Electron config exceptions

[Abhinav Amanaganti 3K]

I know that Copper and Chromium both have exceptions regarding their electron configurations but would this exception apply to all the elements in their groups as well? (ex. Mo would also have 5 electrons in the d orbital and 1 electron in the s orbital and Ag would have 10 electrons in the d orbital and 1 electron in the s orbital)

[Amanda Pineda 3H]

Hi! Yes you are correct. This exception of having 5 or 10 electrons in the d orbital and only 1 in the s also applies to their groups. These two groups are group 6 and 11. Hope this helps :)

[Gianna Sciole 2F]

I believe this trend applies to all elements in the same column as both chromium and copper. Since they have the same number of valence electrons (electrons in the outer shell), they should have the same trends on the periodic table.

[Leah Wildmann 1F]

Yes, this exception applies to every element in the same column as Copper and Chromium. This is because the exception happens because the atoms want to have a full or half shell, and these elements would be one electron under a full or half shell, so, an electron from the s shell jumps to the d shell.

[Jessica Berejikian]

I know that this exception also applies to Mo, Au, and Ag, however, I am unsure if the pattern continues down the group past these elements.

[Jacob Bright 1C]

I believe that this exception from the norm for electron configurations also applies to all the atoms in the same group as Chromium and Copper as they all have the same number of unpaired electrons in that specific subshell. As such, one would expect them to all experience the same behavior of completing half a d-subshell while also not filling up the corresponding s-orbital.

[Brandon Yu]

Yep this applies to every element in those groups! My TA told our discussion group specifically so if you don't take my word for it, take hers!

[Uma Patil 2A]

Yes! Basically every time we build an electron configuration that would normally have a 3d4 or 3d9, we take an electron away from the 4s subshell to change the electron config to have a 3d5 or 3d10. This is because the symmetry is more energetically favorable.

[Sarah Hong 2K]

Yes this exception applies to every element in the groups 6 and 11.

[Alejandra Hernandez 2A]

I believe that the exception of having 5 or 10 electrons in the d orbital and only 1 in the s applies to the entire group from groups 6 through 11.