State the full electron configuration of a free nitrogen atom.
1s2 2s2 2p3
The electron configuration of a free Nitrogen atom can be determined by following the Aufbau principle, which states that electrons fill the lowest energy orbitals first.
Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, indicating that it has 7 electrons.
1s^2, 2s^2, 2p^3
This is the full electron configuration of a free nitrogen atom. The 1s orbital is filled with 2 electrons, followed by the 2s orbital with another 2 electrons. The remaining 3 electrons occupy the 2p orbital, with each orbital holding a single electron before pairing up.
Alternatively, it can be written in noble gas notation:
[N] 2s^2, 2p^3
where [N] represents the electron configuration of Neon, which has the same 1s^2, 2s^2, 2p^6 configuration. This notation acknowledges that Nitrogen's electron configuration is built upon the electron configuration of Neon.
To determine the full electron configuration of a nitrogen atom, we need to consider its atomic number, which is 7. The electron configuration describes the distribution of electrons in the various energy levels or orbitals of an atom.
First, let's determine the number of electrons in each energy level.
The first energy level (n=1) can hold a maximum of 2 electrons.
The second energy level (n=2) can also hold a maximum of 2 electrons.
The third energy level (n=3) can hold a maximum of 6 electrons.
Now, we can distribute the electrons in the respective energy levels following the Aufbau principle, which states that electrons fill lower energy levels before moving to higher energy levels.
1s^2: This represents the two electrons in the first energy level.
2s^2: This indicates the two electrons in the second energy level after the 1s^2 orbital.
2p^3: This represents the remaining three electrons of nitrogen in the second energy level.
Combining these orbitals gives us the full electron configuration of a nitrogen atom, which is:
1s^2 2s^2 2p^3