Question | Answer |
Electromagnetic radiation | A form of energy that exhibits wavelike behavior as it travels through space. |
Electromagnetic spectrum | All the forms of electromagnetic radiation. |
Wavelength | The distance between corresponding points on adjacent waves. |
Frequency | The number of waves that pass a given point in a specific time, usually one second. |
Visible Light | A kind of electromagnetic radiation. |
Velocity of a wave | 3.0 x 108 m/s |
Photoelectric effect | The emission of electrons from a metal when light shines on the metal. |
Quantum | The minimum quantity of energy that can be gained or lost by an atom. |
Planck’s Constant | In the equation E = hv, h is the fundamental physical constant known as Planck’s Constant: h = 6.626 x 10-34 (J)(s). |
Photon | A particle of electromagnetic radiation that has zero rest mass and carries a quantum of energy. |
Energy of a Photon | Depends on the frequency of the radiation: Ephoton = hv. |
Ground State | The lowest energy state of an atom. |
Excited State | A state in which an atom has a higher potential energy that it has in its ground state. |
Line-emission spectrum | A series of specific wavelengths of emitted light created when the visible portion of light from excited atoms is shined through a prism. |
Continuous spectrum | The emission of a continuous range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. |
Bohr radius | An electron can circle the nucleus only in allowed paths, or orbits. |
Interference | Occurs when waves overlap.This overlapping results in a reduction of energy in some areas and an increase of energy in others. |
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle | It is impossible to determine simultaneously both the position and velocity of an electron of any other particle. |
Quantum Theory/Quantum Mechanics | A mathematical description of the wave properties of electrons and other very small particles. |
Orbital | A three-dimensional region around the nucleus that indicates the probable location of an electron. |
Quantum numbers | Numbers that specify the properties of atomic orbitals an the properties of electrons in orbitals. |
Principle Quantum number (n) | The quantum number that indicates the main energy level occupied by the electron. |
Angular momentum quantum number (l ) | The quantum number that indicates the shape of the orbital. |
Magnetic quantum number (m) | The quantum number that indicates the orientation of an orbital around the nucleus. |
Spin quantum number (s) | The quantum number that has only two possible values, +1/2 and -1/2, which indicate the two fundamental spin states of an electron in an orbital. |
Aufbau Principle | An electron occupies the lowest-energy orbital that can receive it. |
Electron Configuration | The arrangement of electrons in an atom. |
Pauli Exclusion Principle | No two electrons in the same atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers. |
Hund’s Rule | Orbitals of equal energy are each occupied by one electron before any orbital is occupied by a second electron, and all electrons in singly occupied orbitals must have the same spin. |
Valence Electron | An electron that is available to be lost, gained, or shared in the formation of chemical compounds. |
Inner-shell electrons | Electrons that are not in the highest occupied energy level. |
Highest occupied energy level | The electron-containing main energy level with the highest principal quantum number. |
Noble Gas Configuration | An outer main energy level fully occupied, in most cases, by eight electrons. |
s sublevel or sub-orbital | Orbital with lowest energy. In a ground-state hydrogen atom, the electron is in this orbital. |
p sublevel or sub-orbital | Orbital with the next highest energy. |
f sublevel or sub-orbital | Orbital with highest energy level. |