Electronic Configuration of Elements - Practice Questions & MCQ

Writing of electronic configuration of any element is based on three rules as told in previous concepts. They are:

1. Aufbau principle

2. Pauli’s exclusion principle

3. Hund’s rule of maximum multiplicity

The distribution of electrons into orbitals of an atom is called its electronic configuration.

The electronic configuration of the different elements can be represented in two ways:

1. Subshell notation

2. Orbital diagram

Let’s understand with the help of examples:

1. The hydrogen atom has only one electron which goes in the orbital with lowest energy, namely 1s.The E.C of hydrogen is 1s¹ (subshell notation)

Orbital diagram: 

    2. The electronic configuration of lithium is 1s² 2s¹. Lithium has 3 electrons as atomic number is 3. 2 electrons filled in 1s orbital and  1 electron filled in 2s orbital.

let us consider fluorine (Z = 9) :

F(Z = 9) = 1s², 2s², 2px², 2py², 2pz¹ or

The importance of knowing the exact electronic configuration of an element lies in the fact that the chemical properties of an element are dependent on the behavior and relative arrangement of its electrons.