effective nuclear charge

English

Noun

effective nuclear charge (plural effective nuclear charges)

1. (chemistry) The net nuclear charge that an electron in an atom experiences, after subtracting the nuclear charge shielded by other electrons.
   • 1999 September, O. Sala, K. Araki, L. K. Noda, “A Procedure to Obtain the Effective Nuclear Charge from the Atomic Spectrum of Sodium”, in Journal of Chemical Education, volume 76, number 9, page 1269:

     On the other hand, many concepts on atomic structure (energy levels, ionization potentials, electronegativity of the elements, and so on) are discussed in terms of effective nuclear charges.