What is the common characteristic of the electron configurations of the elements Ne and Ar?
Both have eight electrons in the outside shell.
To determine the common characteristic of the electron configurations of the elements Ne (neon) and Ar (argon), we need to analyze their electron configurations.
First, let's recall the basic electron configuration notation. It represents the arrangement of electrons in various energy levels or shells using the following format: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶, and so on. Each number denotes the energy level (also called the principal quantum number), and the letter represents the subshell (s, p, d, or f). The superscript shows the number of electrons occupying that subshell.
For Ne (neon), the electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶. This means it has a total of 10 electrons.
For Ar (argon), the electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶. This means it has a total of 18 electrons.
To identify the common characteristic, we need to focus on the outermost shell of each element. In both Ne and Ar, the outermost shell is the third shell (designated by the number 3). Specifically, the outermost energy level is 3s² 3p⁶ for both elements.
Now, looking closely at the outermost shell, we observe that both Ne and Ar have a total of 8 electrons in that shell. This is the common characteristic of their electron configurations.
Hence, the common characteristic of the electron configurations of Ne and Ar is that both elements have eight electrons in their outermost shell.