Outline 2: Topic 2A #3

[Kristen Bansil 1G]

Hey there! I was having some difficulty approaching problem 2A.3, if anyone could explain how they did that would be great :)

2A.3 Give the ground-state electron configuration expected for each of the following ions:
(a) S^2-
(b) As³⁺
(d) Ge²⁺

[Shria G 2D]

Hi!

I first found the ground state electron configuration for each of the elements and then added or subtracted electrons based on the charge. For a, the ground state electron configuration for S is [Ne] 3s2 3p4. The ion is S2- so I added 2 electrons and that fills up the p orbital. This makes it have the electron configuration of Ar. For b, the ground state electron configuration of As is [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p3. For As3+, you have to remove 3 electrons and you would remove them from the outermost orbital which is the 4p orbital. Therefore, your answer is [Ar] 3d10 4s2. Part d is the same concept.

[Kurosh Zamiri 1I]

Hi! For each one of these problems, I started by finding the ground-state configuration.

S2- The ground state configuration for sulfur is [Ne] 3s2 3p4. Since there is a -2 charge on the ion, we can add 2 electrons to the ground state, giving us the simplified configuration of [Ar].

As3+ The ground state configuration for arsenic is [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p3. Since there is a +3 charge on the ion, we take away 3 electrons from the outermost shell, which in this case is the 4p subshell. This results in the configuration being [Ar] 3d10 4s2.

Ge 2+ The ground state configuration for germanium is [Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p2. Due to the +2 charge, we take away 2 electrons from the outermost shell. Similarly to the previous problem, this results in a configuration of [Ar] 3d10 4s2.

Hope this helps!