Final answer:
Noble gas notation simplifies electron configurations by using the previous noble gas symbol followed by the remaining electron configuration. For phosphorus, this is [Ne]3s²3p³, where [Ne] represents the first 10 electrons and 3s²3p³ represents the five unique electrons of phosphorus.
Step-by-step explanation:
The noble gas notation is a shorthand way of expressing the electron configuration of an element. In this notation, the electron configuration begins with the symbol for the noble gas that comes before the element in the periodic table, in its ground state. This symbol represents all the electrons that the element shares with the noble gas. Following the noble gas symbol, the remaining electron configuration is written out.
For example, the element phosphorus (P) has a standard electron configuration of 1s²2s²2p¶3s²3p³. The noble gas that comes immediately before phosphorus in the periodic table is neon (Ne), with an electron configuration of 1s²2s²2p¶. So the noble gas notation for phosphorus is [Ne]3s²3p³, which represents the electron configuration from neon plus the additional electrons in the 3s and 3p orbitals for phosphorus.