Diamagnetic in its Groundstate?

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silveryhair

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What element is Diamagnetic in its Groundstate?

O, Si, Ca, Cr, S

What does ground state mean? does it mean that Ca would be Ca2+?

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Ca is diamagentic because it has no unpaired electrons. Ca has 2 electrons in the s orbital, ergo it is full. The others have orbitals that have unpaired electrons if you were to write it out.
 
So why does Chad in the videos say that O is diamagnetic? he shows the 2S2 moving to the P orbitals to have a full P orbital.
 
So why does Chad in the videos say that O is diamagnetic? he shows the 2S2 moving to the P orbitals to have a full P orbital.

O is paramagnetic because it has 6 valence electrons leaving 2 unpaired. Hence its ability to make two covalent bonds.
 
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I'm sure everyone has already put two and two together, but just in case anyone needs reassurance:

In its ground state, O has this electron configuration: 1s2 2s2 2p4
This produces paramagnetism since the outermost subshell (2p) has both paired and unpaired electrons. This happens when the outermost subshell is between half-full and completely-full.

Promoting the 2s2 electrons to 2p, gives this excited state electron configuration: 1s2 2s0 2p6
This produces diamagnetism since the outermost subshell contains only paired electrons. This happens when the outermost subshell is completely-full.

That's why the question specifies ground state...it makes a difference.

Side note: having an exactly half-full outermost subshell produces ferromagnetism (all orbitals filled singly). Ferromagnetism is the magnetism of permanent magnets and is the strongest of the three. Paramagnetism is like a much weaker version given an external magnetic field. Diamagnetism is actually the weakest, and gives a repulsion in an external magnetic field.
 
Thanks guys! I guess Chad was talking about the excited state of Oxygen. Thanks again!
 
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