Electron Configurations,

Excited State and Ground State

You know what’s nice? Fireworks
• Let’s watch some!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNjggrxUQ78

  
“Ms. Wiswall, why did you have us watch a
video about fireworks?”
• The way electrons move in an element is how these fireworks are
produced in the first place
• I will get into more details with this as we go further into the topic
V. Electron Configuration:
The Arrangement of Electrons Around the Nucleus of the Atom
Example: Li: 2-1
a) Electrons are arranged around an atom’s nucleus in energy levels.

b) The energy level that an atom belongs determines the amount of free energy it has.

c) Electrons located in energy levels close to the nucleus have little free energy.
Electrons that exist in energy levels that are far from the nucleus have great
amounts of free energy.

d) Electrons found in their ground state (original energy level) can move to the
excited state (higher energy levels) by gaining energy. Electrons in the excited state
will return to their ground state while losing a very specific quantity (quanta) of light
energy (photons).

e) You can find the electron configurations under the atomic number of an
element
e) Energy Level and Chemical Stability

• Each energy level can hold a certain amount of electrons.

• For example: 2n2 = maximum # of electrons found in energy level.

n = energy level

n Max. # of electrons
1 2
2 8
3 18

Note: For atoms to be stable they must have a complete outer energy
level. Meaning they must contain the maximum number of possible
electrons in their outermost energy level.

• The maximum number of electrons that the third energy level can hold
is 18. However, for an atom to be stable it only needs 8 electrons in the
third energy level.
Electrons are located in energy levels, shells or principal quantum numbers (n).

There are 7 energy levels and each level can accommodate only a limited number of
electrons according to the formula 2n2 where n = energy level.

Energy level 1 can have a maximum of 2 e- [2(12) = 2]

Energy level 2 can have a maximum of  8 e- [2(22) = 8]

Energy level 3 can have a maximum of 18 e- [2(32) = 18]

Energy level 4 can have  a maximum of 32 e- [2(42) = 32]

etc.
Drawing out an atom using electron
configurations
• As stated before, each number represents an energy level. The
number itself refers to how many  electrons are on that energy level.
Let’s try to draw some atoms with their electron configurations: 
• Mg 2-8-2
• Cl 2-8-7
• Ne 2-8
Have you noticed a pattern?
• Any element in the same column (known as a period) have the same
number of energy levels/electron shells

These 6 elements are from period 2 on the periodic table and each of them have two electron shells
How do I draw Bohr’s model for Calcium?
• Hint: the electron configuration for calcium is 2-8-8-2
VII. Ground versus Excited State

• Electrons have the ability to move between energy levels.

• The “ground state” refers the energy level that a given electron usually belongs to.

• The “excited state” refers to a higher energy level that a given electron moves to
as it gains energy.

• Electrons that have gained energy and “jumped” to the excited state will
eventually return to the ground state and release its energy in the form of
a photon (light energy).

• As a result of this process, different atoms will give off (emit)

unique (characteristic) colors (bands) of light. This is called the
Bright Line Spectrum.
Ground State vs. Excited State
Element Ground State Excited State Excited State
Configuration Configuration Configuration

Na 2-8-1 2-7-2 1-8-2

F 2-7 1-8 2-6-1

Li 2-1 1-2 1-1-1

 How does an electron travel from ground
state to excited state and how does it travel
back to ground state?
From: http://www.chemcool.com/regents/atomicconcepts/aim3.htm
Bright Line Spectrums
Hydrogen

Helium

Carbon
Bright Line Spectrums
• No two elements have the same bright line
spectrum 

• When attempting to determine the

composition of a star, the elements can be
identified by the elements bright line
spectrums
Bright Line Spectrums
• The light produced from the star is put through
a prism, the unique color spectrum from each
star can be used to determine the composition
of the gases on the object
 Why are there different colors?
Each line on the bright line spectrum
represents a different transition (jump) that
electrons are making from a higher PEL to a
lower PEL (more electrons means more
transitions)
When do we see this?
• We can create bright line spectrums by
running an electric current through a gas

• The electric current gives the electrons more

energy letting them jump to an excited state,
and producing light when they fall back down
to ground state
Base your answers to the following questions on the diagram below, which
shows bright-line spectra of selected elements.
                                                                           
• Identify the two elements in the unknown spectrum.
• Explain how a bright-line spectrum is produced, in terms of excited state and
ground state.
Let’s get back into fireworks
• As you can see in this image, each firework color is actually made by a
certain element who’s electrons are going from excited to ground
state.