Question

What is the shielding effect in chemistry?

Answer 1

Shielding:

1. The outer electrons are repelled by the core electrons, so the nucleus' effective charge on the outermost electrons is decreased.
2. As a result, the outer electrons are shielded and thus have less grip on the nucleus. This is called shielding.

Shielding effect description:

1. It is the repulsion of valence electrons that counteracts the attraction between these electrons and the nucleus.
2. The shielding effect increases when elements move down the group in the periodic table because of an increase in the number of inner orbits around the nucleus.
3. The outermost electrons of the high atomic number elements experience the low electrostatic force of attraction due to the repulsion that decreases the shielding effect.
4. The shielding effect for a period is constant because each period has a fixed number of orbits around the nucleus.
5. The order of the shielding effect in the sub-shell is: $\mathrm{s}>\mathrm{p}>\mathrm{d}>\mathrm{f}$ because the orbitals form diffuse shapes as the effect decreases.