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A block of the periodic table is a set of elements unified by the atomic orbitals their valence electrons or vacancies lie in. [1] The term seems to have been first used by Charles Janet. [2] Each block is named after its characteristic orbital: s-block , p-block , d-block , f-block and g-block .
The form of the periodic table is closely related to the atomic electron configuration for each element. For example, all the elements of group 2 (the table's second column) have an electron configuration of [E] n s 2 (where [E] is a noble gas configuration), and have notable similarities in their chemical properties.
In this way, the electrons of an atom or ion form the most stable electron configuration possible. An example is the configuration 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 3 for the phosphorus atom, meaning that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2p subshell has 6 electrons, and so on.
In many cases, multiple configurations are within a small range of energies and the small irregularities that arise in the d- and f-blocks are quite irrelevant chemically. [1] The construction of the periodic table ignores these irregularities and is based on ideal electron configurations. [2]
Here [Ne] refers to the core electrons which are the same as for the element neon (Ne), the last noble gas before phosphorus in the periodic table. The valence electrons (here 3s 2 3p 3 ) are written explicitly for all atoms.
In chemistry and atomic physics, an electron shell may be thought of as an orbit that electrons follow around an atom's nucleus.The closest shell to the nucleus is called the "1 shell" (also called the "K shell"), followed by the "2 shell" (or "L shell"), then the "3 shell" (or "M shell"), and so on further and further from the nucleus.
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The "periodic" nature of the filling of orbitals, as well as emergence of the s, p, d, and f "blocks", is more obvious if this order of filling is given in matrix form, with increasing principal quantum numbers starting the new rows ("periods") in the matrix. Then, each subshell (composed of the first two quantum numbers) is repeated as many ...