Write the shorthand version of the electron configuration of an element that has eight electrons.
I came up with the configuration as 1s^2-2s^2-2p^4, but how do I write the shorthand version of an element that has not been specified?
If it has 8 electrons you have the right configuration. You may not know the elements name but that is how it must be for 8 electrons. If you knew the element had a zero charge (not an ion), then you would know O was the element since that has 8 electrons.
8 0 = 1s2 2s2 2p4
But if it has a -1 charge it would be
7N^-1 = 1s2 2s2 2p4 or a 02 charge it would be
6C^2- = 1s2 2s2 2p4
etc.
Yes, but how do I write the shorthand version?
[He]2s2 2p4
Yes.
To write the shorthand version of the electron configuration of an element that has eight electrons, you can follow the steps below:
1. Determine the atomic number of the element that has eight electrons. In this case, the atomic number is 8.
2. Identify the noble gas that comes before the desired element in the periodic table. In this case, the noble gas with the atomic number 8 is oxygen (O).
3. Enclose the noble gas in square brackets to represent its full electron configuration. For oxygen, the electron configuration is [He].
4. Write the remaining electron configuration of the element after the noble gas.
- To do this, count the number of electrons you still need to account for. In this case, you have 8 - 2 = 6 electrons remaining.
- Start from the highest energy level that is not fully filled, which is the second energy level (n=2) for oxygen.
- Fill the remaining electrons in the appropriate sublevels until you run out. In this case, you have 6 electrons, so they will fill the 2s and 2p orbitals.
- The shorthand notation for the remaining electron configuration is 2s^2-2p^4.
Putting it all together, the shorthand version of the electron configuration for an element with eight electrons is [He] 2s^2-2p^4.