Question

sodium combines with fluorine to produce sodium fluoride an active ingredient in toothpaste in this form sodium has the electron configuration of which other element?

Answer 1

Sodium fluoride has the chemical formula NaF, which means it contains one sodium ion (Na+) and one fluoride ion (F-). The electron configuration of sodium (Na) is [Ne]3s1, meaning it has one valence electron in the 3s orbital.

The element with the same electron configuration as sodium is lithium (Li), which also has one valence electron in the 3s orbital. Therefore, sodium has the electron configuration of lithium in this form.

Answer 2

Sodium (Na) has an electron configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1, and it combines with fluorine (F) to form sodium fluoride (NaF) with the chemical formula NaF.

When sodium loses an electron, it becomes a positively charged ion with a configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6, which is the same electron configuration as neon (Ne), a noble gas.

Fluorine gains an electron to form a negatively charged ion with a configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6, which is the same as that of a noble gas configuration of neon.

Therefore, after sodium loses an electron and fluorine gains an electron, both atoms have the same electron configuration as neon, which is a stable configuration.