Electron Configuration

ESSENTIAL QUESTION How are electrons arranged in atoms?

BEFORE YOU READ
Key Terms to Know
As you read, pay attention to these key terms that will help you understand the science concepts in this lesson.
electron configuration
aufbau principle
Pauli exclusion principle
Hund’s rule
valence electrons
electron-dot structure

What do you think?

Read the statements below and decide whether you agree or disagree with them. Place an A in the Before column if you agree with
the statement or a D if you disagree.
After you have read this lesson, reread the statements to see if you have changed your mind.
Before Statement After
1. Electrons are arranged in circular obits around
the nucleus.
2. Each electron follows a unique path.
Write About It
Before you read the lesson, explain why you agree or disagree with the
statements.

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After you read the lesson, read the statements again. If you changed your
mind about whether you agree or disagree with a statement, explain why.

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Electron Configuration Stations
Station 1
Ground-State Electron Configuration
In the last lesson, we saw how electrons in a hydrogen atom can occupy different energy levels. But what
about other atoms? The arrangement of electrons in an atom is called the atom’s electron configuration.
Low-energy systems are more stable than high-energy systems. Consequently, electrons in an atom tend to
assume the arrangement that gives the atom the lowest energy possible. The most stable, lowest-energy
arrangement of electrons is called the element’s ground-state electron configuration. Three rules or principles
determine how electrons are arranged in an atom’s orbitals when the atom is in the ground state. These are
the aufbau principle, the Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s rule.
The aufbau principle
The aufbau principle states that each electron occupies the lowest energy orbital available. Therefore, to
determine an element’s ground-state electron configuration you must know the sequence of atomic orbitals
from lowest to highest energy. This sequence, known as an aufbau diagram, is shown in the figure below.
Table 3 summarizes the features of the aufbau diagram. Although the aufbau principle describes the sequence in
which orbitals are filled with electrons, note that atoms are not actually built-up electron by electron.
The Pauli exclusion principle
Every electron has an associated value called spin. A given electron can only have one of two values of
spin. These two values are sometimes called up and down. The Pauli exclusion principle, proposed by
Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958), states that a maximum of two electrons can occupy a
single atomic orbital, but only if the electrons have opposite spins.
Electrons in orbitals can be represented by arrows in boxes. An arrow pointing up ↑ represents an
electron with spin up. An arrow pointing down ↓ represents an electron with spin down. An empty box
represents an unoccupied orbital. A box containing a single up arrow ↑ represents an orbital with one
electron with spin up. A box containing both up and down arrows ↑↓ represents a filled orbital containing
a pair of electrons with opposite spins.
Hund’s rule
Negatively charged electrons repel each other. This fact affects the distribution of electrons in
equal-energy orbitals. Hund’s rule states that single electrons with the same spin must occupy each
-energy orbital before additional electrons with opposite spins can occupy the same orbitals. For
example, the boxes below show the sequence in which six electrons fill the three 2p orbitals. One
electron enters each of the orbitals before a second electron enters any of the orbitals.
Station 2
Electron Arrangement
There are two ways to represent an atom’s electron configuration — orbital diagrams or electron
configuration notation.

Orbital diagrams
As mentioned earlier, electrons in orbitals can be represented by arrows in boxes. Each box is labeled
with the principal quantum number and sublevel. For example, the orbital diagram for a ground-state
carbon atom is shown below. The 1s orbital contains two electrons. There are two electrons in the 2s
orbital. Two of the three 2p orbitals each contain a single electron. The third 2p orbital is unoccupied.

Electron configuration notation

Electron configuration notation shows the principal energy level and energy sublevel associated with each
of an atom’s orbitals. It also includes a superscript showing the number of electrons in each
orbital. For example, the electron configuration notation of a ground-state carbon atom is written
1s22s22p2. Orbital diagrams and electron configuration notations for the first ten elements in the periodic
table are shown in Table 4. Note that the electron configuration notation does not show how the electrons
are distributed in the orbitals of a sublevel. It is understood that 2p3 represents the orbital occupancy
For sodium, the first ten electrons occupy 1s, 2s, and 2p orbitals. Then, according to the aufbau
sequence, the eleventh electron occupies the 3s orbital. The electron configuration notation and
orbital diagram for sodium are written as follows. 1s22s22p63s1
Station 3
Noble-gas notation The shapes of the 1s, 2s, 2px , 2py , and 2pz orbitals were shown earlier at the end of Lesson 2. The figure below shows how these
orbitals will overlap in an atom of neon. Noble gases, such as neon, are the elements in the last column of the periodic table. Their outermost energy
levels are full. So, noble gases are unusually stable.

DRIVING QUESTION CONNECTION Recall that noble gases are used to make colorful glowing signs. Noble-gas notation is a shorthand way to
represent electron configurations. This method uses bracketed symbols to indicate the electron configuration of a noble gas. For example, [He]
represents the electron configuration for helium, 1s2. [Ne] represents the electron configuration for neon, 1s22s22p6.
The electron configuration for any element can be represented using this method. First, write the bracketed symbol for the noble gas in the previous
period. The bracketed symbol is followed by the electron configuration for the additional orbitals being filled. For example, sodium’s electron
configuration can be shortened to the form [Ne]3s1
Table 5 shows the complete and abbreviated (using noble-gas notation) electron configurations of the period 3 elements.
Station 4
Valence Electrons
A long line of scientific contributions built the modern understanding of the structure of atoms. So far, we have focused on how electrons are arranged in atoms.
Schrödinger’s quantum mechanical model of the atom provides the wave functions thatshow the shapes of orbitals. These shapes represent regions of probability
where electrons can be found. You have learned the principles that determine how orbitals are filled in atoms in their ground states. You also learned how to represent
configurations using orbital diagrams and electron configuration notation.
However, certain electrons in an atom play a greater role than other electrons in determining the chemical properties of an element. These electrons, called valence
electrons, are the electrons in the atom’s outermost orbitals. These orbitals are generally associated with the atom’s highest principal energy level. For example, a
sulfur atom contains 16 electrons. Sulfur’s electron configuration is [Ne]3s23p4. Six of sulfur’s electrons occupy the outermost 3s and 3p orbitals. These six electrons
are sulfur’s valence electrons. Similarly, although a cesium atom has 55 electrons, it has just one valence electron. The 6s electron is clearly shown in cesium’s
electron configuration, [Xe]6s1

Electron-dot structures
Valence electrons are involved in forming chemical bonds. Chemists often represent them visually using a shorthand method, called an electron-dot structure or
Lewis dot structure. An atom’s electron-dot structure consists of the element’s symbol surrounded by dots. The dots represent the atom’s valence electrons. Dots
are first placed singly on the four sides of the symbol. They may be placed in any sequence. Then, dots are paired up until all electrons are shown. Table 6 shows
examples for the period 2 elements.
AFTER YOU READ
Check Your Knowledge
10. Name and summarize the three rules or principles that describe how electrons are arranged
in an atom in the ground state.

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11. Write the electron configurations and construct orbital notations and electron dot structures
for sodium (atomic number = 11) and phosphorus (atomic number = 15).