Magnetic Properties in Atoms

Figure 13.

MAGNETIC PROPERTIES IN ATOMS

The magnetism of any system refers to the magnetic dipole moment. This applies to things you can see, such as a magnet, as well as things you cannot see, like atoms and electrons. As you will find out, there are different types of magnetism, including diamagnetism, paramagnetism, anti-ferromagnetism, and ferromagnetism.

Paramagnetism refers to the magnetism of an atom that has at least one unpaired electron. Because of the unpaired electrons, there will be a dipole moment and an attraction to positively-charged particles. According to Hund’s Rule, electrons must occupy each orbital of equal energy before pairing up with another electron in the same orbital. This can lead to an atom with many unpaired electrons. These are paramagnetic substances.

Diamagnetism involves having paired electrons. When electrons fill up the orbitals, paired electrons will tend to cancel each other out because they have opposite spins. These substances will be weakly repelled by a magnetic field. The electron configuration or electron signature will tell if a substance is paramagnetic or diamagnetic. This is why it pays to understand how to figure out the electronic signature of an atom or element. You can see if the orbitals are unpaired or paired.