MCAT Chemistry Study - Atomic Structure

Question	Answer
Electronegativity	A measure of the ability of an atom to attract electrons to itself. Incorporates the atom's ionization energy and electron affinity.
Pauli Exclusion Principle	States that no two electrons in an atom or molecule can have the same set of four quantum numbers.
Isotope	Atoms with the same number of protons (i.e. same atomic number) but a different number of neutrons.
Aufbau principle	German for "building up", a systematic procedure for determining the electron configuration of any atom. Incorporates the Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hund's Rule.
degenerate orbitals	Orbitals with identical energies.
Ionization energy	The energy it takes to remove an electron from an atom.
Octet rule	The cardinal rule of bonding. The octet rule states that atoms gain stability when they have a full complement of 8 electrons in their valence shells.
Shell	A group of subshells of similar energy levels. For example, 2s and 2p subshells occupy the same shell. Indicated by the principle quantum number.

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