Electron Configuration

Na: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1

Na: [Ne] 3s1

Electron Configurations
The designation of the orbital occupied by all of
the electrons in the atom.
It refers to the arrangement of the electrons in
the atom
Electron configurations tells us in which orbital
the electrons for an element are located.
The distribution of electrons for any atom can be
written symbolically putting electrons into orbital
one by one according to the following three
principles.

Filling Rules for Electron Orbitals

Aufbau Principle: electron first occupy the lower orbitals available

tothem, they enter higher energy orbitals only when the lower energy
orbitals are filled. The sequence of filling up of orbitals is determined
by the general order of orbital energy level. It is followed exactly as
far as vanadium, after that there are few exception to the sequence
due to variation in the energy level order.
Pauli Exclusion Principle: An orbital can hold a maximum of two electrons
To occupy the same orbital, two electrons must spin in opposite
directions.
North

South

Hunds Rule: Electrons occupy equal-energy orbitals singly before

they become paired, these unpaired electrons have parallel spins,
the most stable arrangement of electrons in a subshell is one that
has the greatest number of parallel spins.
*Aufbau is German for building up

 Hunds Rule
Within a sublevel, place one electron
per orbital before pairing them.
Empty Bus Seat Rule

WRONG

RIGHT

 Electron Configuration Exceptions

Copper
EXPECT:

[Ar] 4s2 3d9

ACTUALLY:[Ar] 4s1 3d10

Copper gains stability with a full

d-sublevel.

4s

3d

Electron Configurations
The electron configuration of an atom is a
method of writing the location of electrons by
sublevel.
The sublevel is written followed by a superscript
with the number of electrons in the sublevel.
If the 2p sublevel contains 2 electrons, it is written 2p2

Writing Electron Configurations

First, determine how many electrons are in the
atom. Iron has 26 electrons.
Arrange the energy sublevels according to
increasing energy:
1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d

Fill each sublevel with electrons until you have

used all the electrons in the atom:
Fe: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d 6

The sum of the superscripts equals the atomic

number of iron (26)

Electron Configurations
and the Periodic Table
The periodic table can be used as a guide for electron
configurations.
Groups 1A and 2A have the s-orbital filled.
Groups 3A - 8A have the p-orbital filled.
Groups 3B - 2B have the d-orbital filled.
The lanthanides and actinides have the f-orbital filled.

Periodic Patterns
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

1s
2s

2p

3s

d (n-1)

4s

3d

4p

5s

4d

5p

6s

5d

6p

7s

6d

7p

6
(n-2) 7

3p

4f
5f

1s

Valence Electrons
When an atom undergoes a chemical reaction,
only the outermost electrons are involved.
These electrons are of the highest energy and are
furthest away from the nucleus. These are the
valence electrons.
The valence electrons are the s and p electrons
beyond the noble gas core.

Electron Dot Formulas

An electron dot formula of an elements shows the
symbol of the element surrounded by its valence
electrons.
We use one dot for each
valence electron.
Consider phosphorous, P, which has 5 valence
electrons. Here is the method for writing the
electron dot formula.

Chemical Bonds
Electrostatic force that holds the atom in a
compound or molecule
This result from the gain and loss of electron or
from the sharing of electron between atoms.
The stability of an atoms to form bonds is
known as valence.
The combining capacity (valence) of an
element is determined by the number of
electrons in the outermost level of the atom.
Octet rule atom gain, loss or share valence
electron in order to end up with eight valence
electron.

Types of Chemical bond

Ionic or Electrovalent bond
this type of bond is formed when electron
transfer from one atom to another.
It is a chemical bond resulting from the mutual
attraction of oppositely charged ions.
An ion is an electrically charged atom of an
element or atom that carries an electrical
charge.

Types of Chemical bond

Covalent bond
this type of bond is formed when atoms share a
pair of electrons to form covalent molecules.
The bond between the atoms results from their
mutual attraction for electrons they share
between them.
They are classified into:
1. non-polar covalent bond
2. Polar covalent bond

Types of Chemical bond

1. Non-polar
. Results from equal or almost equal sharing of
electrons by the bonded atoms
. Formed by the combination of atoms of the
same element or atoms whose electronegativity
values is very close
2. Polar
. Bond formed when the combining atom have a
big difference in the electronegativity values, so
sharing of electrons are not equal.

Electronegativity
A measure of how strongly the atoms
attract electrons in a bond.
The bigger the electronegativity difference
the more polar the bond.
0.0 - 0.3 = Covalent non-polar bond
0.4 - 1.67 = Covalent polar bond
Greather than1.67 = Ionic bond

Ionic Charge
Recall, that atoms lose or gain electrons to form
ions.
The charge of an ion is related to the number of
valence electrons on the atom.
Group IA/1 metals lose their one valence electron
to form 1+ ions.
Na Na+ + e-

Metals lose their valence electrons to form ions.

Predicting Ionic Charge

Group IA/1 metals form 1+ ions, group IIA/2
metals form 2+ ions, group IIIA/13 metals form
3+ ions, and group IVA/14 metals from 4+ ions.
By losing their valence electrons, they achieve a
noble gas configuration.
Similarly, nonmetals can gain electrons to achieve
a noble gas configuration.
Group VA/15 elements form -3 ions, group
VIA/16 elements form -2 ions, and group VIIA/17
elements form -1 ions.

Ion Electron Configurations

When we write the electron configuration of a
positive ion, we remove one electron for each
positive charge:
Na Na+
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1 1s2 2s2 2p6

When we write the electron configuration of a

negative ion, we add one electron for each
negative charge:
O
O21s2 2s2 2p4 1s2 2s2 2p6

Conclusions Continued
We can Write the electron configuration of an
element based on its position on the periodic
table.
Valence electrons are the outermost electrons and
are involved in chemical reactions.
We can write electron dot formulas for elements
which indicate the number of valence electrons.

Conclusions Continued
We can predict the charge on the ion of an
element from its position on the periodic table.

Order in whichFilling Rules for Electron

Orbitals subshells are filled
with electrons
1s
2s

2p

3s

3p

3d

4s

4p

4d

4f

5s

5p

5d

5f

6s

6p

6d

7s

10

10

1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p 5s 4d

1. What is an electron configuration?

2. What is Afbau Principle? Paulis Exclusion
principle? Hunds Rule?
3. What is Valence Electron and octet rule
4. Define chemical bond
5. What are the types of chemical bond?
6. What is electronegativity?
7. How can you identify the types of bond
using the electronegativity difference?