How many dots should be indicated in the electron dot structure of arsenic?
How many electrons are in the highest energy orbital of the element copper?
1 for Cu in the ground state.
5 are in the valence shell of As.
Thank you
To determine the number of dots in the electron dot structure of arsenic, we need to know its electron configuration. The electron configuration of arsenic is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p³.
To represent the electron dot structure, we follow a simple rule: Each dot represents one valence electron. Valence electrons are the electrons present in the outermost energy level of an atom. In the case of arsenic, the outermost energy level is the fourth energy level (4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p³).
To determine the number of valence electrons, we count the number of electrons in the outermost energy level. In this case, there are 5 valence electrons in arsenic (4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p³). Therefore, in the electron dot structure of arsenic, we would indicate 5 dots surrounding the chemical symbol for arsenic (As).
As for the second question about the number of electrons in the highest energy orbital of copper, we need to know the electron configuration of copper. The electron configuration of copper is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s¹ 3d¹⁰.
The highest energy orbital refers to the outermost occupied orbital. In the case of copper, the highest energy orbital is the 4s orbital since it is filled before the 3d orbital. The 4s orbital can contain a maximum of 2 electrons.
Therefore, the highest energy orbital of copper has 2 electrons.