Although the periodic table is organized according to the atomic numbers of the elements, chemists are more interested in the arrangement of the electrons for their studies. Which of the following statements about the electron configurations and their quantum numbers is correct?
A)The size of an atom is associated with the angular momentum quantum number.
B)The valence electrons of atoms in a particular group have the same principal and angular momentum quantum numbers.
C)The valence electrons of atoms in a particular group have the same angular momentum quantum number but have different principal quantum numbers.
D)Quantum numbers for the electrons tell us little about the relative energies of the electrons.
E)None of these choices are correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The valence electrons of atoms in a particular group in the periodic table have the same angular momentum quantum number (l), which determines the shape of the electron cloud, but they have different principal quantum numbers (n), which indicates the energy level or shell that the electron occupies. This is why elements in the same group have similar chemical properties; their valence electrons are in orbitals of the same type but at different energy levels as you move down the group.

Although the Periodic Table Is Organized According to the Atomic