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Chapter 6: Problem 45

Give the number of unpaired electrons in an atom of (a) phosphorus (b) potassium (c) plutonium (Pu)

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: Phosphorus has 3 unpaired electrons, potassium has 1 unpaired electron, and plutonium has 6 unpaired electrons.

Step by step solution

01

Find electron configuration

In this step, we will determine the electron configuration for each of the given elements: phosphorus, potassium and plutonium. To do this, we look up their atomic numbers and fill their electrons into the orbitals based on the Aufbau principle. (a) Phosphorus (P): Atomic number 15 Electron configuration: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^3 (b) Potassium (K): Atomic number 19 Electron configuration: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^1 (c) Plutonium (Pu): Atomic number 94 Electron configuration: 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^6 5s^2 4d^10 5p^6 6s^2 4f^14 5d^10 6p^6 7s^2 5f^6
02

Identify unpaired electrons

In this step, look at the electron configuration of each element we've found in Step 1 and identify which orbitals have unpaired electrons. The total number of unpaired electrons in all the orbitals will give us the answer for each element. (a) Phosphorus (P): 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^3 Unpaired electrons: 3 (in the 3p orbital) (b) Potassium (K): 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^1 Unpaired electrons: 1 (in the 4s orbital) (c) Plutonium (Pu): 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^6 5s^2 4d^10 5p^6 6s^2 4f^14 5d^10 6p^6 7s^2 5f^6 Unpaired electrons: 6 (in the 5f orbital) To summarize: (a) Phosphorus has 3 unpaired electrons. (b) Potassium has 1 unpaired electron. (c) Plutonium has 6 unpaired electrons.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Give the symbol of the element of lowest atomic number whose ground state has (a) a completed \(\mathrm{f}\) subshell. (b) \(20 \mathrm{p}\) electrons. (c) two \(4 \mathrm{~d}\) electrons. (d) five 5p electrons.

For the following pairs of orbitals, indicate which is higher in energy in a many-electron atom. (a) \(3 \mathrm{~s}\) or \(2 \mathrm{p}\) (b) 4 s or \(4 \mathrm{~d}\) (c) \(4 \mathrm{f}\) or \(6 \mathrm{~s}\) (d) 1 s or \(2 \mathrm{~s}\)

What type of electron orbital (i.e., s, \(\mathrm{p}, \mathrm{d}\), or \(\mathrm{f}\) ) is designated by (a) \(\mathrm{n}=2, \ell=1, \mathrm{~m}_{\ell}=-1 ?\) (b) \(\mathbf{n}=1, \ell=0, \mathbf{m}_{\ell}=0 ?\) (c) \(\mathrm{n}=5, \ell=2, \mathrm{~m}_{\ell}=2 ?\)

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