Question

Samples of four Group 15 elements, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, and phosphorus, are in the gaseous phase. An atom in the ground state of which element requires the least amount of energy to remove its most loosely held electron?
(1) As (3) P
(2) Bi (4) Sb

Answer 1

Answer;

- Bi (Bismuth)

-An atom in the ground state of Bismuth requires the least amount of energy to remove its most loosely held electron.

Explanation;

- Bismuth atoms have 83 electrons and the shell structure is 2.8.18.32.18.5. A ground-state atom is an atom in which the total energy of the electrons can not be lowered by transferring one or more electrons to different orbitals. In other words in this case all electrons are in the lowest possible energy levels.

-The ground state electron configuration of ground state gaseous neutral bismuth is [Xe].4f^14.5d^10.6s^2.6p^3

Answer 2

(2) Bi, or Bismuth, which has the largest atomic radii, requires the least ionization energy, or the energy to remove its most loosely held electron.