Question

Explain electronic configuration by giving examples.

Answer 1

Electronic configuration:

1. The electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule in an atomic or molecular orbital.
2. The maximum number of electrons in orbit is calculated by $2{\mathrm{n}}^2$, where ‘n’ is the number of orbits and may equal 1,2,3…
3. The maximum number of electrons in the K shell, i.e., first shell = 2, L shell =8, M shell = 18, N shell = 32.
4. Electrons occupy the next orbit only after filling the inner orbits.

Example:

The atomic number of sodium is 11.

Hence, its electronic configuration is 2,8,1.