What Happens If You Add One Electron to Fe3+?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the electronic configuration of iron ions, specifically the addition of one electron to Fe3+. The configurations are established as Fe: [Ar] 4s2 3d6, Fe2+: [Ar] 4s0 3d6, and Fe3+: [Ar] 4s0 3d5. Adding an electron to Fe3+ results in the configuration [Ar] 4s1 3d5, which aligns with the principle of achieving a half-filled subshell for stability. This indicates that the electron occupies the 4s subshell, despite the general rule of filling the s subshell before the d subshell.

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clouded.perception
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I have a question that my teacher can't answer. :(

I get that with the electronic configurations for atoms, an s shell fills before a d shell but also empties before a d shell. Okay.

So the last couple of subshells for iron are 4s2 3d6; Fe2+ would be 4s0 3d6 and Fe3+ would be 4s0 3d5.

Am I right so far?

My question is -- what happens if you add one electron to Fe3+? Which subshell does it go in? Do you get 4s0 3d6 (which violates the "s shell first" rule), or 4s1 3d5 (which gives you two different subshell configurations for Fe2+, depending on what it started as)?
 
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The most stable ion is where the subshell is half-filled. For Fe 2+, [Ar]3d5 4s1 would be more stable than [Ar]4s0 3d6.
 

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