What causes shielding effect?

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What causes shielding effect?

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Answer 1 · 2016-12-05T05:43:44

A greater number of electron between the nucleus and the electron in question.

Explanation:

To understand the shielding effect, consider $Z$ $Z$ eff or the effective nuclear charge.

The value of $Z$ $Z$ effective will stay constant as you go across a period and increase as you travel down. Why do you think this is?
To understand this, try think of the atomic orbital theory.

Remember that $Z$ $Z$ eff = Z - S

where Z is the atomic number and S is the amount of electron between the nucleus and the valence electron.

Example: Why is Cesium a larger element that Potassium?

Cs = $1 s^{2} 2 s^{2} 2 p^{6} 3 s^{2} 3 p^{6} 4 s^{2} 3 d^{10} 4 p^{6} 5 s^{2} 4 d^{10} 5 p^{6} 6 s^{1}$ $1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^6 5s^2 4d^10 5p^6 6s^1$

K = $1 s^{2} 2 s^{2} 2 p^{6} 3 s^{1} 3 p^{6} 4 s^{1}$ $1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1 3p^6 4s^1$

As you can see there are more orbitals separating the valence electrons from the nucleus of the atom, so the nucleus will have less control of the $6 s^{1}$ $6s^1$ electron than it will of the $4 s^{1}$ $4s^1$ electron. This is the shielding affect.

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What causes shielding effect?

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