
-1 0 +1 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
4. The spin quantum number, s, has values
1 1
-2 and + 2
This is due to the fact that an electron can spin on its own axis, as it
revolves round the nucleus.
Note: An orbital can only hold two electrons which spin on their axes in
opposite directions. Their spins are denoted by the spin quantum
numbers.
Principles or rules governing the filling of orbitals
Three Principles or rules that govern electron filling into orbitals are:
1. Pauli Exclusive Principle: This principle states that two electrons
in the same orbital of an atom cannot have the same values of all
four quantum numbers. This implies that if two electrons are
considered while they may have the same values of n, l, and m
they will differ in s because while one is n=1, l = 0, m = 0 and s = +
1
2
, and the other will be n = 1, l = 0, m = 0 and s = - 12 . This indicates
that no two electrons in any atom can behave in an identical
manner.
2. Hund’s Rule: this states that electrons may occupy each orbital
singly first before pairing takes place in a degenerate orbital. This
implies that the most stable arrangement of electrons in sub-
shells is the one with the greatest number of parallel spins. An
atom with fifteen electrons has its electron arranged as 1S2 2S2
2P2X 2P2Y 2P2Z 3S2 3P1X 3P1X 3P1Y 3P1Z.
3. Aufbau Principle: in the building up of atom, electrons enter
orbitals in order of increasing energy. This means that the
electrons are fed into orbitals starting at the lowest energy level
before filling higher energy levels. The Aufbau principle can easily
be derived using this:
Electrons are fed into the orbitals in this other 1S 2S 2P 3S 3P 4S 3d 4P
5S 4d 5P 6S 4F 5d 6P 7S 5F 6d 7P
Using these quantum numbers, scientists could also work out the
electronic configuration of the atoms of all the known elements. They
could also explain properties of the transition elements, the
lanthanides and the actinides series.
Classwork
Writing of electronic configuration of some elements using s, p, d, f
notations
40
1.write the electronic configuration of 20 Ca using s, p, d, f notations?
Solution
1S2 2S2 2P6 3S2 3P6 4S2
2. Write the electronic configuration of 3065Zn using s, p, d, f notations?
Solution
1S2 2S2 2P6 3S2 3P6 4S2 3d10
Note: The maximum number of electrons in these orbitals is
1. S = 2e-
2. P = 6e-
3. d= 10e-
4. f = 14e-
Shapes of s and p orbitals
The electrons found in a given shell do not have the same amount of
energy. This is because electrons move about the nucleus in different
ways.
The s electrons move about to produce the effects of a spherical
cloud around the nucleus. Thus, s orbitals are spherical in shape.
F
ig: the shape of an s orbital
We can infer the shape of the electron cloud from the subsidiary
quantum number, l, of an electron. The p electrons move about three
axes x, y and z that are at right angles to one another. Thus, the p
orbitals have a marked directional character. The three p orbitals are
represented as px, py and pz and each p orbital has a dump bell shape.
Fig: the shapes and relative positions of p orbitals.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Write the electronic configuration of the first 30 elements in the
Periodic Table using s, p ,d and f notations
2. Draw oribital/electron configuration of the first 20elements
3. Mention the name of the s and p orbitals
4. Draw the shapes of the s and p orbitals.
