Diamagnetic substances contain no net electron spin and are repelled from a magn

Question

Diamagnetic substances contain no net electron spin and are repelled from a magnetic field. Paramagnetic substances contain one or more unpaired electrons and are attracted to a magnetic field. Some paramagnetic substances can be further classified as ferromagnetic, which means they retain their magnetism in the absence of an external field. Classify each of these ions as diamagnetic or paramagnetic. Drag the appropriate items to their respective bins. Based on the magnetic susceptibility values shown here, match each substances to the illustration that best represents the orientation of its net electron spins in the absence of an external magnetic field. Drag the appropriate items to their respective bins.

Explanation / Answer

You can determine whether or not an ion is paramagnetic or dimagnetic based on whether or not it has unpaired electrons in its electron configuration. Let's consider each ion in turn.

Question 1

Co2+ has an electron configuration of [Ar]4s23d5. Ordinarily, we would remove electrons from the 4s orbital first, however if we remove them from the 3d orbital, we get some special stability from a half-filled 3d subshell. Thus, the electron configuration is as written. Notice that each of the electrons in the 3d subshell would be unpaired, so Co2+ is indeed paramagnetic.

Zn2+ has an electron configuration of [Ar]4s03d10. This is the case where we do in fact remove the electrons from the 4s orbital. Notice that all the electrons in the 3d orbital would be paired (The 3d subshell is completely filled here) so the Zn2+ ion is dimagnetic.

Cu has an electron configuration of [Ar]4s13d10 initially. Removing two electrons to form the Cu2+ ion gives [Ar]4s03d9 . You can tell there is at least one unpaired electron in the Cu2+ ion, so it is paramagnetic.

Ni2+ has an electron configuration of [Ar]4s03d8. It thus has two unpaired electrons and is paramagnetic.

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Question 2

If the value for Xg is negative, the species is dimagnetic. That would place element Q in the far left box--it does not have any moment in the field.

If the values are intermediate, as in X and Y, then they belong in the middle box. Some of the spins align, but not all.

If the values are high, the species is quite susceptible to a magnetic field and all align nicely. That would place element Z in the right-most box.

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