Electron Configuration

electronic configuration, also called electronic

structure or electron configuration shows the
arrangement of electrons in orbitals around an
atomic nucleus.
Parts of electron configuration:
1. Energy Level

 The specific amount of energy required for

an electron to occupy a certain space
around the atom.
 Referred to using a quantum number (1, 2,
3, 4…) and written n=1, n=2 etc
 Think of these as the levels of a house
The atom would be the house
Parts of electron configuration:
2. Sublevel (blocks)

 An energy level within the principal energy

level
 Referred to using letters (s, p, d, f)
 Think of these as the rooms within the
level of a house.
Parts of electron configuration:
3. Orbital

 The actual electron cloud

 Only a maximum of 2 electrons can occupy
an orbital.
 Think of these as a two person couch or
loveseat within a room on a certain level
of a house.
Sublevel Information

Sublevel Number of Number of

Orbitals electrons

s 1 2

p 3 6

d 5 10

f 7 14
 All Together
Energy Level Sublevel # of orbitals # of Total
electrons on electrons
sublevel within
energy level

1 s 1 2 2
2 s 1 2
2 p 3 6 8
3 s 1 2
3 p 3 6
3 d 5 10 18
4 s 1 2
4 p 3 6
4 d 5 10
4 f 7 14 32
Filling of Atomic Orbitals
Aufbau Principle

•This principle is named after the German word

‘Aufbeen’ which means ‘build up’.

•The Aufbau principle dictates that electrons will

occupy the orbitals having lower energies before
occupying higher energy orbitals.

•According to this principle, electrons are filled

in the following order: 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d,
4p, 5s, 4d, 5p, 6s, 4f, 5d, 6p, 7s, 5f, 6d, 7p…
The order in which electrons are filled in atomic
orbitals as per the Aufbau principle is illustrated
below.
 How to Write an Electron Configuration

12Mg: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2

34Se: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p4

24Cr: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d4

 Write the electron configuration of the
following atoms

1. Aluminum

2. Cobalt

3. Rubidium
The noble gas configuration system allows some
shortening of the total electron configuration by using the
symbol for the noble gas of the previous period as part of the
pattern of electrons.

A noble gas configuration of an atom consists of the elemental

symbol of the last noble gas prior to that atom, followed by
the configuration of the remaining electrons.

Example, Sodium (Na), element number 11, is the first

element in the third period of the periodic table. Its electron
configuration is 1s22s22p63s1

The first ten electrons of the sodium atom are the inner-shell electrons and the

configuration of just those ten electrons is exactly the same as the configuration

of the element neon (Z=10) .

So for sodium, we make the substitution of
[Ne] for the 1s22s22p6 part of the
configuration. Sodium's noble gas
configuration becomes [Ne]3s1 .

Another Example: Calcium

(Let’s do this together)
Write the noble gas configuration of the
following atoms

1. Iron, Fe

2. Strontium, Sr

3. Silicon, Si
Orbital Diagram
 We know that electrons are found within
the orbital of a sublevel on an energy
level.
 However, we do not know how the
electrons behave within each unique
orbital.
 To model this, we will use orbital
diagrams and the following rules to
predict how the electrons are behaving.
Aufbau Principle

Each electron occupies the lowest

energy level available.
This is demonstrated with our “follow the yellow brick
road” chart.
Pauli Exclusion Principle
 A maximum of 2 electrons can occupy an orbital.
However, the electrons must have opposite spin.
 Spin is denoted by arrows pointing up or down.
Hund’s Rule

 This rule deals with the fact the negatively

charged electrons repel each other.
 Electrons with the same spin will occupy
orbitals of the same sublevel before
occupying the same orbital with opposite
spin.