{
  "deck_name": "Atomic Structure & Periodic Trends",
  "cards": [
    { "question": "What does an element's atomic number represent?", "answer": "The number of protons in the nucleus of each atom of that element." },
    { "question": "What makes two atoms isotopes of the same element?", "answer": "They have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons." },
    { "question": "How do you calculate the mass number of a nuclide?", "answer": "Add the number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus." },
    { "question": "What is an ion?", "answer": "An atom or group of atoms with a net charge because electrons have been gained or lost." },
    { "question": "How does a cation form?", "answer": "An atom or molecule loses one or more electrons and becomes positively charged." },
    { "question": "How does an anion form?", "answer": "An atom or molecule gains one or more electrons and becomes negatively charged." },
    { "question": "What is an atomic orbital?", "answer": "A region described by a wavefunction where an electron has a high probability of being found." },
    { "question": "What does an electron configuration describe?", "answer": "How an atom's electrons are distributed among its shells, subshells, and orbitals." },
    { "question": "Why are valence electrons important in basic chemical bonding?", "answer": "They are the outer electrons most directly involved in forming chemical bonds and determining many reactions." },
    { "question": "What does a period in the periodic table represent?", "answer": "A horizontal row of elements; period number is broadly related to the highest occupied principal shell in ground-state atoms." },
    { "question": "Why do elements in the same main-group column often have similar chemical properties?", "answer": "They have similar valence-shell electron configurations, especially similar numbers of valence electrons." },
    { "question": "What is shielding in an atom?", "answer": "The reduction in attraction between the nucleus and an electron caused by repulsion from other electrons." },
    { "question": "What generally happens to atomic radius across a period from left to right?", "answer": "It generally decreases because effective nuclear charge increases while added electrons enter the same principal shell." },
    { "question": "What generally happens to atomic radius down a main-group column?", "answer": "It generally increases as electrons occupy shells farther from the nucleus." },
    { "question": "What is first ionization energy?", "answer": "The energy required to remove one electron from each atom in a mole of gaseous ground-state atoms." },
    { "question": "What is the broad trend in first ionization energy across a period?", "answer": "It generally increases from left to right, with exceptions caused by subshell and electron-pairing effects." },
    { "question": "What is electronegativity?", "answer": "A measure of an atom's tendency to attract shared electrons in a chemical bond." },
    { "question": "What is the broad electronegativity trend down a main-group column?", "answer": "It generally decreases as valence electrons are farther from the nucleus and more shielded." },
    { "question": "How do the radii of a cation and its neutral atom usually compare?", "answer": "A cation is usually smaller because electron loss reduces repulsion and can remove an outer shell." },
    { "question": "How do the radii of an anion and its neutral atom usually compare?", "answer": "An anion is usually larger because added electrons increase electron-electron repulsion in the valence shell." }
  ]
}