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    Organic Chemistry: Atomic Structure

    Chemistry

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Topics
      • Summary: Atomic Structure
      • Atoms and Atomic Orbitals
      • Electron Configuration and Valence Electrons
      • Problems: Electron Configurations and Valence Electrons
      • Ions and Ionic Bonding
      • Problems: Ions and Ionic Bonding
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    Terms

    Terms
    • Anion

      An ion with a net negative charge.

    • Atomic orbital

      An orbital that is associated with only one particular atom. This is in contrast to molecular orbitals, which are spread across a collection of atoms.

    • Aufbau principle

      German for "building up", a systematic procedure for determining the electron configuration of any atom.

    • Cation

      An ion with a net positive charge.

    • Degenerate orbitals

      Orbitals with identical energies.

    • Electron affinity

      The energy change in an atom when it gains an electron.

    • First ionization energy

      The energy cost of removing one electron from an atom.

    • Hund's Rule

      A rule which says that electrons prefer to go in separate orbitals when choosing between orbitals of the same energy, in order to half-fill orbitals.

    • Ion

      Any atom or molecule with a net charge.

    • Ionic bond

      Bonding interaction that results from electrostatic attraction between cations and anions.

    • Ionization energy

      The energy it takes to remove an electron from an atom.

    • Isoelectronic

      Description for two elemental species with the same electronic configuration.

    • Isotope

      Atoms with the same number of protons (i.e. same atomic number) but a different number of neutrons.

    • Octet rule

      The cardinal rule of bonding. The octet rule states that atoms gain stability when they have a full complement of 8 electrons in their valence shells.

    • Orbital

      The region around an atom where an electron has a high probability of being found.

    • Pauli Exclusion Principle

      States that no two electrons in an atom or molecule can have the same set of four quantum numbers n, l, m, and s.

    • Second ionization energy

      The energy cost of removing a second electron from an atom.

    • Shell

      A group of subshells of similar energy levels. 2s and 2p subshells occupy the same shell.

    • Shielding

      When the attraction from the nucleus felt by one electron is lessened or blocked by intermediate electrons. Shielding can split degenerate orbitals. For example, since s-orbital electrons shield for p-orbital electrons and receive little shielding themselves, s-orbitals are usually of lower energy level than p-orbitals of the same shell.

    • Splitting

      The breaking of degenerate orbitals within a shell in multi-electron atoms.

    • Subshell

      Orbitals in an atom with the same energy; orbitals of the same subshell are of the same shape. p-orbitals are of the same subshell, while s-orbitals are of a separate subshell.

    • Uncertainty Principle

      A tenet of quantum mechanics which says that the position and momentum of any particle cannot both be known precisely at the same time.

    • Valence electron

      The electrons in the outermost energy shell of an atom. The configuration of these electrons determine the chemical properties of the element.

    • Valence shell

      The highest energy shell in an atom. All interactions between atoms take place through the electrons of the valence shell.

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