2.

4 Electronic configurations
Representing electronic configurations
Here is a detailed way of writing the electronic configuration of an atom of hydrogen, that includes
information about the number of electrons in each sub-shell.

Helium has two electrons. Both electrons can go into the 1s orbital, as this can hold a maximum of two
electrons. So, the electronic structure of helium is 1s2.
Lithium has three electrons. The 1s orbital can only hold a maximum of two electrons so the third
electron must go into the next highest sub-shell, the 2s. So, the electronic structure of lithium is 1s2
2s1.

Electrons are added one by one for successive elements, filling each sub-shell in order of increasing energy.
You can see the electronic configurations of the first 18 elements in Table 2.5.

A question about this type of detailed notation will often be stated like this: ‘Use 1s2 notation to give the
electronic configuration …’ as in Question 6.

Question
6 Use 1s2 notation to give the electronic configurations of the atoms with the following atomic numbers:

a 16

b 9

c 20

The electronic configurations of some of the elements after argon are shown in Table 2.6. In this table, part
of the electronic configuration of each element is represented by [Ar]. This ‘noble gas core’ represents the
electronic configuration of argon: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6. This method is a shorthand way of writing electronic
structures of atoms with many electrons. However, in an exam you should be prepared to write out the full
electronic configuration.

You should note the following:

Electronic configuration of potassium

Potassium has the electronic configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1. The outer electron goes into the 4s sub-
shell rather than the 3d sub-shell because the 4s is below the 3d in terms of its energy.

Filling the 3d sub-shell

After calcium, a new sub-shell becomes occupied. The next electron goes into a 3d sub-shell rather than a
4p sub-shell. So, scandium has the electronic configuration [Ar] 3d1 4s2. This is because electrons occupy
the orbitals with the lowest energy: the 3d sub-shell is just above the 4s sub-shell but below the 4p sub-
shell. This begins a pattern of filling the 3d sub-shell ending with zinc. Zinc has the electronic configuration
[Ar] 3d10 4s2.

Proton number Symbol Electronic configuration

 1 H 1s1

2 He 1s2

3 Li 1s2 2s1

4 Be 1s2 2s2

5 B 1s2 2s2 2p1

6 C 1s2 2s2 2p2

7 N 1s2 2s2 2p3

8 O 1s2 2s2 2p4

9 F 1s2 2s2 2p5

10 Ne 1s2 2s2 2p6

11 Na 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1

12 Mg 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2

13 Al 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p1

14 Si 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p2

15 P 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p3

16 S 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4

17 Cl 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5

18 Ar 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6

Table 2.5: Electronic configurations for the first 18 elements in the Periodic Table.

Chromium and copper

The electronic configurations of chromium and copper do not follow the expected pattern. Chromium has
the electronic configuration [Ar] 3d5 4s1 (rather than the expected [Ar] 3d4 4s2). Copper has the electronic
configuration [Ar] 3d10 4s1 (rather than the expected [Ar] 3d9 4s2). This is because the 3d54s1 and 3d104s1
electron arrangements are more energetically stable. You will have to learn that these two elements are
exceptions to the pattern.

Gallium to krypton
The electrons then add to the 4p sub-shell because this is the next highest energy level above the 3d.

Proton number Name (Symbol) Electronic configuration

19 potassium (K) [Ar] 4s1

20 calcium (Ca) [Ar] 4s2

21 scandium (Sc) [Ar] 3d1 4s2

24 chromium (Cr) [Ar] 3d5 4s1

25 manganese (Mn) [Ar] 3d5 4s2

29 copper (Cu) [Ar] 3d10 4s1

30 zinc (Zn) [Ar] 3d10 4s2

31 gallium (Ga) [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p1

35 bromine (Br) [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p5

36 krypton (Kr) [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p6

Table 2.6: Electronic configurations for some of the elements 19 to 36, where [Ar] is the electronic structure of argon 1s2
2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6.

Question
7 Use 1s2 notation to give the electronic configurations for the following elements:

a vanadium (Z = 23)

b copper (Z = 29)

c selenium (Z = 34)

Orbitals and the Periodic Table

The arrangement of elements in the Periodic Table reflects the electronic structure of the elements. The
Periodic Table can be split into blocks of elements (Figure 2.11).

Elements in Groups 1 and 2 have outer electrons in an s sub-shell. These are therefore together called
the s-block.

Figure 2.11: Some of the blocks of elements in the Periodic Table.

Elements in Groups 13 to 18 (apart from He) have outer electrons in a p sub-shell. These are therefore
together called the p-block.
Elements that add electrons to the d sub-shells are called the d-block elements. Most of these are
transition elements.

Questions
8 a An element has the electronic configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p5.

i Which block in the Periodic Table does this element belong to?

ii Which group does it belong to?

iii Identify this element.

b Which block in the Periodic Table does the element with the electronic configuration
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d5 4s1 belong to?

9 Which one of these statements about the electrons in the outermost principal quantum shell of
phosphorus (atomic number 15) is true?

A There are five p-type electrons and no s-type electrons

B There are three p-type electrons and two s-type electrons

C There are two p-type electrons and two s-type electrons

D There are five s-type electrons and no p-type electrons

Filling the orbitals

A useful way of representing electronic configurations is a diagram that places electrons in boxes (Figure
2.12).
 Each box represents an atomic orbital.
The boxes (orbitals) can be arranged in order of increasing energy from bottom to top.
An electron is represented by an arrow.

Figure 2.12: The electronic configuration of boron in box form.

The direction of the arrow represents the ‘spin’ of the electron. (We imagine an electron rotating
around its own axis either in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.)
When there are two electrons in an orbital, the ‘spins’ of the electrons are opposite, so the two arrows
in this box point in opposite directions.

Electrons in the same region of space repel each other because they have the same charge. This is called
spin-pair repulsion. Wherever possible, electrons will occupy separate orbitals in the same sub-shell to
minimise this repulsion, so these electrons have their ‘spin’ in the same direction. Electrons are only paired
when there are no more empty orbitals available within a sub-shell. The spins are then opposite to
minimise repulsion. Figure 2.13 shows the electronic structures of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen to illustrate
these points.

Free radicals
A free radical is a species with one or more unpaired electrons. An example of a free radical is an isolated
chlorine atom, which has the electronic configuration 1s22s22p63s23p5. In the 3p orbitals, two of the
orbitals have paired electrons and the remaining orbital has an unpaired electron. The unpaired electron in
a free radical is shown as a dot ·, e.g. Cl·. Groups of atoms can also be free radicals. For example, the H3C·
radical has a carbon atom with an unpaired electron.

Figure 2.13: When adding electrons to a particular sub-shell, the electrons are only paired when no more empty orbitals
are available.

IMPORTANT

The word species refers to different particles such as atoms, ions, molecules, free radicals or electrons
when we want to write in general terms or about more than one type of particle.

Electronic configuration of ions

Positive ions are formed when electrons are removed from atoms. The sodium ion, Na+ (proton number =
11), has 10 electrons so its electronic configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6. Note that this is the same as the
electronic configuration of neon, the element with 10 electrons in each atom.

Negative ions are formed when atoms gain electrons. The sulfide ion, S2− (proton number = 16), has 18
electrons. Its electronic configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6, which is the same as argon, the element with
18 electrons in each atom.
Note that, in general, electrons in the outer sub-shell are removed when metal ions form their positive ions.
However, the d-block elements behave slightly differently. Reading across the Periodic Table from
potassium to zinc, the 4s sub-shell fills before the 3d sub-shell. But when atoms of a d-block element lose
electrons to form ions, the 4s electrons are lost first.

For example:

Ti atom: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d2 4s2 → Ti2+ ion: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d2

Cr atom: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d5 4s1 → Cr3+ ion: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d3

WORKED EXAMPLE

2 Use 1s2 notation to deduce the electronic configuration of an Fe3+ ion.

Solution
Step 1: Deduce the number of electrons in an iron atom (= number of protons shown in the
Periodic Table for iron) = 26

Step 2: Deduce the electronic configuration of an iron atom by adding the electrons to the
orbitals in order. Remember to fill the 4s before the 3d.
= 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d6

Step 3: For a 3+ ion, we remove three electrons.

• the 2 outer s-electrons are removed first: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s23d6 →
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d6
• an outer d-electron is then removed: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d6 → 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d5

Question
10 Write electronic configurations for the following ions:

a Al3+ (Z = 13)

b O2− (Z = 8)

c Fe2+ (Z = 26)

d Cu2+ (Z = 29)

e Cu+ (Z = 29)