Question

What is the ground-state electron configuration of a neutral atom of copper?

Answer 1

For copper, `Z=29`...

Explanation:

And thus we have 29 electrons to distribute:

`1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3s^(2)3p^(6)4s^(1)3d^(10)`

The `d-"orbital"` filling is anomalous. Depending on where you are (A level; 1st year; 2nd year?), it simply has to be known.