Silicon atoms have 14 electrons. The ground state electron configuration of ground state gaseous neutral silicon is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p².
Using noble gas shorthand, the electronic configuration is reduced to;
[Ne] 3s² 3p². Ne s the nearest noble gas to silicon, Ne contains 8 electrons, this means there's still 4 more electrons to fill. The s orrbital can only hold 2, hence the reaing two is transferred to the p orbital.
Time is relative - and science is still arguing about singlet versus doublet Carbenes; they fought over whether Oxygen was “real”, and refused to believe in Radium until one by one they SAW that drop glow! (And affect photographic film).
