How many electrons are in the outermost principal energy level of an atom of nitrogen in the ground state?
8
To determine the number of electrons in the outermost principal energy level of an atom of nitrogen in the ground state, we first need to determine the electron configuration of nitrogen.
The atomic number of nitrogen is 7, which means it has 7 electrons. The electron configuration of nitrogen is 1s² 2s² 2p³.
The outermost principal energy level is the third energy level, which includes the 2s and 2p sublevels. In the ground state electron configuration, nitrogen has a total of 5 electrons in the 2s and 2p sublevels.
Therefore, an atom of nitrogen in the ground state has 5 electrons in its outermost principal energy level.
To determine the number of electrons in the outermost principal energy level of an atom, you need to know the electronic configuration of the element. The atomic number of nitrogen is 7, which means it has 7 electrons.
The electronic configuration of nitrogen is 1s² 2s² 2p³.
The first principal energy level (n=1) can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, and the second principal energy level (n=2) can hold a maximum of 8 electrons.
In the case of nitrogen, both the 1s orbital and the 2s orbital are fully filled (2 electrons). The remaining 3 electrons are located in the 2p orbital.
Therefore, the outermost principal energy level of a nitrogen atom in the ground state contains 5 electrons.