electron configuration (thing)

To find an atom's electron configuration you must use the diagonal rule.

Atoms have different general electron configurations based on their placement in the periodic table.

                    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 +-+                               +-+
1| |                               | |
 +-+-+                   +-+-+-+-+-+-+
2| | |                   | | | | | | |
 +-+-+                   +-+-+-+-+-+-+
3| | |                   | | | | | | |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
4| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
5| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
6| | @ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
7| | @ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                       1 1 1 1 1
     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  @:| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  @:| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

n will refer to the period of the element.

The following list will be ordered by group. It refers to the last sublevel that electrons enter:

1. ns¹
2. ns²
3. n-1d¹
4. n-1d²
5. n-1d³
6. n-1d⁴
7. n-1d⁵
8. n-1d⁶
9. n-1d⁷
10. n-1d⁸
11. n-1d⁹
12. n-1d¹⁰
13. np¹
14. np²
15. np³
16. np⁴
17. np⁵
18. np⁶

The next list is for the Lanthanide and Actinide series:

1. n-2f¹
2. n-2f²
3. n-2f³
4. n-2f⁴
5. n-2f⁵
6. n-2f⁶
7. n-2f⁷
8. n-2f⁸
9. n-2f⁹
10. n-2f¹⁰
11. n-2f¹¹
12. n-2f¹²
13. n-2f¹³
14. n-2f¹⁴

The outer electron configuration is the s'es and p's of the highest principal quantum number. What the **** does that mean? Well, it means the s'es and p's of the highest number in front of the s and p.

Thus, the electron configuration for Mg is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s². The outer electron configuration is therefore 3s².

For sulfur, S, atomic number 32, the electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴. The outer electron configuration is 3s² 3p⁴.

Exception: elements in groups 6 and 11 rearrange themselves to become more chemically stable because of the octet rule.

When creating chemical bonds, electrons can move around, and electron configurations can change.