The ground state electron configuration of a sulphur atom (Z = 16) is?[Fill in the blank]

Question

The ground state electron configuration of a sulphur atom (Z = 16) is?[Fill in the blank]

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Sulfur has atomic number Z = 16, so it contains 16 electrons. The relevant principles are the Aufbau principle (fill lowest energy orbitals first), the Pauli exclusion principle (max two electrons per orbital with opposite spins), and Hund’s rule (maximize the number of unpaired electrons in degenerate orbitals).

Step-by-step filling of orbitals:
1. 1s orbital fills first: 1s2 → 2 electrons (total = 2).
2. 2s fills next: 2s2 → +2 (total = 4).
3. 2p subshell (three degenerate p orbitals) fills next: 2p6 → +6 (total = 10). In orbital form this is 2px2 2py2 2pz2.
4. 3s fills: 3s2 → +2 (total = 12).
5. Remaining electrons go into 3p: we need 4 more electrons to reach 16, so 3p4 → +4 (total = 16). According to Hund’s rule the first three 3p electrons occupy separate 3p orbitals, then the fourth pairs up in one orbital; in orbital notation one convenient representation is 3px2 3py1 3pz1 (or any permutation of which p orbital is paired).

Putting the shell/subshell counts together gives the standard ground-state configuration: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4. Writing the filled 2p and 3p subshells as individual orbitals yields the answer form given.

Why the correct option is correct:
- Option b (the provided correct answer) corresponds to the correct total of 16 electrons and the correct filled lower shells (1s2, 2s2, 2p6) and the correct occupancy of the third shell overall (3s2 and total 3p4). It matches the Aufbau ordering and Pauli/Hund requirements for the ground state.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- Option a has too few electrons in the 3p set (gives only 3 electrons in 3p, total 15).
- Option c shows an impossible / incorrect ordering and incorrect counts for 1s and 2p.
- Option d gives a 3p distribution that does not reflect the correct electron count or Hund’s arrangement for the ground state.

Therefore the ground-state electron configuration is 1s22s22px22py22pz23px23py23pz2, which matches the provided correct answer.

The ground state electron configuration of a sulphur atom (Z = 16) is?[Fill in the blank]Single choice

Similar Questions

The ground state electron configuration of the nitrogen atom is A. 1s22s22px1 B. 1s22s22px1py1 C. 1s22s22px1py1pz1 D. 1s22s 2

The ground state electron configuration of the nitrogen atom is A. 1s22s22px1 B. 1s22s22px1py1 C. 1s22s22px1py1pz1 D. 1s22s 2

Which of the following is an impossible electron configuration?

Which of the following is an impossible electron configuration?

A bromine atom has 35 electrons. At its ground state, how many of these electrons are in p orbitals? (Input number only.)

The electron configuration for a ground-state sulfur atom is:

According to the Aufbau principle, which of the following orbitals should be filled first to achieve the lowest energy electronic configuration?

How many electrons are unpaired in a ground-state fluorine (F) atom? (Input number only.)

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler