Simple n Quick Question - Electronic Configuration (Chemistry) (1 Viewer)

[imoO]

Hey,

Just brushing up on some old chem work..

I've read many different editions of the electrical configuration, but I'm not quite sure which one is it...

I was almost certain that it was 2-8-8-18-18

Until I saw somewhere else it was 2-6-10 or something...can't remember exactly. I just wanted to clarify with those who know what the actual one is....

Thanks,
imoO

 

[marcquelle]

the inner shell can have a maximum of two (2), the shells following at full capacity will bhave 8 so on so forth

2)8)8)4

______________
that being said ive seen your other one too

i think thats still correct but use for something different
(not sure)

 

[Timothy.Siu]

well the maximum electrons per shell is 2n^2

 

[imoO]

Okay thanks,

imoO

 

[lolokay]

yeah you have 2n² max. in a shell, with 8 max in the outer shell (I think I've seen ones with more, but that's what we're taught)

the 2, 6, 10 is the max for sub shells (s, p, d) which hold an odd number of electron pairs


maybe you were thinking of the 2-8-18-18-8 configuration of Xenon, or something. The shells have a sort of symmetrical way of filling themselves so you get like few electrons -> more electrons -> less electrons as you progress from the inner to outer shell, so you don't get 32 in the 4th shell for a while

 

[Aerath]

yeah you have 2n² max. in a shell, with 8 max in the outer shell (I think I've seen ones with more, but that's what we're taught)

What do ya mean - 'seen ones with more'?

 

[lolokay]

What do ya mean - 'seen ones with more'?

I mean, I've seen the configurations written out (not literally seen the atom) where the outer shell had more than 8 electrons

 

[bored of sc]

well the maximum electrons per shell is 2n^2

Where n is the period on the periodic table?

 

[lolokay]

Where n is the period on the periodic table?

where n is the shell number
eg. first shell can hold up to 2
second shell can hold up to 8
third shell can hold up to 18
etc

 

[bored of sc]

where n is the shell number
eg. first shell can hold up to 2
second shell can hold up to 8
third shell can hold up to 18
etc

Oh! Better get back to the books...

 

[Qrux]

k: 2
L: 8
M: 18
N: 32
o: 50

 

[zzzz12345]

Technically the maximum number of electrons per shell is 2n^2 however with the NSW syllabus you generally get taught that aside from the first shell the maximum number of electrons in the shells in 8 despite this being technically incorrect; however having 8 follows the octet rule and thus allows for a stable configuration. Generally you won't have to write the electron configuration beyond the first 20 elements so you don't have to worry much about the sub-shells. But as mentioned there are sub-shells (the main ones being s, p, d, f which can hold a maximum of 2, 6, 10 and 14 electrons respectively) and these influence the electronic configuration; however sub-shells were taken out of the NSW Chemistry Syllabus a while back as my teacher complains. However, just as a general comment; the sub-shells generally fill up with:
1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^64s^23d^104p^6 etc. (where the superscript number is the number of electrons, the number in front is the shell number and the letter corresponds to the sub-shell) I.e. It is easier to fill up the s sub-shell of the next shell rather than the d sub-shell of e.g. the 3rd shell. (Note: The number of sub-shells corresponds to the shell number i.e. the first shell has one sub-shell)
But anyway; you don’t need to know anything about sub-shells for the HSC (according to my teacher anyway) but I hope this helps to explain the electronic configuration a little bit though essentially you probably would never be asked the electron configuration beyond the first 20 elements or some exclusive cases.