Question

Identify the atom that has each ground-state electron configuration. (a) \(1 s^{2} 2 s^{2} 2 p^{6} 3 s^{2} 3 p^{4}\) (b) \(1 s^{2} 2 s^{2} 2 p^{4}\)

Short answer

Question: Identify the elements with the following ground-state electron configurations: (a) \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{4}\) (b) \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{4}\) Answer: (a) The element with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{4}\) is Sulfur (S). (b) The element with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{4}\) is Oxygen (O).

Step-by-step solution

Part (a): Identifying the atom with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{4}\)

To find the atomic number (the number of electrons) for the given electron configuration, let's sum up the superscripts in the configuration: \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{4}\) Atomic number = \(2 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 4 = 16\) Now, we'll check the periodic table to identify the element with atomic number 16. The element with atomic number 16 is Sulfur (S).

Part (b): Identifying the atom with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{4}\)

Similarly, as in part (a), we'll sum up the superscripts in the electron configuration to find the atomic number: \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{4}\) Atomic number = \(2 + 2 + 4 = 8\) Checking the periodic table, the element with atomic number 8 is Oxygen (O). To summarize, the atoms corresponding to the given electron configurations are: (a) Sulfur (S) with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{6} 3s^{2} 3p^{4}\) (b) Oxygen (O) with electron configuration \(1s^{2} 2s^{2} 2p^{4}\)