Shielding effect

This article is about the atomic effect. For shielding materials, see Electromagnetic shielding.

In chemistry, the shielding effect, sometimes referred to as atomic shielding, screening effect, or electron shielding, describes the phenomenon where inner-core electrons repel outer electrons, reducing the net attraction exerted by the nucleus. The shielding effect can be defined as a reduction in the effective nuclear charge experienced by electrons in outer shells. It is a special case of electrostatic screening in atomic physics. This effect is also significant in various fields of materials science.