What is the complete ground state electron configuration for the boron atom?
The correct answer and explanation is:
The complete ground state electron configuration for a boron (B) atom is:
1s² 2s² 2p¹
Explanation:
An element’s electron configuration represents the arrangement of its electrons in atomic orbitals. The electron configuration is determined by the number of electrons and the order in which they occupy various orbitals, which follows the Pauli exclusion principle, Hund’s rule, and the Aufbau principle.
Boron has an atomic number of 5, which means it has 5 electrons. These electrons are arranged in energy levels or shells around the nucleus.
- The 1st shell (n = 1) can hold a maximum of 2 electrons. The first two electrons fill the 1s orbital:
1s² - The 2nd shell (n = 2) can hold up to 8 electrons, and is filled next. It consists of two types of orbitals: the 2s orbital and the 2p orbitals.
- The next two electrons fill the 2s orbital:
2s² - The remaining 1 electron is placed in one of the three 2p orbitals (the p orbitals can hold a maximum of 6 electrons, but only 1 is occupied here):
2p¹
Thus, the complete electron configuration for boron is: 1s² 2s² 2p¹.
This configuration shows that boron has two electrons in its first shell and three electrons in its second shell. The 2p¹ part indicates that the boron atom has one unpaired electron in the 2p orbital, which is significant when considering its chemical properties and reactivity.