Final answer:
The correct noble gas to use for writing the noble gas configuration for plutonium is d. Xe (xenon). Noble gases are used to represent completed electron shells in abbreviated electronic configurations.
Step-by-step explanation:
When writing the noble gas configuration for plutonium, the closest noble gas used to represent the completed shells in the abbreviated electronic configuration is xenon (Xe). So, the correct answer is d. Xe.
Noble gases such as helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn) are used to shorten electron configurations for elements by representing already filled electron shells corresponding to those noble gases. For instance, the noble gas prior to potassium (K) is argon (Ar), which is why potassium's electron configuration can be abbreviated to [Ar] 4s¹, and strontium (Sr) having two more electrons than krypton (Kr) could be written as [Kr] 5s².