Answers to CHEM1101 Quiz 1

1. When working out the decay product, the mass number (A) and the atomic number (Z) must balance. An electron has a mass number of 0 and has a charge of -1: The starting mass number is 109 so gain of an electron (mass number 0) will not change the mass: A = 109. The starting atomic number is 48 so gain of an electron (charge -1) will decrease the atomic number to 47: Z = 47 corresponding to Ag in the Periodic Table. The correct answer is E. 2. The total mass on the left must equal the total mass on the right. The total charge on the left must equal the total charge on the right.

239 1 Pu + n 94 0 To balance left and right,

A 198 1 E+ Ir + 2 n Z 77 0

mass: (239 + 1) = (A + 198 + 2 1) so A = 40 charge: (94 + 0) = (Z + 77 + 2 0) so Z = 17 corresponding to Cl in the Periodic Table The nuclide has A = 40 and Z = 17 (and atomic symbol Cl): 40 Cl 17 The correct answer is E. 3. A key factor in determining the stability of a nuclide is the ratio of the number of neutrons (N) to the number of protons (Z, the atomic number), where N + Z = A, the mass number: For Z < 20, N/Z ~ 1 for stable nuclides. Very few stable nuclides exist with N/Z < 1. As Z increases, N/Z is usually a little larger than 1. All nuclides with Z > 83 are unstable. In general: If N/Z > 1 then the nuclide has too many neutrons and a possible decay route is - emission as this converts a neutron into a proton and an electron: lowering N by 1, raising Z by 1 and hence keeping A constant. As Z increases by 1, the element is converted into the next element in the Periodic Table. If N/Z < 1 then the nuclide has too few neutrons and possible decay routes are + emission or electron capture as both convert a proton into a neutron: raising N by 1, lowering Z by 1 and hence keeping A constant. As Z decreases by 1, the element is converted into the preceeding element in the Periodic Table. Heavy nuclides (Z > 83) undergo decay which reduces both N and Z by 2 units. decay is undergone by heavy nuclides (those with Z > 83). Nuclide (c) has Z = 84. The correct answer is C.

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4. The Schrdinger equation can only be solved for atoms or ions containing 1 electron. If the atom or ion contains more than 1 electron, then only approximate solutions can be found. The number of electrons possessed by an atom is equal to its atomic number, Z. Anions have extra electrons: Z plus the charge. Cations have fewer electrons: Z minus the charge. The five species have: (a) 2 e-: the He atom has two electrons. (b) 2 e-: as the H atom has one electron, the anion H- has two. (c) 1 e-: as the Be atom has four electrons, the cation Be3+ has one. (d) 3 e-: as the C atom has six electrons, the cation C3+ has three. (e) 3 e-: the Li atom has three electrons. Only (c) has one electron. The correct answer is C. 5. The energy of the orbitals of hydrogen (or any one electron atom/ion) are given by the equation: -Z2 E R

E=

( n2 )

where n is the principal quantum number of the orbital, E R is the Rydberg constant and Z is the atomic number. For hydrogen, Z = 1. In its ground state, n = 1 and ionization corresponds to n = . The energy required to excite an electron from one orbital to another is the difference between the energies of the two levels. If the excitation is from an orbital with principal quantum number n i to an orbital with principal quantum number n nf, the energy difference and hence the excitation energy is: E = E R

( ni2

1 n f2

The energies of the five excitations are: E = E R

(a)

( 62 ( 32 ( 42 ( 52
1 1 1 1

1 ()2 1 42 1 202 1 100 2 1 -

) ) ) )

= 0.028 E R

(b)

E = E R

= 0.049 E R

(c)

E = E R

= 0.060 E R

(d)

E = E R

= 0.040 E R

(e)

E = E

= 0.020 E

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(e)

E = E R

( 72

10002

= 0.020 E R

The shortest wavelength corresponds to the highest energy: (c) The correct answer is C. 6. The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated are: In an s orbital - 2. In a set of p orbitals - 6. In a set of d orbitals - 10. (e) has "4s3 ". As a maximum of 2 electrons can be placed in 2p, this configuration is incorrect. The correct answer is E. 7. The activity, A, for a N nuclei is: A = N where is the decay constant. This is related to the half-life, t1/2: = ln(2) t1/2

This gives the activity in Becquerel (Bq). This can be convert to Curie (Ci) as 1 Ci = 3.70 1010 Bq. As t1/2 = 2.9 hours = (2.9 60 60) seconds, = ln(2) / (2.9 60 60 s) = 6.64 10-5 s-1 For 38S, A = 38 g mol-1 and so 1 g corresponds to: number of moles = mass / atomic mass = 1/38 mol As 1 mol corresponds to 6.022 1023 nuclei, the number of nuclei in 1 g is: N = 1/38 6.022 1023 nuclei g-1 = 1.58 1022 nuclei g-1 Hence the activity of 1 g (the specific activity) is: A = N = (6.64 10-5) (1.58 1022) = 1.05 1018 Bq g-1 = (1.05 1018) / (3.70 1010) = 2.8 107 Ci g -1 The correct answer is D. 8. The principal quantum number, n, can have any integer value (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...). The angular momentum quantum number, l, can only have values n-1, n-2, n-3, ..., 0. The azimuthal quantum number, ml, can only have values from l, l-1, l-2, ..., -l. The magnetic spin quantum number, ms, can be +1/2 or -1/2. (d) has n = 1 and l = 1. This is not valid. With n = 1 only l = 0 is possible. The correct answer is D.

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9. The orbital label gives information on the principal (n) and orbital angular momentum (l) quantum numbers. These quantum numbers give information on the number of nodal planes and the number of spherical nodes: number of nodal planes = l number of spherical nodes = n - l - 1 Orbital (d) is a 3p orbital which has n = 3 and l = 1 and so has number of nodal planes = 1 number of spherical nodes = 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 The image below shows the 3p orbital with the nodal plane indicated by a dashed line and the spherical node indicated by a dashed circle:

The correct answer is C. 10. Orbitals are characterized by the principal quantum number n and the orbital angular momentum quantum number, l. Orbitals are labelled by the value of n followed by a code to indicate the value of l:

l label

0 s

1 p

2 d

3 f

... ...

The number of nodes can be worked out from these quantum numbers: The number of planar nodes is equal to l. The number of spherical nodes is equal to (n - l - 1). The 2p orbital has n = 2 and l = 1. Hence, It has 1 planar nodes. It has (2 - 1 - 1) = 0 spherical nodes. The correct answer is C.

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