Electron Configurations

Front

What is an electron configuration?

Back

An electron configuration is the distribution of electrons in an atom's orbitals, indicating the energy levels and sublevels occupied by electrons.

Front

How many electrons can an orbital hold at most?

Back

An orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons.

Front

What does the notation 1s² represent?

Back

The notation 1s² indicates that there are 2 electrons in the 1s orbital.

Front

What is the highest occupied energy level in an atom with the electron configuration 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶?

Back

The highest occupied energy level is 3.

Front

What is the noble gas shorthand electron configuration for Argon?

Back

The noble gas shorthand electron configuration for Argon is [Ne] 3s²3p⁶.

Front

What is the electron configuration for a neutral Zinc atom?

Back

The electron configuration for a neutral Zinc atom is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s²3d¹⁰.

Front

What is the significance of the Pauli Exclusion Principle in electron configurations?

Back

The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers, meaning an orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons with opposite spins.

Front

What is the Aufbau principle?

Back

The Aufbau principle states that electrons occupy the lowest energy orbitals first before moving to higher energy orbitals.

Front

What is the difference between core electrons and valence electrons?

Back

Core electrons are the inner electrons that are not involved in bonding, while valence electrons are the outermost electrons that participate in chemical bonding.

Front

How do you determine the number of valence electrons in an atom?

Back

The number of valence electrons can be determined by looking at the outermost energy level of the electron configuration.