2.A.13

[jessicasilverstein1F]

For each of the following ground-state atoms, predict the type of orbital (1s, 2p, 3d, 4f, etc.) from which an electron will need to be removed to form the +1 ions: (a) Zn; (b) Cl; (c) Al; (d) Cu

How do we know what orbital to use for these?

[Megan Chan 3A]

The electron will be removed from the outermost shell, so using the periodic table, you can see which orbital the valence electrons are located in and that's where the e- will be removed to form the +1 ions. Hopefully this helps!

[Faith St Amant 3D]

First, you want to start by identifying the electron configuration for each element. For example, the first one, Zn, has the electron configuration [Ar]3d104s2. Looking at the subshells that the valence electrons occupy, you then want to determine which subshell is more favorable to remove an electron from. So for Zn, this would be the 4s subshell, since electrons in the 3d shell are more electronically stable when they fill the entire subshell. Hope this helps!

[Ashley Ko 3I]

Hi! You could write out the electron configuration for each ground-state atom and see what orbital the outermost electron occupies (for atoms that are in the d-block, electrons would be removed from the s-subshell before the d-subshell since the s-subshell becomes of higher energy level once the d-subshell begins to be filled with electrons). You know to remove electrons from the highest energy level or outermost orbitals because when removing electrons, the outermost electrons (valence electrons) are removed first. Hope this helps!

[Eric Cruz 2G]

To know which orbital loses an electron, it would be extremely helpful to write the electron configuration. The electron that is lost is always the outermost electron (last electron). This is because it is the furthest away from the nucleus and as a result, easily lost. A helpful thing to note is that for d block elements, the last orbital is generally (n)s, not n-1d. This is because n-1d is at a lower energy than ns. Therefore, the electron would be lost in the ns subshell, not n-1d subshell.

[Andrew Yoon 3L]

The electron that will removed is going to be from the last orbital of the element. Because this electron is furthest from the nucleus, it requires the least amount of energy to be removed. In order to find out which orbital the electron is being removed from, I would write out the electron configuration and then check to see the valence electrons in the outermost shell.