Electron Configuration Shortcuts

Electron Configuration Shortcuts

By William Lovering

​Noble Gas Configuration

​Example: If I needed to do the configuration for Gold (Au).

​Gold has 79 electrons. Going backwards, the closest noble gas is Xenon with 54 electrons.

​Xenon ends with 5p⁶ . I need to place 25 more electrons (79-54).

​

​Following the energy order, 6s comes after 5p. So I start there, placing the 25 electrons.

​

[Xe] 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d⁹

Multiple Choice

What is the noble gas configuration for beryllium?

• [He]1s²
• [He]2s²
• [Li]2s¹
• [Li]2s²

Multiple Choice

What is the noble gas configuration for Sulfur?

• [Ar] 3p⁴
• [He] 3s² 3p⁴
• [Ne] 3s² 3p⁴
• [Na] 3s² 3p⁴
  

Multiple Choice

[Ne]3s¹ is the noble gas configuration for which element?

• sodium
• lithium
• fluorine
• aluminum

Multiple Choice

[Ne]3s²3p⁵ is the noble gas configuration for which element?

• chlorine
• fluorine
• sulfur
• aluminum

Multiple Choice

What atom matches this electron configuration?
1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s²3d¹⁰

• Zinc
• Copper
• Nickel
• Germanium

The arrangement of the periodic table reflects the last term in an electron configuration. These "blocks" of elements share the same orbital and energy level.​

​

As the number of electrons increase, you can clearly see the orbital filling order by following from left to right. Also notice, each column has the same number of electrons in the final orbital.

​

Multiple Choice

Which is the electron configuration for an oxygen atom?

• 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s²
• 1s²2s²2p⁴
• 1s²2s²2p⁶
• 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶

Multiple Choice

What is the maximum number of electrons that an orbital can have?

• 1 electron
• 2 electrons
• 3 electrons
• 4 electrons

Multiple Choice

What atom matches this electron configuration?
[Xe] 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d⁹

• Mercury
• Gold
• Platinum
• Thallium

Multiple Choice

How many valence electrons are represented here?

• 7
• 5
• 2
• 8

Multiple Choice

USE THE PERIODIC TABLE

How many valence electrons does Phosphorus have?

• 31

• 5

• 15

• 4

Multiple Choice

How many valence electrons are in an atom of Ar?

• 2
• 8
• 4
• 1

Multiple Choice

All atoms are most stable with (or would "prefer") how many electrons in their valence shell?

• 1

• 2

• 8

• 18

Multiple Choice

A anion will be a ____ ion.

• negative
• positive
• neutral
• ficticious

Multiple Choice

A cation is a ____ ion.

• negative
• positive
• neutral
• ficticious

Multiple Choice

How many valence electrons does Oxygen (O) contain?

• 6

• 5

• 8

• 2

Multiple Choice

[Ne]3s²3p¹ is the noble gas configuration for which element?

• scandium
• boron
• nitrogen
• aluminum