Question #a454b

1 Answer
Nikka C.
Oct 27, 2015

by following:
![chemwiki.ucdavis.edu)

Explanation:

Ground state electron configurations are simple enough just as long as you know the atomic number of the element and the order of which you should write the electron configuration.

The illustration above is useful so that you won't have to memorize the order of things (just draw this on your scratch paper and follow the arrows).

For example, you are asked to give the ground state electron configuration of Strontium (#Sr#, atomic number = 38). Ground state means no charge (either positive or negative) on the atom, so you can write the electron configuration as

#1s^2# #2s^2# #2p^6# #3s^2# #3p^6# #4s^2# #3d^"10"# #4p^6# #5s^2# = 38 electrons (same as the atomic number); with 2 valence electrons (from #5s^2#)

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