{"id":259660,"date":"2025-07-19T04:56:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T04:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=259660"},"modified":"2025-07-19T04:56:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T04:56:48","slug":"the-shorthand-electron-configuration-of-a-sodium-ion-na","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/19\/the-shorthand-electron-configuration-of-a-sodium-ion-na\/","title":{"rendered":"The shorthand electron configuration of a sodium ion Na+"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The shorthand electron configuration of a sodium ion Na+ is [Ne].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct shorthand electron configuration of a sodium ion Na+ is A. [Ne]<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To determine the shorthand electron configuration for the sodium ion (Na+), we must first understand the electron configuration of a neutral sodium atom (Na) and then consider how the formation of an ion affects it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Neutral Sodium Atom (Na):<\/strong>
First, we locate sodium (Na) on the periodic table. It is in Group 1 and Period 3, and its atomic number is 11. This atomic number indicates that a neutral sodium atom has 11 protons in its nucleus and, to maintain electrical neutrality, 11 electrons orbiting the nucleus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can write the full electron configuration for these 11 electrons by filling the atomic orbitals in order of increasing energy, following the Aufbau principle:
1s\u00b2, 2s\u00b2, 2p\u2076, 3s\u00b9
(2 + 2 + 6 + 1 = 11 electrons)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shorthand, or noble gas, configuration for a neutral sodium atom would use the noble gas from the previous period (Period 2), which is Neon (Ne). Neon’s configuration is 1s\u00b22s\u00b22p\u2076. So, the shorthand for a neutral sodium atom is [Ne] 3s\u00b9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Sodium Ion (Na+):<\/strong>
The question asks for the configuration of a sodium ion, Na+. The positive one (+) charge signifies that the neutral sodium atom has lost one electron. Atoms tend to lose or gain electrons to achieve the stable electron configuration of a noble gas, a state often referred to as a full octet in the valence shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For sodium, the outermost electron is the single electron in the 3s orbital (the valence electron). By losing this one electron, sodium achieves a more stable state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we start with the neutral Na atom’s 11 electrons and subtract one:
11 electrons – 1 electron = 10 electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full electron configuration for the resulting Na+ ion, which now has 10 electrons, is:
1s\u00b22s\u00b22p\u2076<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Shorthand Configuration for Na+:<\/strong>
The question specifically asks for the shorthand configuration. We look for the noble gas that has the same electron configuration as the Na+ ion. The noble gas with 10 electrons is Neon (Ne), which has the exact configuration 1s\u00b22s\u00b22p\u2076. Therefore, the shorthand electron configuration for the sodium ion (Na+) is simply [Ne].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysis of Other Options:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • B. [Ar]:<\/strong>\u00a0Represents Argon, which has 18 electrons. This is incorrect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • C. [He]:<\/strong>\u00a0Represents Helium, which has 2 electrons. This is incorrect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • D. 1s\u00b22s\u00b22p\u2076:<\/strong>\u00a0This is the correct\u00a0full<\/em>\u00a0electron configuration for Na+, but the question asks for the\u00a0shorthand<\/em>\u00a0notation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • E. 1s\u00b21p\u20762s\u00b2:<\/strong>\u00a0This notation is fundamentally incorrect as the 1p orbital does not exist in quantum mechanics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The shorthand electron configuration of a sodium ion Na+ is [Ne]. The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The correct shorthand electron configuration of a sodium ion Na+ is A. [Ne]. Explanation: To determine the shorthand electron configuration for the sodium ion (Na+), we must first understand the electron configuration of a neutral sodium atom (Na) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}