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Outline the steps for calculating the effective nuclear charge of Arsenic

Accepted Answer
Steps to Calculate Effective Nuclear Charge (Zeff) of Arsenic (As):
1. Determine the atomic number of Arsenic (As): Arsenic's atomic number is 33, meaning it has 33 protons in its nucleus.
2. Identify the number of core electrons: Core electrons are those that are not valence electrons and are closer to the nucleus. Arsenic has 18 core electrons (2 in the 1st shell, 8 in the 2nd shell, and 8 in the 3rd shell).
3. Calculate the effective nuclear charge (Zeff): Zeff is the net positive charge experienced by an electron in an atom. It is calculated as:
Zeff = Z - S
where:
- Z is the atomic number (number of protons)
- S is the screening constant, which represents the shielding effect of core electrons on the valence electrons.
4. Estimate the screening constant (S): There are different methods to estimate S, but a simple approximation is to use Slater's rules. According to Slater's rules, each core electron contributes 0.35 to S, except for the (n-1) shell electrons, which contribute 0.85. For Arsenic, the screening constant would be approximately (18 x 0.35) + (10 x 0.85) = 15.7.
5. Calculate Zeff: Using the values of Z and S, the effective nuclear charge for Arsenic would be:
Zeff = 33 - 15.7 = 17.3

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