Question

What is shorthand electron configuration for V?

Answer 1

Hint: the total number of electrons in an atom is its atomic number. These electrons are filled in various energy levels from lower to higher that defines their electronic configuration. Shorthand configuration has a noble gas placed to cover the electrons of lower energy level. V stands for the transition metal Vanadium.

Complete answer:
Electronic configuration of any element tells us the total number of electrons in that atom which is equal to the atomic number of that element. Electronic configuration of any element consists of filling the s, p, d, f orbital with electrons. The filling of electrons in various orbitals is according to the Aufbau principle that takes place from the lower energy level to the higher energy level.
The shorthand electron configuration is the configuration when a noble gas is written in the electron configuration for any element, then it is also called as the noble gas notation. The atomic number of the noble gas covers up the electrons in any atom in the lower energy level. The noble gas of the preceding period with lower atomic number than the element is chosen to write the shorthand configuration.
V is the symbol for vanadium that is a transition metal with the atomic number 23. The general configuration for vanadium will be, $V=1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}4s^{2}3d^3$.
The noble gas that precedes the atomic number 23 is argon with atomic number 18. So, argon covers the first 18 electrons and the shorthand configuration for V becomes, $V=[Ar]4s^{2}3d^3$.
Hence, the shorthand electron configuration for V is $[Ar]4s^{2}3d^3$.

Note:
The shorthand configuration means a short form of the configuration. It is written with the noble gas that has the atomic number less than the atom. The noble gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon. They have the atomic numbers 2, 10, 18, 36, 54, and 86 respectively. They are written with noble gases as noble gases consist of fully filled electronic shells.