Isoelectronic Species and Ionic Size Comparison When comparing ions, we often come across isoelectronic species—ions or atoms that have the same number of electrons, but different nuclear charges. Even though they share the same electron configuration, their sizes vary significantly due to differences in the number of protons pulling on those electrons. What Are Isoelectronic …

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Understanding the Periodic Trends of Size of Ions: Cations vs. Anions The size of ions differs significantly from that of their neutral atoms. Whether an atom loses or gains electrons directly affects its number of shells, electron-electron repulsion, and nuclear attraction—all of which determine ionic radius. Let’s break this down by looking at cations and …

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Understanding the Trend: Number of Shells in the Periodic Table When studying the periodic table, one of the most fundamental and easy-to-spot trends is the number of electron shells in an atom. This trend is key to understanding atomic size, shielding, and the position of elements in the table What Are Electron Shells? Electron shells …

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Meaning of Screening or Shielding Effect. Screening or shielding effect is due to shielding of nuclear charge by inner shell electrons. More are the number of inner shell electrons; more is the nuclear charge screening and lesser the positive charge felt by valence electrons. For example, Na has 10 electrons screening its outermost shell electrons …

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Effective nuclear charge (Zeff) periodic trend across the period and down the group. What is effective nuclear charge and how does it vary? The presence of shielding electrons reduces the electrostatic attraction between the positively charged protons in the nucleus and the outer electrons. Moreover, the repulsive forces between electrons in a many-electron atom further …

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Coulomb’s Law and Periodic trends- Force of attraction between oppositely charged particles Coulomb’s law can be used for qualitative comparison of attractions among the charged particles in molecules, ions and within the atom etc. Here q1 and q2 are the charges on the particles and    r is the distance of separation between the charged particles. …

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