Question

The outermost shell configuration of an element is 4s²4p³. The period to which the element belongs is
1. 5
2. 8
3. 3
4. 4

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : 4

The correct answer is 4.

 

• According to the electronic configuration, the outermost shell tells us about the valence shell of the element.
• So, the element has valency 4 and it belongs to the 4th Period of the Periodic table.
• In 4s²4p³, s and p are the subshells and 2 and 3 are the electrons in these subshells.

• The electron configuration of an element describes how electrons are distributed in their atomic orbitals.
• Electron configurations of atoms follow a standard notation in which all electron-containing atomic subshells (with the number of electrons they hold written in superscript) are placed in a sequence.
• Shells:
  • The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a shell is based on the principal quantum number (n).
  • It is represented by the formula 2n^2, where ‘n’ is the shell number.

Shell and ‘n’ value	Max. Electrons in the Electron Configuration
K shell, n=1	2*12 = 2
L shell, n=2	2*22 = 8
M shell, n=3	2*32 = 18
N shell, n=4	2*42 = 32

• Subshells:
  • There are 4 subshells, s, p, d, and f.
  • Each subshell can hold a different number of electrons.

Subshell	Electrons
s	2
p	6
d	10
f	14