How do you write shorthand notation for elements?

1 Answer
Aug 5, 2017

look at the noble gas in the line just above
then fill in orbitals for the row of the element

Explanation:

Shorthand notation uses the noble gas of the previous line. This is due to the fact that all the orbitals up to that noble gas are completely filled. Then, you start filling in the orbitals for the element for the row that it is in.

I will use two examples—magnesium (Mg) and bismuth (Bi)—to show the shorthand form. For Mg, I will show the long hand as well.

Mg long form: 1s22s22p23s2
Mg shorthand: [Ne]3s2

Bi shorthand: [Xe]4f145d106s26p3 or [Xe]6s24f145d106p3

It usually depends on your professor for the order of orbitals, so that's why I listed two ways for bismuth.