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Chapter 8: Problem 65

Write the electron configuration for carbon.

Short Answer

Expert verified
The electron configuration for carbon is \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^2\).

Step by step solution

01

Determine the number of electrons

Carbon has an atomic number of 6, which means it has 6 electrons. Our goal is to distribute these 6 electrons in the orbitals according to the rules mentioned earlier.
02

Apply Aufbau principle, Hund's rule, and Pauli exclusion principle

The Aufbau principle states that electrons fill orbitals in the order of increasing energy. Hund's rule states that electrons will occupy degenerate orbitals (orbitals with the same energy) singly before pairing up in any orbital. The Pauli exclusion principle states that no two electrons can have the same set of four quantum numbers, which means an orbital can only hold up to 2 electrons with opposite spins.
03

Fill 1s orbital

The first orbital to fill is the 1s orbital, which can accommodate 2 electrons with opposite spins. So, we will put 2 of the 6 carbon electrons in the 1s orbital.
04

Fill 2s orbital

The next orbital to fill is the 2s orbital. It can also hold up to 2 electrons, so we place the next 2 electrons here. Now, we've used 4 of the 6 electrons.
05

Fill 2p orbitals

Finally, we move to the 2p orbitals. There are three degenerate 2p orbitals: 2px, 2py, and 2pz. According to Hund's rule, they will fill singly with parallel spins before pairing up. So, we place the remaining 2 electrons in 2 of the 3 orbitals, filling them singly with parallel spins (either both up or both down).
06

Write electron configuration

Now that we have distributed all 6 electrons into orbitals, we can write the electron configuration for carbon. The configuration is as follows: \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^2\).

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The wave function is evaluated at spherical coordinates \((r, \theta, \phi)=\left(\sqrt{3}, 45^{\circ}, 45^{\circ}\right), \quad\) where the value of the radial coordinate is given in arbitrary units. What are the rectangular coordinates of this position?

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