How many unpaired electrons are there in tungsten?

1 Answer
Meave60
Jul 8, 2018

There are four unpaired electrons in the 5d sublevel (subshell).

Explanation:

The electron configuration of tungsten, 74W is:

1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d104f145s25p65d46s2

or

[Xe]4f145d46s2

There are five orbitals in any d sublevel. A single, unpaired electron must enter each of the five orbitals before electrons can be paired. The sixth electron would form a pair in one orbital. However, W has four 5d electrons, so they are all unpaired.

Related questions
See all questions in Electron Configuration
Impact of this question
11199 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License