Multiple Choice
In the context of electronic structure, what does the electron cloud model of the atom describe?
9. Electrons in Atoms and the Periodic Table
Electronic Structure
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Which electron configuration represents an excited state (i.e., an electron has been promoted to a higher-energy orbital compared with the ground state) for a neutral carbon atom?
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Verified step by step guidance1
Identify the ground state electron configuration of a neutral carbon atom, which has 6 electrons. The ground state configuration fills the lowest energy orbitals first, following the Aufbau principle.
Write the ground state configuration as \$1\,s^{2} 2\,s^{2} 2\,p^{2}$, where the electrons fill the 1s orbital first, then the 2s orbital, and then the 2p orbitals.
Understand that an excited state occurs when one or more electrons are promoted from a lower-energy orbital to a higher-energy orbital, without changing the total number of electrons.
Look for the configuration where an electron from the 2s orbital is moved to the 2p orbital, resulting in \$1\,s^{2} 2\,s^{1} 2\,p^{3}$, which indicates an excited state because an electron has been promoted to a higher energy level.
Compare other given configurations to see if they violate the total electron count or the order of filling orbitals, confirming that only the configuration with \$1\,s^{2} 2\,s^{1} 2\,p^{3}$ represents an excited state for carbon.
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