• La Quinta High

• CHEM 3620A-0001

Patterns in Electron Configurations As described by the quantum mechanical model of the atom, every electron has a precise amount of energy and occupies a specific atomic orbital. An electron configuration is the way that the electrons of an atom are arranged in the atomic orbitals. Scientists have identified three rules that explain the most stable electron configuration for atoms. In this activity, you will use observed patterns to infer these three rules. The table shows the patterns in electron configurations, but the table is incomplete. When complete, the table will show the ground state electron configurations for the first 12 elements. The middle section of the table uses boxes to represent atomic orbitals. Each arrow (pointing up or down) represents an electron that occupies the orbital. The column at the far right represents electron configurations using numbers, letters, and superscripts. Electron Configurations of the First 12 Elements Atomic number Element 1s 2s 2px 2py 2pz 3s Electron c