Question

What is the electron configuration of gold?

Answer 1

`"[Xe]" "4f"^14 "5d"^10 "6s"^1`

Explanation:

As you can see, the nearest noble gas to gold without going over, is xenon (Xe). The reason '`"[Xe]"`' appears in the noble gas electronic configuration is because they both share the same electron configuration (although for good, its part of it).

Answer 2

With an atomic number of `79`, `"Au"` has a configuration of...

`[Xe] 4f^14 5d^10 6s^1`,

and not `5d^9 6s^2`.

It has a xenon core, plus a `4f` outer core. Surprisingly enough, due to scalar relativistic effects (gold's `1s` electron moves at `57.7%` the speed of light), its `6s` electron contracts and its `5d` and `4f` orbitals expand, so that despite having one valence electron, gold is not very reactive.