What happens to the potassium atom when it reacts with the chlorine atom? What is the electron configuration of the potassium af

Question

sweet-ann [11.9K]

2 years ago

8

What happens to the potassium atom when it reacts with the chlorine atom? What is the electron configuration of the potassium af

ter the change?

Chemistry

1 answer:

hodyreva [135] · Answer 1 · 2022-12-14T12:23:17+03:00

Answer:

See explanation

Explanation:

Potassium is a metal. Remember that metals are electropositive in nature. This implies that they give out electrons when they undergo ionic bonding with nonmetals.

Chlorine is a nonmetal. So the bond between chlorine and potassium is ionic. Potassium gives out one electron to chlorine and the both ions now attain a stable octet.

The electronic configuration of potassium is [Ar]4s1. After giving out an electron to chlorine in an ionic bond, its electronic configuration is now [Ar].