Inorganic Chemistry ACS Study Guide
(2026/2027) | Recent Questions | 100%
Accurate Answers | A+ Verified
• periodic trend of ionization energy -✓✓highest at top right-smaller
electron=harder to remove
• Why is a half filled subshell so stable? -✓✓it serves to maximize the
stabilizing interactions while minimizing the destabilizing interactions
among electrons
• exchange interaction -✓✓pie, stabilizing, result of electrons pairing in
degenerate orbitals with parallel spin
• pairing energy -✓✓destabilizing, coulomb interaction, pic, energy of
electron-electron repulsion in a filled orbital
• Is it easier to ionize a high energy or low energy electrons -✓✓high
energy electron-already contains more energy so it requires less energy
input
• What happens when a 3d series metal is ionized? -✓✓the first electron
to be ionized will come from the 4s orbital, the other s electron will enter
the d orbital (4s03dn+1)
,• lanthanide contraction -✓✓reduction in atomic radius following the
lanthanide series, contrary to the overall trend observed for the periodic
table
• lanthanides -✓✓elements 57-71, first appearance of f orbitals, f
orbitals are poor at shielding so any electrons dded will have a higher
Zeff, shrinking the radius
• Slater's rules -✓✓tell us what the effective nuclear charge will be,
Zeff=Z-sigma, Z is the atomic number, sigma=sum of the number of
electrons in a given subtle multiplied by a weighting coefficient (page 1)
• Shielding -✓✓the reduction in charge attraction between the nucleus
and electrons due to electrons between the nucleus and the electron in
question, it is considered the be between if it has a lower energy
• penetration -✓✓when an electron of a higher atomic orbital is found
within the shell of electrons of a lower atomic number, that is to say that
an electron of higher energy is found within an orbital of lower energy
• electron affinity -✓✓the difference in energy for a neutral gaseous
atom, and the gaseous anion. used interchangeably with electron gain
enthalpy. more positive=more stable EA with the additional electron,
more positive EGE=more stable with extra electron
,• Combination of electron affinity and ionization energy -
✓✓electronegativity, overall measure of an atoms ability to attract
electrons to itself when part of a compound, fluorine has highest
electronegativity
• polarizability -✓✓an atoms ability to be distorted by an electric field,
regions of a molecule can take on partial positive or partial negative
charge
• Why do we use the hydrogen system approximation -✓✓systems
involving multiple electrons are much more complex, and they require
the use of quantum mechanics
• What is the formula for the energy of a hydrogen orbital -✓✓E=-
13.6(eV)*(Z^2/n^2), h is plancks constant (background on pg 4)
• Energy can be expressed in... -✓✓Joules, wavenumber, inverse
centimeters
• quantum number N -✓✓principle quantum number, defines energy
and size of orbital
• quantum number L -✓✓orbital angular momentum quantum number,
defines the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum, as well as the
angular shape of the orbital, L can have values of 0 to n-1.
, • quantum number Ml -✓✓magnetic quantum number, describes the
orientation of the angular momentum, ml can have values of 0 to +/-1
• quantum number Ms -✓✓spin magnetic quantum number, defines
intrinsic angular momentum of an electron, Ms can have values of either
+1/2 or -1/2
• Radial wavefunction -✓✓(R(r)), along with the angular wavefunction,
gives us the orbitals. With a wave function it is possible to completely
characterize a particle, goes to zero at infinity, produce characteristic
shapes when graphed
• Radial distribution function -✓✓a plot of R^2(r)r^2, tells us
probability of finding an electron at a certain distance from the nucleus,
every orbital has a different radial distribution function and a node on
the graph is a region of zero probability
• Bohr radius -✓✓the most probably distance to find the electron in a
one proton, one electron system (52.9 pico-meters)
• What orbitals correspond to l=0 through l=4 -✓✓L=0=s, L=1=p,
L=2=d, L=3=f, L=4=g
• Building up principle/Hund's rule -✓✓when degenerate orbitals are
available for occupation, electrons occupy separate orbitals with parallel
spin
(2026/2027) | Recent Questions | 100%
Accurate Answers | A+ Verified
• periodic trend of ionization energy -✓✓highest at top right-smaller
electron=harder to remove
• Why is a half filled subshell so stable? -✓✓it serves to maximize the
stabilizing interactions while minimizing the destabilizing interactions
among electrons
• exchange interaction -✓✓pie, stabilizing, result of electrons pairing in
degenerate orbitals with parallel spin
• pairing energy -✓✓destabilizing, coulomb interaction, pic, energy of
electron-electron repulsion in a filled orbital
• Is it easier to ionize a high energy or low energy electrons -✓✓high
energy electron-already contains more energy so it requires less energy
input
• What happens when a 3d series metal is ionized? -✓✓the first electron
to be ionized will come from the 4s orbital, the other s electron will enter
the d orbital (4s03dn+1)
,• lanthanide contraction -✓✓reduction in atomic radius following the
lanthanide series, contrary to the overall trend observed for the periodic
table
• lanthanides -✓✓elements 57-71, first appearance of f orbitals, f
orbitals are poor at shielding so any electrons dded will have a higher
Zeff, shrinking the radius
• Slater's rules -✓✓tell us what the effective nuclear charge will be,
Zeff=Z-sigma, Z is the atomic number, sigma=sum of the number of
electrons in a given subtle multiplied by a weighting coefficient (page 1)
• Shielding -✓✓the reduction in charge attraction between the nucleus
and electrons due to electrons between the nucleus and the electron in
question, it is considered the be between if it has a lower energy
• penetration -✓✓when an electron of a higher atomic orbital is found
within the shell of electrons of a lower atomic number, that is to say that
an electron of higher energy is found within an orbital of lower energy
• electron affinity -✓✓the difference in energy for a neutral gaseous
atom, and the gaseous anion. used interchangeably with electron gain
enthalpy. more positive=more stable EA with the additional electron,
more positive EGE=more stable with extra electron
,• Combination of electron affinity and ionization energy -
✓✓electronegativity, overall measure of an atoms ability to attract
electrons to itself when part of a compound, fluorine has highest
electronegativity
• polarizability -✓✓an atoms ability to be distorted by an electric field,
regions of a molecule can take on partial positive or partial negative
charge
• Why do we use the hydrogen system approximation -✓✓systems
involving multiple electrons are much more complex, and they require
the use of quantum mechanics
• What is the formula for the energy of a hydrogen orbital -✓✓E=-
13.6(eV)*(Z^2/n^2), h is plancks constant (background on pg 4)
• Energy can be expressed in... -✓✓Joules, wavenumber, inverse
centimeters
• quantum number N -✓✓principle quantum number, defines energy
and size of orbital
• quantum number L -✓✓orbital angular momentum quantum number,
defines the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum, as well as the
angular shape of the orbital, L can have values of 0 to n-1.
, • quantum number Ml -✓✓magnetic quantum number, describes the
orientation of the angular momentum, ml can have values of 0 to +/-1
• quantum number Ms -✓✓spin magnetic quantum number, defines
intrinsic angular momentum of an electron, Ms can have values of either
+1/2 or -1/2
• Radial wavefunction -✓✓(R(r)), along with the angular wavefunction,
gives us the orbitals. With a wave function it is possible to completely
characterize a particle, goes to zero at infinity, produce characteristic
shapes when graphed
• Radial distribution function -✓✓a plot of R^2(r)r^2, tells us
probability of finding an electron at a certain distance from the nucleus,
every orbital has a different radial distribution function and a node on
the graph is a region of zero probability
• Bohr radius -✓✓the most probably distance to find the electron in a
one proton, one electron system (52.9 pico-meters)
• What orbitals correspond to l=0 through l=4 -✓✓L=0=s, L=1=p,
L=2=d, L=3=f, L=4=g
• Building up principle/Hund's rule -✓✓when degenerate orbitals are
available for occupation, electrons occupy separate orbitals with parallel
spin
