Electron Configuration Worksheet - Answer Key

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What is an electron configuration?

A notation for indicating where all of the electrons in a particular atom/ion.

What is the Aufbau Principle?

The “building up” principle – start at the lowest energy orbital and move up.

How can you figure out how to order the orbitals?

You can either memorize the order or use the periodic table.
(solutions manual can show you how).

What is Hund’s Rule?

This rule basically instructs us to separate electrons out when creating the configuration.

What is long hand vs. short hand electron configuration?

Long hand notation is where every single orbital in the electrons configuration is written out.

The short hand notation references the closest noble gas (as it would have the same configuration as that noble gas) plus the additional electrons placement.
What “families” of elements have an exception to the normal method of writing out electron configurations?

The elements with 4 electrons in the d orbital (including Cr, Mo and W).
The elements with 9 electrons in the d orbital (including Cu, Ag and Au).