Chapter 13 Vocabulary

Amplitude: the maximum extent of a vibration or oscillation, measured from the

position of equilibrium.

Atomic Emission Spectrum: unique spectra of light emitted by an element when

electricity is run through it or when it is viewed through a prism. Because they are
unique, they can act as an element s fingerprint. ... It's a set of frequencies of the
electromagnetic spectrum emitted by excited elements of an atom.

Atomic Orbital: regions of space around the nucleus of an atom where an electron is
likely to be found. Atomic orbitals allow atoms to make covalent bonds. The most
commonly filled orbitals are s, p, d, and f. S orbitals have no angular nodes and are
spherical.

Aufbau Principal: states that in the ground state of an atom or ion, electrons fill atomic
orbitals of the lowest available energy levels before occupying higher levels (e.g., 1s
before 2s). ... Aufbau is a German noun that means construction or "building-up".

De Broglie’s equation: λ = h/mv, where λ is wavelength, h is Planck's constant, m is the

mass of a particle, moving at a velocity v. de Broglie suggested that particles can exhibit
properties of waves.

Electromagnetic Radiation: a kind of radiation including visible light, radio waves,

gamma rays, and X-rays, in which electric and magnetic fields vary simultaneously.

Electron Configuration: the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other

physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. ... This is also useful for describing
the chemical bonds that hold atoms together.

Energy Level: the fixed amount of energy that a system described by quantum
mechanics, such as a molecule, atom, electron, or nucleus, can have.

Frequency: the rate at which a vibration occurs that constitutes a wave, either in a
material (as in sound waves), or in an electromagnetic field (as in radio waves and light),
usually measured per second.
Ground State: the lowest energy state of an atom or other particle.

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal: states that it is impossible to know simultaneously

the exact position and momentum of a particle. That is, the more exactly the position is
determined, the less known the momentum, and vice versa.

Hertz: the SI unit of frequency, equal to one cycle per second.

Hund’s Rule: every orbital in a subshell is singly occupied with one electron before any
one orbital is doubly occupied, and all electrons in singly occupied orbitals have the
same spin.

Pauli Exclusion Principal: states that, in an atom or molecule, no two electrons can have
the same four electronic quantum numbers. As an orbital can contain a maximum of
only two electrons, the two electrons must have opposing spins.

Photoelectric Effect: refers to the emission, or ejection, of electrons from the surface of,
generally, a metal in response to incident light.

Photon: a particle representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A

photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass.

Planck’s Constant: a constant that gives the unvarying ratio of the energy of a quantum
of radiation to its frequency and that has an approximate value of 6.626 × 10 −34 joule
second —symbol h.

Quantum: a discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of

the radiation it represents.

Quantum Mechanical Model: After Max Planck determined that energy is released and
absorbed by atoms in certain fixed amounts known as quanta, Albert Einstein took his
work a step further, determining that radiant energy is also quantized.

Spectrum: a band of colors, as seen in a rainbow, produced by separation of the

components of light by their different degrees of refraction according to wavelength.
Wavelength: the distance between successive crests of a wave, especially points in a
sound wave or electromagnetic wave.