How many electrons does the 4p subshell in the ground state of atomic xenon contain?

1 Answer
Stefan V.
Nov 12, 2015

#6#

Explanation:

Xenon, #"Xe"#, is located in period 5, group 18 of the periodic table, and has an atomic number equal to #54#. This tells you that a neutral xenon atom will have a total of #54# electrons surrounding its nucleus.

Now, in order to be able to determine how many electrons you have in the 4p-subshell of a ground-state xenon atom, you need to take a look at its electron configuration.

#"Xe: " 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 3d^10 4s^2 color(red)(4)p^6 4d^10 5s^2 5p^6#

As you can see, the #color(red)(4)#p-subshell is completely filled. The #6# electrons that occupy this subshell are distributed to #3# orbitals

  • #4p_x -># two electrons
  • #4p_y -># two electrons
  • #4p_z -># two electrons
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