Energy level diagrams

Chemists find quantum numbers useful when they’re looking at chemical reactions and bonding (and those are things many chemists like to study). But they find two other representations for electrons   energy level diagrams and electron configurations more useful and easier to work with.  Chemists use both of these things to represent which energy level, subshell, and orbital are occupied by electrons in any particular atom. Chemists use this information to predict what type of bonding will occur with a particular element and to show exactly which electrons are being used. These representations are also useful in showing why certain elements behave in similar ways.

In this section, I show you how to use an energy level diagram and write electron configurations. I also discuss valence electrons, which are key in chemical reactions.