Atomic Orbitals And Electron Configurations Worksheet printable pdf download

Worksheet #7                  Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configurations  (4p.) 

Introduction

Chemistry is a subject about matter, its properties, and how it is transformed during a

chemical change (such as when eggs, flour, oil and salt are mixed together and cooked to form a

pancake or when an iron nail rusts). When a chemical change occurs, the atoms of one or more

substances are rearranged to form new substances (pancakes are no longer eggs). The

transformation occurs when the bonds that hold the atoms together in the substances break. Then

what happens is new bonds are formed as the new substance or product is created. The bonds,

which are the forces that are holding a substance together, are made by negatively charged

electrons that are attracted to positively charged protons in the nuclei of atoms. When one bond

is broken and a new bond is formed, the electrons which exist in one kind of orbital (a particular

location in an atom) is moved to a different orbital, or a new location, perhaps in a different

atom.

We are studying atomic orbitals and electron configurations because both of these

topics describe the locations of electrons in atoms. If we understand the basic structure of where

electrons are in atoms, we can better understand what happens when a chemical transformation

occurs.

Orbitals are volumes of space in which an electron is most likely to be found. We say “most

likely” because it is not currently possible to tell exactly where an electron is, and so we talk

instead about the probability of where an electron is in an atom. This is similar to not being able

to say exactly where a wave is at the beach. It is kind of spread out all along the coast so you

cannot point to just one spot and say that all of the wave is there. We don’t have to worry about

this probability; the main thing is that when we discuss orbitals, they are similar to the coastline

area, the wave is there, but it keeps moving and it occupies lots of locations at once so we cannot

say exactly where the wave is. Similarly, because electrons are extremely small and move

extremely fast, it is not possible to say exactly where the electron is.

Subshells are a way of grouping similar orbitals. Subshells are a group of orbitals that have

similar shapes. All orbitals in a subshell have similar features in their shapes, even if the shapes

themselves are not identical. There are four types of subshells and they are labeled s, p, d and f.

The “s” type of orbital is spherical in shape. The “p” type of orbital looks like an 8. You should

remember these two shapes. The d and f orbitals have more complex shapes and you do not

have to remember what they are.

There is only one orbital in the s subshell.

There are three orbitals in the p subshell.

There are five orbitals in the d subshell, and

There are seven orbitals in the f subshell.

Shells are another way of grouping orbitals. This is a broader category than subshells so shells

contain one or more subshells. These groups of orbitals have similar energy. The shells are

labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc... The lowest energy orbital is in Shell 1. The orbitals in shell 2 are

higher in energy than those in shell 1, but lower in energy than those in shell 3. So as the shell

number gets higher, the electrons in the orbitals, have more energy.

Atomic Orbitals And Electron Configurations Worksheet