Question

Given following electron configurations, 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d9 and 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s14d10.

Answer 1

Explanations:- Part 1: We could count the total number of electrons by looking at the electron configurations. Both of these electrons configurations have 47 electrons. If we look at the periodic table then 47 is the atomic number of silver. So, the name of the element is silver and its represented as Ag.

Part 2: As per the rule, Completely filled and half filled orbitals are more stable. First electron configuration has 9 electrons in 4d and we know that d is more stable if it has 5 electrons(half filled) or it has 10 electrons(full filled).

For stability reasons, one of the electron from 5s goes to 4d and for this reason the second electron configuration is found most often in nature for silver.

Few other examples are Cr and Cu.