Question

How do you write shorthand notation for elements?

Answer 1

look at the noble gas in the line just above
then fill in orbitals for the row of the element

Explanation:

Shorthand notation uses the noble gas of the previous line. This is due to the fact that all the orbitals up to that noble gas are completely filled. Then, you start filling in the orbitals for the element for the row that it is in.

I will use two examples—magnesium (Mg) and bismuth (Bi)—to show the shorthand form. For Mg, I will show the long hand as well.

Mg long form: `1s^2 2s^2 2p^2 3s^2`
Mg shorthand: `[Ne] 3s^2`

Bi shorthand: `[Xe]4f^14 5d^10 6s^2 6p^3` or `[Xe] 6s^2 4f^14 5d^10 6p^3`

It usually depends on your professor for the order of orbitals, so that's why I listed two ways for bismuth.