I just have one more question regarding electron configurations for the following ions:
Mo^3+
V^3+
I cannot understand why my answers are not working. Not listing as ground-state configs, but as full e- configs:
shouldn't Mo^3+ be:
1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10, 4p6, 5s2, 4d1 (meaning: Mo^3+ = 39 valence electrons, rather than 42???)
&, for V^3+:
1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2?? (meaning: V^3+ = 20 valence electrons, rather than 23???)
For V3+ you took the three electrons from the 3d. You should take both 4s electrons plus 1 of the 3d electrons. The 4s orbital is further out than the 3d. I know what you are thinking about filling and how you filled it but V3+ will have 3d2 and no 4s. Go to www.webelements.com and look at the electron configuration for Mo 3+ ion. I suspect something like the same kind of error.
I tried 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 3d2 as well, it did not work either.
Then the answer machine is incorrect OR there is some form the answer is to be submitted and you aren't using that form. Have you tried [Ar]3d2?
Here is the site I gave you and you can see that 3d2 is correct. http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/V/key.html
Mo is [Kr]3d5 4s1.
Remove 1 s electron and 2 from 3d to leave
[Kr]3d3
I ran out of attempts. I am going to attempt to ask under the "help" to see what they say.
OK. Let me know.
To determine the electron configuration of an ion, you need to consider its charge. The charge indicates how many electrons have been either gained or lost by the atom. Let's go through the electron configurations for Mo^3+ and V^3+.
1. Mo^3+:
First, let's determine the electron configuration of a neutral Mo atom. The atomic number of Mo is 42, which means the neutral atom has 42 electrons.
The electron configuration of neutral Mo is: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10, 4p6, 5s2, 4d5.
When Mo becomes Mo^3+, it means that 3 electrons have been lost. To determine the configuration of Mo^3+, subtract 3 from the number of electrons in the neutral atom's configuration.
So for Mo^3+, the electron configuration would be: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10, 4p6, 5s2, 4d2.
Thus, Mo^3+ has 36 valence electrons, not 39 as you listed.
2. V^3+:
The atomic number of V is 23, so the neutral atom has 23 electrons.
The electron configuration of neutral V is: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d3.
When V becomes V^3+, it has lost 3 electrons. Subtracting 3 from the neutral atom's configuration, we get: 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 3d2.
Thus, V^3+ has 19 valence electrons, not 20 as you listed.
It's important to remember that the valence electrons are the outermost electrons that participate in chemical reactions. The electron configuration shown above for the ions represents the valence electron configuration.