Question

An atom of silver has closed 3dand 4dsub shells. Which sub shell has the greater number of electrons, or do they have the same number?

Short answer

The sub-shells 3d and 4d have the same number of electrons.

Step-by-step solution

The given data

A uranium atom has closed 6p and 7s subshells

Understanding the concept of maximum electrons in a shell

For an electronic configuration, the nucleus of an atom is surrounded by orbital sub-shells that are represented by s, p, d, and f. Again, the maximum electron filling capacity of s, p, d, and f are 2, 6, 10, and 14, respectively.

So, using this concept on a filled sub-shell of an atom of silver, we can get the electrons in each shell.

Calculation of the sub shell with a greater number of electrons

From the concept of maximum electrons filled in each shell, we can get that a subshell has 10 electrons holding capacity.

The electronic configuration of the filled silver atom is$1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{2}4s^{2}3d^{10}4p^{6}4d^{10}5s^1$ . Thus, for a completely filled sub-shell of silver, the sub-shell has 10 electrons that that to sub-shell 4d with 10 electrons.

Hence, both the sub-shells have an equal number of electrons.