Question

What is the noble gas electron configuration for gold?

Answer 1

Gold - Au, on the periodic table is found in the eleventh column of the periodic table Group IB this is the 9th column of the d block. Gold is in the sixth energy level (row).

This means that Gold must end with an electron configuration of `5d^9`
The total electron configuration would be
`1s^2 2s^2 2P^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^6 5s^2 4d^10 5p^6 6s^2 4f^14 5d^9`

The noble gas Xenon has an electron configuration of
`1s^2 2s^2 2P^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2 3d^10 4p^6 5s^2 4d^10 5p^6`

So we can replace this portion of tin's electron configuration with the noble gas notation [Xe]

This makes the electron configuration for Gold - Au
`[Xe] 6s^2 4f^14 5d^9`
For transition metals in the `d^9` column the electron from the s orbital will jump to the d and complete the orbital.
`[Xe] 6s^1 4f^14 5d^10`

I hope this was helpful.
SMARTERTEACHER