Ground state vs Excited state [ENDORSED]

[605823283]

Hi! Is the electron configuration different for when the electrons are at a ground state or excited state?

[Amy Shimizu 1J]

Hi, I believe that the electron configuration is different because the number of electrons in the ground state is different from that in the excited state. Thus, when writing the electron configuration, you have to keep in mind how many electrons are in each orbital.

[Jonathan Alterman 1C]

Yes, the ground state and excited state electron configurations are different. Usually, one of the electrons in the largest orbital of the ground state jumps up to the next orbital for an excited state.

[Maeve Settle 2B]

Hi! Yes the electron configuration for an excited state is different than the ground state because one electron jumps to a higher energy level. However the number of electrons stays constant unless and electron is completely ionized off of the atom. Hope this helps!

[Arjun_Anumula_3E]

An electron in an excited state will be in a different subshell or shell, so the configuration would be different. Although the total number of electrons would stay the same.

[amreen_sandhu1k]

Hi! The total number of electrons stay the same however the configuration would be different because the electrons would jump shells.

[BriannaDis2C]

Yes they are slightly different. Although there are the same number of electrons the configuration changes and usually jumps between shells when they are “excited”.

[Hannah_Pon_1F]

Yes, electron configurations are different between the ground state and excited state for the same atom. For example, the ground state e- configuration for carbon (C) is 1s2 2s2 2p2. But an excited state for C could be 1s2 2s2 2p1 3s1, where 1 valence jumps to the 3s orbital.

Hope this helps!