Question

What is the noble gas shorthand of antimony?

Answer 1

Hint: Noble gas shorthand is the representation of the electronic configuration of elements in noble gas notation. In this method of writing configuration, the nearest noble gas immediately preceding the atom is written first in square brackets followed by writing a remaining number of electrons

Complete answer:
The elements that have a full octet of electrons and are not very reactive gases are known as noble gases. They are situated in group 18 of the periodic table. Antimony is located in the 5th row and 15th group of the periodic table. Its atomic number is 51. So, the electronic configuration of antimony can be written as follows:
\[\text{Sb}\left( 51 \right):1{{\text{s}}^{2}}2{{\text{s}}^{2}}2{{\text{p}}^{6}}3{{\text{s}}^{2}}3{{\text{p}}^{6}}4{{\text{s}}^{2}}3{{\text{d}}^{10}}4{{\text{p}}^{6}}4{{\text{d}}^{10}}5{{\text{s}}^{2}}5{{\text{p}}^{3}}\]
The nearest noble gas present before antimony in the periodic table is krypton (Kr) with atomic number 36. So, we can write the electronic configuration of antimony shortly as:
\[\text{Sb}\left( 51 \right):\left[ \text{Kr} \right]4{{\text{d}}^{10}}5{{\text{s}}^{2}}5{{\text{p}}^{3}}\]
Hence, this is the noble gas shorthand notation of antimony.

Additional information:
The configuration notation provides an easy way to write and interpret how electrons are arranged around the nucleus of an atom. This makes it easier to understand and predict how atoms will interact during chemical reactions and bond formation.

Note:
When writing the electron configuration for antimony, the 4d orbital is usually filled before the 5s by keeping in mind Aufbau’s principle. According to this principle, the lower energy orbitals are filled before the higher energy orbitals.