Photo AI
The electronic structure of phosphorus is 2.8.5 - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 15 - 2018 - Paper 1
Question 15
The electronic structure of phosphorus is 2.8.5. Use these three numbers to explain the position of phosphorus in the Periodic Table. Phosphorus is found in Period... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The electronic structure of phosphorus is 2.8.5 - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 15 - 2018 - Paper 1
Step 1
Use these three numbers to explain the position of phosphorus in the Periodic Table.
Answer
Phosphorus is located in Period 3 of the Periodic Table as it has 3 electron shells, which is indicated by the first number (2 in the configuration 2.8.5). It is further classified in Group 5 because it has 5 electrons in its outer shell, as shown by the last number in the configuration. Therefore, phosphorus has an electronic structure that is characteristic of Period 3 and Group 5.
Step 2
Draw a ‘dot and cross’ diagram to show the covalent bonding in PH3.
Answer
The dot and cross diagram for PH3 shows the sharing of electrons between phosphorus and hydrogen. The phosphorus atom will have 5 electrons, represented as dots, with three of them shared with three hydrogen atoms (each hydrogen having 1 electron, represented as crosses). The diagram would look like this:
H
|
H-P-H
|
H
In this representation, each line represents a shared pair of electrons (covalent bond) between phosphorus and each hydrogen atom.