Electron Configurations

Front

What is an electron configuration?

Back

An electron configuration is the distribution of electrons in an atom's orbitals, indicating the energy levels and sublevels occupied by electrons.

Front

What does the term 'ground state' refer to in electron configurations?

Back

The ground state is the lowest energy state of an atom, where electrons occupy the lowest available energy levels.

Front

What is an 'excited state' of an electron?

Back

An excited state occurs when an electron absorbs energy and moves to a higher energy level than its ground state.

Front

What is emitted when an electron returns from an excited state to the ground state?

Back

A photon (light) is emitted when an electron returns to its ground state.

Front

What does the Bohr model of the atom propose?

Back

The Bohr model suggests that electrons travel around the nucleus in fixed orbits or paths.

Front

What is the Pauli Exclusion Principle?

Back

The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers.

Front

What is Hund's Rule?

Back

Hund's Rule states that electrons will fill degenerate orbitals (orbitals of the same energy) singly before pairing up.

Front

What is the Aufbau Principle?

Back

The Aufbau Principle states that electrons occupy the lowest energy orbitals first before filling higher energy orbitals.

Front

How many electrons are represented in the electron configuration 1s²2s²2p⁶?

Back

The electron configuration 1s²2s²2p⁶ represents a total of 10 electrons.

Front

What is an orbital diagram?

Back

An orbital diagram is a visual representation of the arrangement of electrons in an atom's orbitals.