Ground State e- Configuration

[Kassidy Patron 1L]

Hi! Going over my notes, I see that I wrote "We apply Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hund's Rule to obtain ground state e- configuration". What's ground state electron configuration? Is there another state we need to know or will questions only refer to "ground state"?

[605720459 1I]

Hi! When electrons are in their ground state, it means that the electrons are not excited and the atom is stable. Earlier in the unit, we learned about how a photon can hit an atom, and the light energy causes electrons to jump up to a higher n level, which brings the electrons away from its ground state and into the excited state. I do not think we need to know about excited state electron configuration, but ground state is the normal state of an atom.

[Rose Arcallana 2B]

Basically, ground state configuration just means that the atom is stable, not missing or has an extra electron. It's like the basic state of the atom as seen on the periodic table. The ground state also means that the # of protons an atom has is the same # of electrons. :)

[Colby Irvine 2A]

Ground state also means that it is the observable experimental state when an atom is not affected by any external forces. It should be when it is most stable.

[Jessica Servoss 1H]

When we draw or write out the electron configuration of the "ground state", we are referring to the spots that electrons normally occupy when they are not excited or jumping energy levels. When in their ground state, they are at their lowest energy state.

[Ivy Vo Dis 1C]

The ground state electron configuration refers to the state in which none of the atoms are excited or have jumped into higher levels. This means that no photon has hit the electrons, causing them to be excited and jump into other energy levels. In this state, the atom is most stable. I do not think we need to know about atoms being in different states, as we have not reviewed it thoroughly in class.

[Edmond Chu 1C]

Ground state just means that the electrons are stable and not in their excited state (wanting to jump). Right now, we are just focusing on the ground state but in the future, we will definitely be working with excited states of electrons.