Question

What is the electron configuration of Neon?

Answer 1

Hint: Neon is a noble gas element of ‘p’ block with atomic number 10. In the periodic table Neon is a Group 18 member.

Complete answer:
The electron configuration of an element gives the distribution of electrons of that element in the respective atomic orbitals.
The atomic number of any element is the number of protons in one atom of that element. In an uncharged atom, the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons
Each energy level has some sub-levels and each sub-level has a limit of how many electrons they can accommodate.
For example, the first energy level has s subshell, the second energy level has s and p subshells; the third energy level has s, p and d subshells and so on.
Each subshell has some atomic orbitals and each orbital can accommodate two electrons at maximum.
s subshell has one orbital, p has three orbitals, d has 5 and so on.
Now since the first energy level has one sub-level called s which has one atomic orbital, therefore the first energy level can accommodate only two electrons at maximum.
The second energy level has two sub-levels; s and p. s can accommodate 2 electrons in its one orbital while p can accommodate 6 electrons in its 3 orbitals, and therefore the second energy level has space for a maximum of 8 electrons.
The atomic number of Ne is 10, which means there are 10 electrons and 10 protons in Neon. The 10 electrons are distributed in such a way that the first energy level has 2 electrons and the second energy level has 8 electrons.
The 2 electrons get accommodated in the s sub-level of the first energy level. The 8 electrons of the second energy level get accommodated in such a way that the s subshell holds 2 electrons and the p subshell holds the rest 6 electrons.
Therefore the electronic configuration of Ne becomes: $$1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^6$$

Note:
The standard notation of the electronic configuration of any element is such that all the electron-containing atomic subshells (with the number of electrons they hold written in superscript) are placed in a sequence. The protons are inside the nucleus of an atom, while the electrons revolve around the nucleus in subsequent energy levels.