Nuclear charge actually experienced by an electron is termed as effective nuclear charge. The effect β Periodic Table and Periodicity Chemistry Question
Question
Nuclear charge actually experienced by an electron is termed as effective nuclear charge. The effective nuclear charge Z* actually depends on type of shell and orbital in which electron is actually present. The relative extent to which the various orbitals penetrate the electron clouds of other orbitals is. s > p > d > f (for the same value of n) The phenomenon in which penultimate shell electrons act as screen or shield in between nucleus and valence shell electrons and thereby reducing nuclear charge is known as shielding effect. The penultimate shell electrons repel the valence shell electron to keep them loosely held with nucleus. It is thus evident that more is the shielding effect, lesser is the effective nuclear charge and lesser is the ionization energy.

π‘ Solution & Explanation
Step 1: Determine the electronic configurations of beryllium (Be: 1s2 2s2), magnesium (Mg: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2), and calcium (Ca: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2). Step 2: Compare their outermost energy levels. All three elements have two s-electrons in their outermost shells, are classified as alkaline earth metals, and belong to group 2 of the periodic table. Step 3: Beryllium has only 4 electrons total, and its outer energy level (n=2) contains no p-orbitals or p-electrons. Therefore, containing a pair of p-electrons in the outermost energy level is not a shared characteristic.