c. Which of these electron configurations has the 4F term symbol for its ground state?
p3 d3 d4 f2 f3
To determine which electron configuration has the 4F term symbol for its ground state, we need to understand how to write electronic configurations and term symbols.
1. Writing electronic configurations:
An electron configuration represents the distribution of electrons in different energy levels or orbitals of an atom. It is written using the following format:
1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 3d^10 4s^2 4p^6 4d^10 4f^14 5s^2 5p^6 ...
Each superscript represents the number of electrons in that specific orbital. For example, 1s^2 indicates that the 1s orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons and that it is full with 2 electrons.
2. Writing term symbols:
A term symbol describes the electronic state of an atom in its ground state. It consists of two parts: the term symbol and the multiplicity. The term symbol represents the total electronic angular momentum of an atom, while the multiplicity denotes the total spin quantum number of the electrons.
The term symbol is written as follows:
S, P, D, F, G, H, ... (representing different angular momentum values)
The multiplicity represents the spin states of electrons:
Singlet (S = 0, one unpaired electron)
Doublet (S = ½, two unpaired electrons)
Triplet (S = 1, three unpaired electrons)
Quartet (S = 3/2, four unpaired electrons)
...
Given the electron configurations, let's determine which one has the 4F term symbol for its ground state:
p3: The p orbital can hold 6 electrons at most. Therefore, p3 is not possible since the maximum number of electrons in the p orbital is 6.
d3: The d orbital can hold a maximum of 10 electrons. Since d3 has 3 electrons, it is possible.
d4: Similarly, the d orbital can hold 10 electrons, so d4 is a possible configuration.
f2: The f orbital can hold 14 electrons. Since f2 only has 2 electrons, it is possible.
f3: The f orbital can hold 14 electrons. Since f3 has 3 electrons, it is possible.
Among the given configurations (p3, d3, d4, f2, f3), both d4 and f3 have enough electrons to occupy the 4F term symbol.
In conclusion, both d4 and f3 have the 4F term symbol for their ground states.