Unpaired Electrons from Electron Configurations [ENDORSED]
Moderators: Chem_Mod, Chem_Admin
-
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:05 am
Unpaired Electrons from Electron Configurations
How do you determine the number of unpaired electrons if you are given the electron configuration of an element?
-
- Posts: 62
- Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:00 am
- Been upvoted: 1 time
Re: Unpaired Electrons from Electron Configurations
If you are given the electron configuration of an element, you can determine the number of unpaired electrons by drawing out the orbital diagram. Then when you fill in the levels, you can see which subshells do not have paired electrons.
I found this video helpful when I was stuck on this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnZKiWgVHzk
Hope this helps :)
I found this video helpful when I was stuck on this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnZKiWgVHzk
Hope this helps :)
Last edited by Miya Lopez 1I on Sun May 06, 2018 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:04 am
Re: Unpaired Electrons from Electron Configurations [ENDORSED]
First thing is to look at how many orbitals are in the last sub shell you are given.
For example, the last sub shell is p. P has 3 orbitals and can hold 6 electrons. Each orbital must be filled before you can pair electrons.
if it is 4p^3, then there are 3 unpaired electrons because you must spread out each electron into the 3 orbitals present in p.
If it is 4p^4, then there are 2 unpaired electrons. This is because you have filled up all three orbitals with one electron each. Since there is one leftover electron, you can pair that electron in one of the orbitals.
This means one orbital holds 2 paired electrons while the other 2 orbitals only have 1 unpaired in them.
For example, the last sub shell is p. P has 3 orbitals and can hold 6 electrons. Each orbital must be filled before you can pair electrons.
if it is 4p^3, then there are 3 unpaired electrons because you must spread out each electron into the 3 orbitals present in p.
If it is 4p^4, then there are 2 unpaired electrons. This is because you have filled up all three orbitals with one electron each. Since there is one leftover electron, you can pair that electron in one of the orbitals.
This means one orbital holds 2 paired electrons while the other 2 orbitals only have 1 unpaired in them.
Return to “Electron Configurations for Multi-Electron Atoms”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest