What is the unabbreviated electron configuration of copper?

1 Answer
Meave60
May 21, 2015

The unabbreviated electron configuration for copper is #"1s"^2"2s"^2"2p"^6"3s"^2"3p"^6"3d"^10"4"^1"#.

Explanation:

First determine the number of electrons in a neutral atom of copper.

The atomic number of Cu is 29. This is the number of protons in the nucleus of a Cu atom. A neutral Cu atom also has 29 electrons.The electron configuration of Cu without abbreviation is:

#"1s"^2"2s"^2"2p"^6"3s"^2"3p"^6"3d"^10"4"^1"#

Note: You might think that the #"3d"# and #"4s"# configurations should be #"4s"^2"# and #"3d"^9#. However, experimental evidence indicates that #"1s"^2"2s"^2"2p"^6"3s"^2"3p"^6"3d"^10"4"^1"# is the correct electron configuration.

Related questions
Impact of this question
10800 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License