Writing Electronic Configurations

[IsabelMurillo3K]

When I was completing the Sapling homework for this week, I noticed that one question asked us to write the electronic configuration for F, and it had He written at the beginning of the configuration (because it holds a max of two electrons for that first shell?) and I was wondering if we have to write an element at the beginning of every other electronic configuration as well? Or was it just this problem? Thanks in advance!

[josephspindler2H]

It will depend on the problem asked! Some will ask for the full configuration and other won't. If they don't, it is easiest to refer to the latest noble gas and build your configuration from there.

[Eva Becker]

Some questions may ask you to list the noble gas first. Others will want you to write out the entire configuration. One is not more correct than the other. Generally, including the noble gas first is just time-efficient! :-)

[SophiaJenny3I]

Hi! So the Sapling question you are referring to asked for the notation in shorthand, which essentially puts the noble gas (group 18) before the element at the front. This really helps cut down on time, especially as you go further down and across the periodic table. You just have to read what it's asking for in the question. If it asks for shorthand, you use the appropriate noble gas.

[Sondia Luong 1C]

For electron configurations, noble gases can be used as a shorthand notation. Your configuration does not always need an element before it and if it does, that element will always be a noble gas. Using a noble gas means that you don't have to write the electron configuration that comes before it.
For example, the electron configuration of sulfur would be:

1s^2, 2s^2, 2p^6, 3s^2, 3p^4

However, it could also be written as:

[Ne], 3s^2, 3p^4

The electron configuration up until neon (1s^2, 2s^2, 2p^6) no longer needs to be written out if [Ne] is included in your configuration. Hope this helps:)

[Mina Tadros 3L]

It depends on what the question is asking. If the question asks for the long hand electron configuration, you will write every aspect of that element's electron configuration. If it asks for the shorthand, you will write the noble gas that is right above the element you are writing the electron configuration for in brackets, and then you would fill out the rest of the configuration after the noble gas.

[IshanModiDis2L]

I believe it depends on what the question is asking but usually if it does not ask specifically in reference to the nearest noble gas, I would just write it all the way out with the entire configuration provided by you.

[905290504]

this was just having you write it as a noble gas configuration which is a sort of shorthand, so you don't need to do this but it just helps to write the configuration with just its valence electrons since the noble gas it gives has the same electron configuration as the atom's core

[Elizabeth Kaplan 3I]

You do not always have to write an element before, it is merely a shorter way of writing the electron configuration by only writing out the valence electrons of that element and displaying the core electrons with the noble gas element in the row above.