Question

Give the shell electron configuration for the following. (For example, the shell electron configuration of lithium is written 2,1.)(a) sodium(b) neon

Answer 1

Sodium = 2 8 1

Neon = 2 8

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to configure electrons in shell form, we have to know the elements' atomic number and the concept of shell configuration.

Sodium (Na) has atomic number of 11 and Neon (Ne) has atomic number of 10.

Now we know the atomic numbers of these elements, let's move on to shell configuration next. Each element consists of four energy levels: K L M N and each levels can contain different number of electrons.

1. In the first energy level (n = 1) or K level, it can only contain 2 electrons.
2. In the second energy level (n = 2) or L level, it can at best 8 electrons.
3. In the third energy level (n = 3) or M level, it can contain at best 18 electrons.
4. Lastly, in the fourth energy level (n = 4) or N level, it can contain at max of 32 electrons.

This gives a pattern of 2n² where n is energy level. Keep in mind that n cannot be greater than 4 as there are only 4 energy levels. Now the concept of shell configuration is not quite hard, you just have to configure electrons that total add up to its atomic number.

For an example, Lithium (Li) has atomic number of 3. We can configure it in shell as 2, 1. We put all in levels and if there are remainings, we put the remaining in the last level.

Therefore, Sodium (Na) can be configured as 2 8 1. 2+8+1 total adds up to 11, hence, same atomic number as Sodium. Also the configuration is correct since we put everything in each levels and put the remaining in the last level.

And Neon (Ne) would be 2 8. First level can only contain 2 electrons and the second layer contains 8 electrons. These two add up to 10 which is atom no. of Neon. Hence, this makes sense.

Answer 2

The shell electron configuration of sodium is 2,8,1

The shell electron configration of neon is 2,8

EXPLANATION

Sodium is a group 1 metal and it has an atomic number of 11

Below are very important point to know when filling electrons into the shell

1. The method used in filling electrons into shells is called KLMN

2. The KLMN represents the orbitals and has different energy lelvel

3. The maximum electron K-shell can accommodate is 2 electrons

4. The maximum electrons L-shell can accommodate is 8 electrons

5. The maximum electron M-shell can accommodate is 16 electrons

6. The maximum electron N-shell can accommodate is 32 electrons.

For sodium, we have

In the structure above, the first shell has 2 electrons, the second shell has 8 electrons and the last shell has one electron.

Therefore, the shell electron configuration of sodium is 2,8,1

For Neon

Neon belongs to group 8 and it has an atomic number of 10

The shell electron configration of neon is 2,8