The correct electron configuration for the ion formed by sodium when producing an ionic compound with chlorine

I pulled this from wikipedia..I hope this helps:

For example, common table salt is sodium chloride. When sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) are combined, the sodium atoms each lose an electron, forming cations (Na+), and the chlorine atoms each gain an electron to form anions (Cl−). These ions are then attracted to each other in a 1:1 ratio to form sodium chloride (NaCl).

Na + Cl �¨ Na+ + Cl− �¨ NaCl

electron configuration is

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1 for Na atom
1s2 2s2 2p6 for Na^+ ion.

To determine the electron configuration of an ion, you need to first find the electron configuration of the neutral atom and then adjust it based on the gain or loss of electrons.

The electron configuration of sodium (Na) is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1. Since sodium is an alkali metal, it has one valence electron in the 3s orbital.

When sodium forms an ionic compound with chlorine (Cl), it loses this valence electron to form a cation with a charge of +1. This results in the formation of a sodium ion (Na+).

To determine the electron configuration of the sodium ion, we remove one electron from the 3s orbital. Therefore, the electron configuration of the sodium ion (Na+) is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6.

On the other hand, chlorine (Cl) has an electron configuration of 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^5. Chlorine readily accepts one electron to achieve a stable configuration. Thus, when chlorine combines with sodium, it gains one electron to form a chloride ion (Cl-) with a charge of -1.

To determine the electron configuration of the chloride ion, we add one extra electron to the highest energy level, which is the 3p orbital. Therefore, the electron configuration of the chloride ion (Cl-) is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6.

Overall, the correct electron configuration for the ion formed by sodium when producing an ionic compound with chlorine is Na+: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 and Cl-: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6.