Multi-Electron Atoms

[Jalaia Jackson 2G]

What are the additional factors that effect the e- energy electrostatic potential energy in Multi-Electron Atoms? I know Lavelle mentioned it in his slides, but I don’t think I have a full grasp of the concept.

[SavannahScriven_1F]

In multi-electron systems, there is the factor of electron electron interactions, so there's repulsion between them (repulsion is positive electrostatic potential, but I don't know if we have to know this.) In multielectron systems, there can also be nuclear charges greater than 1. A higher nuclear charge increases electrostatic pull/attraction (a negative electrostatic potential means attractive, again not sure if this is important or not). Finally, just the fact that there are multiple electrons in different shells means that the inner electrons shield the outer ones from the attraction of the positive nucleus.

[lauren_tran_1L]

There are other factors that affect electrostatic potential energy including the shielding effect by the inner energy levels since the electrons repel the other electrons. They also repel those in the same energy level.

[Jiapeng Han 1C]

Firstly, there is attraction between the positively charged nucleus and the electrons. Secondly, there is repulsion forces between electrons in the same orbital because same charge repels each other. Thirdly, there is the shielding effect caused by the repulsion from the inner electron shells. Electrostatic attraction can be calculated by Coulomb's Law.