Multiple Choice
Which of the following represents the correct ground-state electron configuration for vanadium (atomic number 23)?
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10. Periodic Properties of the Elements
The Electron Configuration
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Which of the following represents the correct ground-state electron configuration for a neutral nitrogen atom?
A
1s^2 2s^2 2p^5
B
1s^2 2s^2 2p^3
C
1s^2 2s^2 2p^6
D
1s^2 2s^1 2p^4
Verified step by step guidance1
Step 1: Identify the atomic number of nitrogen, which tells us the number of electrons in a neutral nitrogen atom. Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, so it has 7 electrons.
Step 2: Recall the order in which electron orbitals are filled according to the Aufbau principle: electrons fill orbitals starting from the lowest energy level to higher ones. The order for the first 7 electrons is 1s, 2s, then 2p.
Step 3: Fill the 1s orbital first with 2 electrons, then the 2s orbital with 2 electrons, which accounts for 4 electrons so far.
Step 4: Place the remaining 3 electrons in the 2p orbitals. Since 2p can hold up to 6 electrons, having 3 electrons in 2p is consistent with nitrogen's electron count.
Step 5: Write the full ground-state electron configuration as $1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{3}$, which correctly represents the distribution of 7 electrons in a neutral nitrogen atom.
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