Electron Configuration and Lewis Dot Diagram Activity
Electron Configuration Activity Notes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
All orbitals, represented by a line, can have no more than two electrons
All ‘s’ subshells have one orbital
All ‘p’ subshells have three orbitals
All ‘d’ subshells have five orbitals
All ‘f’ subshells have seven orbitals
All the orbitals of a particular subshell have equal energy
Electrons paired in the same orbital will spin opposite directions
An electron is placed in the lowest orbital that can take it (Aufbau principle)
Before electrons can be paired in an orbital, all orbitals of the subshell have to have one
electron (Hund’s rule)
10. Exceptions are known to exist for #8 and #9
Instructions:
Part A: Writing electron configurations
1. You will use beans to represent electrons. All electrons are alike.
2. Place “electrons” on the configuration sheet to represent the electron configuration of
different atoms.
3. Notice that as the atomic number increases by one proton, the electron configuration
increases by one electron.
4. The subshells are arranged on the configuration sheet by increasing energy with 1s having
the lowest energy.
5. Remember to follow the Aufbau principle when placing your electrons.
6. Let your teacher see your configuration before starting another one.
7. Write down your electron configuration on a piece of notebook paper.
Part B: Drawing Lewis Dot Diagrams
1. Put a small, square index card with an element symbol in each CENTER box for the Lewis
Dot Diagrams. The element symbol in the center box represents the nucleus and all inner
level electrons except for the valence electrons in the outermost energy level.
2. Place beans on all four sides of the symbol to represent up to eight valence electrons
(depending on the element). Remember to put one valence electron on each side before
doubling up the electrons on any of the sides.
3. Let your teacher see your Lewis Dot Diagram before starting another one.
4. Draw your Lewis Dot Diagram on your piece of notebook paper to turn in.
Full Electron Configurations vs. noble Gas Configurations
In the following activity you will use inductive reasoning to formulate a plan for writing Noble Gas electron
configurations. Inductive reasoning is used when you gradually build up an understanding of how
something works by studying specific examples of something and eventually coming up with a general law
or principle.
Study the pairs of electron configurations for Chlorine, Silver, and Calcium.
Full e- configuration for Cl:
Noble Gas e- configuration for Cl:
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5
[Ne] 3s2 3p5
Full e- configuration for Ag:
Noble Gas e- configuration for Ag:
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 2p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d9
[Kr] 5s2 4d9
Full e- configuration for Ca:
Noble Gas e- configuration for Ca:
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2
[Ar] 4s2
The Noble Gas configuration is a shortcut method of writing the electron configuration of an element.
1. In the Noble Gas configurations, where are all of the elements in [brackets] found on the periodic
table?
2. Chlorine is in the ________ period on the periodic table. Neon, the noble gas used for its shortcut
configuration, is in the ________ period.
3. Silver is in the ________ period on the periodic table. Krypton, the noble gas used for its shortcut
configuration, is in the ________ period.
4. Calcium is in the ________ period on the periodic table. Argon, the noble gas used for its shortcut
configuration, is in the ________ period.
5. Using these three examples, explain how you would determine which noble gas to use if you were
going to write the noble gas shortcut for any other element.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. Carefully study what is the SAME and what is DIFFERENT about the full e- configuration and the
noble gas e- configuration in each pair. Can you make a general statement about what the
bracketed noble gas replaces when going from the full configuration to the noble gas configuration?
You will need to refer to your periodic table to figure this out. (hint: it might help to point to both the
element the configuration is written for and the noble gas being used in the shortcut)
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
7. Write the Noble Gas configurations for the following elements:
Carbon
___________________
Arsenic
___________________
Sulfur
___________________
Niobium
___________________
Lead
___________________
Francium
___________________
Electron Configuration Practice and Review
Directions: Read the instructions for each section below and answer in the space provided. Show all
work for credit.
Part I: Write the full electron configuration for the following elements.
1. Lithium:
2. Chlorine:
3. Silver:
Part II: Write the noble gas electron configuration for the following elements.
4. Calcium:
5. Beryllium:
6. Arsenic:
Part III: Draw the Lewis Dot structure for the following elements in the box provided.
7. Helium
8. Fluorine
9. Xenon
10. Silicon
11. Potassium
Part IV: Identify the element from the following electron configurations.
12. 1s2 2s2 2p4
14. [Ar] 4s2
13. 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5
15. [Kr] 5s2 4d9
Part V: Identify the highest energy level and how many electrons are in the highest energy level.
16. Lithium
18. Rhodium
17. Cesium
19. Xenon
Part VI: Answer the following question in complete sentences.
20. What are valence electrons and what is their main function?