Excited Electron Configuration

[Sanskriti Balaji 1J]

Hi! When writing excited electron configurations, how do you know where to add/remove the extra electron from? For example, the ground state configuration for Na is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1, but the excited state configuration is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^5 3s^2. Why do you make it 2p^5 and 3s^2 instead?

[KDeguzman_Dis3K]

Hi!
The excited state configuration for sodium is actually 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3p^1. This is because the electron jumps to a higher orbital when it is excited, and 3p is higher than 3s^1. Hopefully this image attached helps in demonstrating the energy levels!

[gracebinder3I]

Hi!
In addition to what was already mentioned, usually the last shell/orbital to receive electrons will have them taken or added. Electrons on the outermost shell of an element are much easier to remove than electrons closer to the nucleus, and it is much easier to add an electron to the outermost shell instead of placing an "unnecessary" one in the middle of an electron configuration that could possibly tamper with the octet rule.
I hope this helps!

[Somin Lee]

Excited State configuration can be vary a lot. Unlike ionized state, if electron is not in the ground state configuration, it's called excited state. 1s^2 2s^2 2p^5 3s^2 this can be excited state configuration. but 1s^2 2s^2 2p^4 3s^2 3p^1 can also be another excited state configuration.