The four most abundant elements by mass in the human body are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. These four elements make up about 96% of the human body. The next four most abundant elements are calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. Write the expected ground-state electron configurations for these eight most abundant elements in the human body.

Short Answer

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The ground-state electron configurations for the eight most abundant elements in the human body are: 1. Hydrogen (H): \(1s^1\) 2. Carbon (C): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^2\) 3. Nitrogen (N): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^3\) 4. Oxygen (O): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^4\) 5. Calcium (Ca): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2\) 6. Phosphorus (P): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^3\) 7. Magnesium (Mg): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2\) 8. Potassium (K): \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^1\)

Step by step solution

01

Hydrogen (H)

Hydrogen has only one electron, so its electron configuration is simply 1s1.
02

Carbon (C)

Carbon has six electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p².
03

Nitrogen (N)

Nitrogen has seven electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p³.
04

Oxygen (O)

Oxygen has eight electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p⁴.
05

Calcium (Ca)

Calcium has 20 electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s².
06

Phosphorus (P)

Phosphorus has 15 electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p³.
07

Magnesium (Mg)

Magnesium has 12 electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s².
08

Potassium (K)

Potassium has 19 electrons, so its electron configuration is: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s¹. Now we have found the ground-state electron configurations for all eight most abundant elements in the human body.

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