How will Lithium (Li) achieve a stable electron configuration?
Lithium (Li) has an atomic number of 3, which means it has three electrons. In order to achieve a stable electron configuration, lithium needs to lose one electron. Lithium has two electrons in the first energy level (closest to the nucleus) and one electron in the second energy level.
Lithium has an electron configuration of 1s² 2s¹. The first energy level can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, while the second energy level can hold a maximum of 8 electrons.
To achieve a stable electron configuration, lithium can lose its one valence electron in the second energy level. By losing this electron, lithium will achieve the electron configuration of helium (He), which is stable. The electron configuration of helium is 1s².
Therefore, lithium can achieve a stable electron configuration by losing one electron, resulting in a configuration of 1s². This allows lithium to obtain the electron configuration of the previous noble gas, helium, which has a stable electron configuration.