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Hund's rules
In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, Hund's rules refers to a set of rules that German physicist Friedrich Hund formulated around 1925, which are used to determine the term symbol that corresponds to the ground state of a multi-electron atom. The first rule is especially important in chemistry, where it is often referred to simply as Hund's Rule.
The three rules are:
These rules specify in a simple way how usual energy interactions determine which term includes the ground state. The rules assume that the repulsion between the outer electrons is much greater than the spin–orbit interaction, which is in turn stronger than any other remaining interactions. This is referred to as the LS coupling regime.
Closed shells and subshells do not contribute to the quantum numbers for total S, the total spin angular momentum and for L, the total orbital angular momentum. It can be shown that for full orbitals and suborbitals both the residual electrostatic energy (repulsion between electrons) and the spin–orbit interaction can only shift all the energy levels together. Thus when determining the ordering of energy levels in general only the outer valence electrons must be considered.
Due to the Pauli exclusion principle, two electrons cannot share the same set of quantum numbers within the same system; therefore, there is room for only two electrons in each spatial orbital. One of these electrons must have, (for some chosen direction z) ms = 1⁄2, and the other must have ms = −1⁄2. Hund's first rule states that the lowest energy atomic state is the one that maximizes the total spin quantum number for the electrons in the open subshell. The orbitals of the subshell are each occupied singly with electrons of parallel spin before double occupation occurs. (This is occasionally called the "bus seat rule" since it is analogous to the behaviour of bus passengers who tend to occupy all double seats singly before double occupation occurs.)
Two different physical explanations have been given for the increased stability of high multiplicity states. In the early days of quantum mechanics, it was proposed that electrons in different orbitals are further apart, so that electron–electron repulsion energy is reduced. However, accurate quantum-mechanical calculations (starting in the 1970s) have shown that the reason is that the electrons in singly occupied orbitals are less effectively screened or shielded from the nucleus, so that such orbitals contract and electron–nucleus attraction energy becomes greater in magnitude (or decreases algebraically).
As an example, consider the ground state of silicon. The electron configuration of Si is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p2 (see spectroscopic notation). We need to consider only the outer 3p2 electrons, for which it can be shown (see term symbols) that the possible terms allowed by the Pauli exclusion principle are 1D , 3P , and 1S. Hund's first rule now states that the ground state term is 3P (triplet P), which has S = 1. The superscript 3 is the value of the multiplicity = 2S + 1 = 3. The diagram shows the state of this term with ML = 1 and MS = 1.
This rule deals with reducing the repulsion between electrons. It can be understood from the classical picture that if all electrons are orbiting in the same direction (higher orbital angular momentum) they meet less often than if some of them orbit in opposite directions. In the latter case the repulsive force increases, which separates electrons. This adds potential energy to them, so their energy level is higher.
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Hund's rules
In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, Hund's rules refers to a set of rules that German physicist Friedrich Hund formulated around 1925, which are used to determine the term symbol that corresponds to the ground state of a multi-electron atom. The first rule is especially important in chemistry, where it is often referred to simply as Hund's Rule.
The three rules are:
These rules specify in a simple way how usual energy interactions determine which term includes the ground state. The rules assume that the repulsion between the outer electrons is much greater than the spin–orbit interaction, which is in turn stronger than any other remaining interactions. This is referred to as the LS coupling regime.
Closed shells and subshells do not contribute to the quantum numbers for total S, the total spin angular momentum and for L, the total orbital angular momentum. It can be shown that for full orbitals and suborbitals both the residual electrostatic energy (repulsion between electrons) and the spin–orbit interaction can only shift all the energy levels together. Thus when determining the ordering of energy levels in general only the outer valence electrons must be considered.
Due to the Pauli exclusion principle, two electrons cannot share the same set of quantum numbers within the same system; therefore, there is room for only two electrons in each spatial orbital. One of these electrons must have, (for some chosen direction z) ms = 1⁄2, and the other must have ms = −1⁄2. Hund's first rule states that the lowest energy atomic state is the one that maximizes the total spin quantum number for the electrons in the open subshell. The orbitals of the subshell are each occupied singly with electrons of parallel spin before double occupation occurs. (This is occasionally called the "bus seat rule" since it is analogous to the behaviour of bus passengers who tend to occupy all double seats singly before double occupation occurs.)
Two different physical explanations have been given for the increased stability of high multiplicity states. In the early days of quantum mechanics, it was proposed that electrons in different orbitals are further apart, so that electron–electron repulsion energy is reduced. However, accurate quantum-mechanical calculations (starting in the 1970s) have shown that the reason is that the electrons in singly occupied orbitals are less effectively screened or shielded from the nucleus, so that such orbitals contract and electron–nucleus attraction energy becomes greater in magnitude (or decreases algebraically).
As an example, consider the ground state of silicon. The electron configuration of Si is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p2 (see spectroscopic notation). We need to consider only the outer 3p2 electrons, for which it can be shown (see term symbols) that the possible terms allowed by the Pauli exclusion principle are 1D , 3P , and 1S. Hund's first rule now states that the ground state term is 3P (triplet P), which has S = 1. The superscript 3 is the value of the multiplicity = 2S + 1 = 3. The diagram shows the state of this term with ML = 1 and MS = 1.
This rule deals with reducing the repulsion between electrons. It can be understood from the classical picture that if all electrons are orbiting in the same direction (higher orbital angular momentum) they meet less often than if some of them orbit in opposite directions. In the latter case the repulsive force increases, which separates electrons. This adds potential energy to them, so their energy level is higher.
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