What's the electronic configuration for an atom that has 33 electrons?

1 Answer
Jan 6, 2015

The (neutral) atom that has 33 electrons is called Arsenic (As), and its electron configuration can be written like this:

"As":1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^(6)4s^(2)3d^(10)4p^(3)

Another way to write the electron configuration for As is to use the noble gas shorthand notation. This is done by determining the noble that comes before As in the periodic table, which is Argon (Ar).

The electron configuration for Ar is

"Ar": 1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^(6)

Using this to replace the matching portion of As' configuration will give

"As": ["Ar"]4s^(2)3d^(10)4p^(3)