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Ch.6 - Ionic Compounds: Periodic Trends and Bonding Theory

Chapter 6, Problem 95

How does electron shielding in multielectron atoms give rise to energy differences among 3s, 3p, and 3d orbitals?

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Hello everyone today we are being given the falling problem. What is the cause of the energy difference for the electrons of four s four P and four D orbital's? So to determine this, we must note what electrons experience in general. So electrons experience what's known as effective nuclear charge. So electrons experience a nuclear and effective nuclear charge which essentially helps pull them closer to the nucleus so it helps pull them closer to the nucleus. In addition to this principle, as you add electrons or each time you add an electron you are increasing the shielding that is occurring. And by shielding it means the outermost electrons are not having a stronger attraction to the nucleus because they're further away and the inner electrons are shielding that charge from the outer electrons. And so if we examine our different orbital's, for example, our four s orbital, this is going to be shielded by electrons In our energy levels or energy orbital's in equals one to n equals three. If we move on to our four p. This on the other hand is going to be shielded by electrons in And equals one as well as in equals three. And in addition to those two orbital's electrons, any four s As we get to our four D orbital's, it becomes apparent that not only are the electrons being shielded in our energy levels of N equals one and N equals three, but the previous orbital as well. So our four D electrons are gonna be shielded by our four s and our four p electrons. And so as we said before, this is gonna be the principle of electron shielding, and this is going to be the reason why we have an energy difference between the electrons of four s, four P and four D. Orbital's. And with that, we've answered our question overall, I hope this helped, and until next time.