What is the electronic configuration of potassium ion?

1 Answer
Sep 22, 2017

Well, potassium has #Z=19#.......

Explanation:

And #Z# specifies the nuclear charge. For a neutral element there must be 19 electrons, 19 fundamental particles of negative charge. The electrons are arranged into shells....

And so the ion #K^+# must have 18 electrons: #1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^6#, and this configuration is precisely the same as that possessed by argon. Why?