What is the electron configuration for the silicon atom?

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Answer 1 · 2018-01-08T08:52:07

#[Ne]3s^2\3p^2#

Silicon has an atomic number of #14#, so a neutral silicon atom would have #14# electrons.

Therefore, it would have enough electrons to fill up till its #3p# shell.

#1s^2\2s^2\2p^6\3s^2\3p^2#

We know that neon is a noble gas with an electron configuration of
#1s^2\2s^2\2p^6#.

So, we can shorten silicon's electron configuration to a noble-gas configuration, which would be

#[Ne]3s^2\3p^2#