Question

Hafnium, Hf, is also found in group 4B. Write the electron configuration for Hf. Express your answer in order of increasing orbital energy as a string without blank space between orbitals. For example, the electron configuration of Li could be entered as 1s^22s^1 or [He]2s^1.

Answer 1

Answer: $1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^64s^23d^{10}4p^65s^24d^{10}5p^66s^24f^{14}5d^2$

Explanation:

Electronic configuration represents the total number of electrons that a neutral element contains. We add all the superscripts to know the number of electrons in an atom.

The electrons are filled according to Afbau's rule in order of increasing energies and thus the electronic configuration for Hafnium with atomic number of 72 and containing 72 electrons is:

$1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^64s^23d^{10}4p^65s^24d^{10}5p^66s^24f^{14}5d^2$

The electronic configuration for Hafnium in terms of nearest noble gas Is

$[Xe]6s^24f^1{14}5d^2$