Write the ground state electron configuration of Zn using the noble-gas shorthand notation
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The ground state electron configuration of zinc (Zn), which has an atomic number of 30, can be written using the noble-gas shorthand notation.
Noble-Gas Shorthand Electron Configuration of Zn:[Ar] 3d10 4s2\text{[Ar]} \, 3d^{10} \, 4s^2[Ar]3d104s2
Explanation:
- Noble Gas Core:
- Zinc (Zn) has an atomic number of 30, meaning it has 30 electrons.
- The noble gas preceding zinc in the periodic table is Argon (Ar), which has an atomic number of 18. Therefore, we can use Argon’s electron configuration [Ar][ \text{Ar} ][Ar] as the core, which represents the first 18 electrons of zinc.
- Remaining Electrons:
- After the Argon core, zinc has 12 more electrons to place. These are placed in the next available orbitals, which are the 4s and 3d orbitals.
- The 4s orbital is filled first. The 4s orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, so zinc has 2 electrons in the 4s orbital.
- After filling the 4s orbital, the next available orbital is the 3d orbital. The 3d orbital can hold a maximum of 10 electrons, so the remaining 10 electrons go into the 3d orbital.
- Final Configuration:
- Combining the noble gas shorthand and the electrons in the 4s and 3d orbitals, we get the electron configuration of zinc as [Ar] 3d10 4s2[ \text{Ar} ] \, 3d^{10} \, 4s^2[Ar]3d104s2.
This shorthand notation makes it easier to represent the electron configuration by skipping over the electrons that are in the filled inner shells, focusing only on the outermost electrons (valence electrons) involved in bonding and chemical reactions.
