Teaching Electron Configuration The Musical Way

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Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 951±954, 2006 0949-149X/91 $3.00+0.

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Printed in Great Britain. # 2006 TEMPUS Publications.

Teaching Electron Configuration the


Musical Way*
SAM ZHANG
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore. E-mail: msyzhang@ntu.edu.sg
This paper describes a `musical way' of teaching the electronic configuration of elements in the
periodic table, thus taking the frustration and struggle out of the learning process and making it
fun. In essence, the musical notes `do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti' are denoted by seven digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7 respectively, to represent the total number of electron energy shells. Sounding out the shell
number in music immediately grasps the students' attention and they become instantly involved.
The teaching is simple and the learning becomes fun. And hopefully, once learnt, the tune (and thus
the electronic configuration) will be remembered for lifeÐthanks to the magic of music.
Keywords: electronic configuration; periodic table; elements.

INTRODUCTION In step 3, assign an appropriate orbital letter


(s, p, d or f subshell) to each of the `musical notes'.
MATERIALS STUDENTS normally have to For this purpose, first identify the same shell
learn the full periodic table (Appendix I) and the numbers, noting that they may not be togetherÐ
detailed electron configuration (Appendix II) in as shown in expression (1) for the bold `5's. It is
the first year of their college life. The sad fact is important to show an example at this stage. For
that this is something they do not naturally like: at instance, assign orbitals to the `5's: affix the
first sight, they are just a bunch of numbers mixed s-orbital to the first `5', p to the second `5', d to
with letters. Remembering the sequence and the the third `5' and `f ' to the fourth `5'. As all the `5's
associated number of electrons is certainly an are assigned to the orbitals, expression (1) becomes
unimaginable task. My way of teaching it is to
1223 343 45s 45p 645d 675f6 7 (2)
create a `wow' effect first: I ask the class to call out
any atomic number (or, better still, the element), It is necessary to stress to the student that not all of
then I sound out in music while writing down the the shell numbers will use up the orbital letters.
electron configuration for that element. `Wow' the For shell number 1, only s will be used. For shell
students exclaim every time without fail. The number 2, only s and p are used; the d and f
interest is thus planted and the desire to find out orbitals are not used. When all the shell numbers
how to do it is aroused. are assigned orbital letters, expression (1) becomes
1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p5s 4d 5p 6s 4f 5d 6p7s 5f 6d 7p
THE MUSICAL WAY (3)

First, define the musical note in seven digits. This is Aufbau's building up principle written on
This is extremely simple. Students from a Chinese one line. Expression (3) is the `master skeleton' for
background do not have to learn this, because they electron configuration of all the elements in the
have all learned the `simplified musical note' in periodic table.
primary school. For students of other origins, a Step 4, or the final step, is to fill up the electrons
definition (Fig. 1(a) ) may be necessary: view these in each orbital. It is now time to get the student to
`digitized' musical notes (`do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti' focus on the maximum number of electrons each
for 1 through 7) as the primary quantum numbers orbital can accommodate: s up to 2; p up to 6; d up
(the primary shells). Writing down the primary to 10; and f up to 14 (as tabulated in Table 1).
quantum numbers following the Aufbau principle Drawing an analogy with a hotel (beds, rooms
makes a nice piece of music: and floors) always work wonders in explaining the
number of electrons the orbital can `house'. Also,
1223 343 4545 645 6756 7 (1) students appreciate having pointed out to them the
Or `do re re meÐme fa meÐfa so fa soÐla fa soÐ `plus 4' rule: 2 plus 4 is 6 (max for p), 6 plus 4 is 10
la ti so la ti', as given in Fig. 1(b). This is step 2. (max for d); and 10 plus 4 is 14 (max for f).
At this point of time, a quiz is a good idea, to
allow the student to digest the information and put
* Accepted 19 May 2006. the `music way' to work. For instance, complete

951
952 S. Zhang

Fig. 1. The musical way: (a) digitizing the basic musical note: `do re me fa so la ti' as numbers 1 through 7, (b) electron shell
arrangements in music `do re re meÐme fa meÐfa so fa soÐla fa soÐla ti so la ti'.

Table 1. Maximum number of electrons the orbitals can SUMMARY


accommodate

Orbit s p d f The electron configuration of elements can be


taught in a musical way:
Max. no. of electrons 2 6 10 14
Step 1: `Digitize' the basic musical notes `do re me fa
so la ti' as numbers 1 through 7
Step 2: Sound out in music the primary shell numbers
the electron configuration of 32Ge. The answer in the Aufbau building up principle: 1223 343 4545
should be 1s22s22p63s2 3p64s23d10 4p2. 645 6756 7 or `do re re meÐme fa meÐfa so fa soÐla
Finally, it is necessary to note the few exceptions fa soÐla ti so la ti'
in filling up the orbital: in some elements, the Step 3: Assign appropriate s, p, d, f orbitals to each
electrons do not completely fill up the second last number: 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p5s 4d 5p 6s 4f 5d 6p7s
orbitals before moving on to fill up the outermost 5f 6d 7p
orbital. These elements are Cr, Cu, Nb, Pd, Ce, Tb, Step 4: Fill up the orbitals with the number of
electrons as superscripts to the orbital letter up to
Pa and Bk [1]. For instance: 24Cr: 1s22s22p63s2 their respective maximum: s up to 2; p up to 6; d up to
3p64s13d5 or 29Cu: 1s22s22p63s2 3p64s13d10. The 10; and f up to 14. Note the few exceptional elements
irregularity of the number of the electrons is high- (Cr, Cu, Nb, Pd, Ce, Tb, Pa and Bk) that do not
lighted in bold. These exceptions do not affect the completely fill up the second last orbitals before
`music way' nor the assignment of the orbital moving on to fill up the outermost orbitals. All the
letters. superscripts must add up to equal the atomic number.

REFERENCES
1. Robert C. Weast, M. J. Astle and W. H. Beyer, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 66th edition,
CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida (1986), p. B-4.

APPENDIX I
THE MODERN PERIODIC TABLE: A REVIEW

The arrangement of elements in the modern periodic table is based on the electron configuration of atoms.
Electron configuration refers to the order in which electrons are arranged around the nucleus of an atom.
Teaching Electron Configuration the Musical Way 953

Fig. 2. The modern period table of elements.

Fig. 3. Aufbau's Building Up Principle.


954 S. Zhang

The periodic table contains rows and columns. The columns are called periods. The rows are called groups.
There are 7 periods and 18 groups in the modern periodic table (Fig. 2).
The periods represent the energy levels indicated by the principal quantum numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The 18 groups of elements have been classified according to the orbitals (s, p, d and f) because the electrons
in these orbitals determine their chemistry. The s-orbital accommodates up to 2 electrons spinning in
opposite directions, the p-orbitals up to 6 electrons (3 p-orbitals each can `house' 2 electrons spinning in
opposite directions); the d-orbital up to 10 electrons (5 d-orbitals times 2 each) and the f-orbital 14 electrons
(7 orbitals times 2 each).

APPENDIX II
THE ELECTRON CONFIGURATION

As electrons fill up the orbitals in an atom, they do so in an effort to minimize the total energy. The
energy of an electron depends on the combination of its primary quantum number and the angular
momentum; thus 4s is filled up before 3d, etc. Filling of the orbitals follows Aufbau's principle (Fig. 3): the
sequence in which the orbitals are filled represents the increasing energy of these orbitals. Spatially, the
orbital with the highest principal quantum number is the furthest from the nucleus. The number of electrons
of an elemental atom equals the atomic number; thus, given the atomic number of an element, the electron
configuration can be written according to Aufbau's building up principle. For instance, Germanium has an
atomic number of 32 (i.e. it has 32 electrons), thus the electron configuration of 32Ge is 1s22s22p63s2
3p64s23d10 4p2.

Sam Zhang has been Associate Professor with the School of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, since the turn of the millen-
nium. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
USA. His subjects include Materials Science, Wafer Fabrication and Advanced Materials
Characterization Techniques. His research interests include metallic and ceramic materials,
ceramic and bio-ceramic coatings with emphasis on processing methodologies, character-
ization of properties and industrial applications. Dr. Zhang also serves as Principal Editor
for the Journal of Materials Research. Details of his teaching and research can be accessed
through http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/msyzhang.

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