Help with electron configuration?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on confusion regarding the electron configuration of gold, particularly its notation and the underlying principles. The original poster, who missed the introduction of the topic, is struggling to understand why gold's electron configuration is listed as [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1 instead of simply 5d11, given its position on the periodic table as a d-block element in row 5, column 11. A response clarifies that gold is an exception to the typical electron filling order, which can be misleading. It also explains that the notation [Xe] represents the electron configuration of xenon plus additional electrons for gold, serving as a space-saving method in writing configurations. A suggestion to refer to a Wikipedia article on electron configuration is provided for further clarification.
breebreebran
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I don't understand it.
I was absent the day it was introduced so I'm behind.
I'm trying to learn from google but I can't figure it out.
I thought I understood but I guess not.
I picked a random element off the periodic table.
Gold.
I know that's sub level d
row 5
column 11
So I thought it was just 5D11
I looked up the electron configuration for it and I got
[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1
Any guidance?
Because I'm clearly lost.
 
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You happened to pick an element that has an exception to the rules->bad break! The wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_configuration has a fairly good explanation as to what order to write the shells and how many electrons can fit in each.

Finally, in case you were confused, the { [Xe] "other stuff" } notation refers to the configuration of [Element] plus the additional electron configuration for the working element. Space saving technique.
 
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