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Calcium (Ca) has an atomic number of 20. What is calcium's ground-state electron configuration?

1s21p61d101f2
1s21p62s22p63s23p2
1s22s22p63s23p64s2
1s22s22p63s23p63d2

User Mmdanziger
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2 Answers

4 votes

Answer: Option (c) is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

Calcium is a group 2 element and it lies in period 4 and group 2.

Atomic number of calcium is 20 and its electronic distribution is 2, 8, 8, 2. That is, in ground state there are 20 electrons present in a calcium atom.

It's electronic configuration is as follows.


1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^(6)4s^(2)

Thus, we can conclude that calcium's ground-state electron configuration is
1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^(6)4s^(2)
.

User Bfavaretto
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6.1k points
1 vote

I belive the answer is C. 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2

Electron configuration are used to tell the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule. The electron configuration order should follow a specific path. You will found some similarity of the rule with the number of row in the periodic table. After the electrons fill 3P, the electron should fill 4S before it go to 3D.

User Sander
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