why fe has valency 2 however its electronic configuration has 4 unfilled orbitals

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Solution

Iron has atomic number 26. So its configuration is [Ar] 3d 4s . As the d sub-shell has 6 electrons, they repel the electrons of 4s to a higher energy level. Thus, iron atom loses two electrons from the s sub-shell to achieve its +2 oxidation state and to remove these two electrons from the s sub-shell does not take much energy.

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Similar questions

An element has the electronic configuration $1 s^{2}, 2 s^{2} 2 p^{6}, 3 s^{2} 3 p^{2}$ . Its valency electrons are

1 s^{2} 2 s^{2} 2 p^{6} 3 s^{2} 3 p^{2}

3 s^{2} 3 p^{5}

3 s^{1}

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