medhopeful64 Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 OK I'm really confused over the Zeff concept. EK says Zeff (effective nuclear charge) increases going left to right, and from top to bottom. however PR says it increases going left to right and DECREASES from top to bottom. The PR explanation makes total sense - adding more shells as you go down a family results in valence electrons being further and further away each subsequent period (and more inner core electrons) = more shielding = smaller Zeff. I'm not 100% sure as to why EK says it increases top to bottom. My course companion (class notes) say it increases slightly moving top to bottom. If someone could clarify for me, I'd appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangos Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 anyone else finding EK physic passages to be ridiculously hard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Zeff decreases going down a group. More subshells are added which shield the outer valence electrons from the positive charge of the nucleus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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