Quiz 1 - Atomic Structure & Periodic Trends | Atomic Structure and Periodic Trends

Elements in the same group of the periodic table have similar valence electron configurations, which is why they exhibit similar chemical properties and reactivity.

The electron configuration of oxygen is 1s² 2s² 2p⁴. The outermost occupied shell (n=2) has 2 electrons in the 2s orbital and 4 electrons in the 2p orbitals, making a total of 6 valence electrons.

Core electrons are located in the inner energy levels of an atom. They are tightly bound to the nucleus and do not participate in chemical bonding.

The effective nuclear charge increases from left to right across a period because the number of protons (Z) increases while the number of core electrons, and so the shielding constant (σ), remains the same.

The atomic radius is the distance between the nucleus of an atom and its outermost electrons.

The principal quantum number (n) primarily influences the size of an atomic orbital; as n increases, the orbital size increases, leading to a larger atomic radius.

Each successive ionization requires more energy than the previous one because the remaining electrons experience stronger electrostatic attraction from the positively charged nucleus.

Alkali metals typically have relatively low ionization energies because they readily lose their outermost electron to achieve a noble gas electron configuration.

A relatively stable electron configuration for transition metals is one with 18 electrons in the outer shell.

Isoelectronic series are characterized by species with the same electron configurations but varying nuclear charges.