Question

Which electron configuration represents the distribution of electrons in a potassium atom in the ground state?

Answer 1

Answer is: 2-8-8-1, it means there are two electrons in first electrons shell (1s²), eight electrons in second (2s²2p⁶) and third (3s²3p⁶) electrons shell and one electron in fourth electrons shell (4s¹).

Potassium is a chemical element with atomic number 19 (number of electrons is 19).

Electron configuration of potassium is: ₁₉K 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶4s¹.

Potassium is the alkali metal and has a single valence electron in the outer electron shell.

Answer 2

The complete ground state electron configuration for potassium would be written as 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s1. Electron configuration is the arrangement of the electrons of a molecule or an atom in the orbitals. These are key to understand the chemical properties exhibited by the elements.