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Each p subshell holds at most 6 electrons; Each d subshell holds at most 10 electrons; Each f subshell holds at most 14 electrons; Each g subshell holds at most 18 electrons; Therefore, the K shell, which contains only an s subshell, can hold up to 2 electrons; the L shell, which contains an s and a p, can hold up to 2 + 6 = 8 electrons, and so ...
For each atom the subshells are given first in concise form, then with all subshells written out, followed by the number of electrons per shell. For phosphorus (element 15) as an example, the concise form is [Ne] 3s 2 3p 3.
Lithium has two electrons in the 1s-subshell and one in the (higher-energy) 2s-subshell, so its configuration is written 1s 2 2s 1 (pronounced "one-s-two, two-s-one"). Phosphorus (atomic number 15) is as follows: 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 3. For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used.
The set of orbitals for a given n and ℓ is called a subshell, denoted . The superscript y shows the number of electrons in the subshell. For example, the notation 2p 4 indicates that the 2p subshell of an atom contains 4 electrons. This subshell has 3 orbitals, each with n = 2 and ℓ = 1.
Bracketed noble gas symbols on the left represent inner configurations that are the same in each period. Written out, these are: He, 2, helium : 1s 2 Ne, 10, neon : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 Ar, 18, argon : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6 Kr, 36, krypton : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6 4s 2 3d 10 4p 6 Xe, 54, xenon : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6 4s 2 3d 10 4p 6 5s 2 4d ...
In this way, the electrons of an atom or ion form the most stable electron configuration possible. An example is the configuration 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 3 for the phosphorus atom, meaning that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2p subshell has 6 electrons, and so on.
The 2s electron is lithium's only valence electron, as the 1s subshell is now too tightly bound to the nucleus to participate in chemical bonding to other atoms: such a shell is called a "core shell". The 1s subshell is a core shell for all elements from lithium onward. The 2s subshell is completed by the next element beryllium (1s 2 2s 2). The ...
Each shell can contain only a fixed number of electrons: The first shell can hold up to two electrons, the second shell can hold up to eight (2 + 6) electrons, the third shell can hold up to 18 (2 + 6 + 10) and so on. The general formula is that the nth shell can in principle hold up to 2n 2 electrons. [1]