Question

Why are the expected and observed ground state electronic configurations of gadolinium and lawrencium same?

Answer 1

• The degenerate orbitals like 4f and 5f acquire extra stability when they are half filled (4f⁷) or completely filled (5f¹⁴).
• The expected and observed electronic configuration of gadolinium is,₆₄Gd [Xe] 4f⁷ 5d¹ 6s².
• The expected and observed electronic configuration of lawrencium is ₁₀₃Lr [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹ 7s².