Electronic Configuration and Valency

Electronic Configuration and Valency
 The arrangement of electrons in shells/orbits/energy levels is called electronic configuration.

 Electrons follow a pattern when they fill in the orbits.
 Every orbit/shell/energy level has a maximum capacity, this is calculated by the formula 2n2 where n
is the shell/orbit number.
 The maximum capacity formula gives us the maximum number of electrons that a shell can
accommodate.
Shell/Orbit n Maximum Capacity (2n2)
K 1 2(1)2 = 2 x 1 = 2 e-
L 2 2(2)2 = 2 x 4 = 8 e-
M 3 2(3)2 = 2 x 9 = 18 e-
N 4 2(4)2 = 2 x 16 = 32 e-
 A particular shell cannot accommodate electrons greater than its maximum capacity.
 For example,
o Atomic number of Sodium is 11, thus it has 11 e-:
 2 electrons go in the first shell (maximum capacity of K shell is 2), 9 electrons remain
(11-2 = 9)
 8 electrons go in the second shell (maximum capacity of L shell is 8), 1 electron
remain (9-8 = 1)
 The remaining 1 electron, goes in the third shell, i.e. M shell. Hence the electronic
configuration for Sodium is [2,8,1].
o Atomic number of Chlorine is 17, thus it has 17 e-:
 2 electrons go in the first shell (maximum capacity of K shell is 2), 15 electrons
remain (17-2 = 15)
 8 electrons go in the second shell (maximum capacity of L shell is 8), 7 electrons
remain (15-8 = 7)
 The remaining 7 electrons, goes in the third shell, i.e. M shell. Hence the electronic
configuration for Chlorine is [2,8,7].
 The electrons in the outer most orbit are called as valence electrons whereas the number of electrons
required to complete their octet (8 electrons in the last shell) / duplet (IF AND ONLY IF first shell is
the last shell it should have 2 electrons) is called as the valency.
 For normal elements (s-block & p-block); valence electrons vary from 1 to 8 and valency first
increases from 1 to 4 and then reduces from 3 to 0.
 Elements with valence electrons 1, 2 & 3; donate electrons and are metallic in nature.
 Elements with valence electrons 4 generally share these 4 electrons and are non-metallic elements.
 Elements with valence electrons 5, 6 & 7; accept/share electrons and are non-metallic in nature.
Groups and Electronic configuration:

 The group number of an element is understood by the number of valence electrons present.
 For s-block elements, i.e. valence electrons are either 1 or 2, the valence electrons itself indicated
the group number whereas for p-block elements, i.e. elements whose valence electron varies from
3 to 8, add 10 to identify the group.
 For example: the valence electrons in sodium is 1; thus its group number is 1 while chlorine has 7
valence electrons, the group number for chlorine is 17 (7 + 10).
Periods and Electronic configuration:
 The period number is indicated by the number of shells in an atom.
 Sodium has electronic configuration (2,8,1) which means sodium has 3 shells. Hence the period
number of sodium is 3.
ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION, GROUP AND PERIOD OF FIRST 20 ELEMENTS
Atomic Name of Protons Electrons Electronic Valence Group Period

Valency
No. element (p) (e) Configuration Electrons No. No.
Hydrogen
1 1 1 [1] 1 1 1 1
(H)
2 Helium (He) 2 2 [2] 2 0 18 1
3 Lithium (Li) 3 3 [2,1] 1 1 1 2
Beryllium
4 4 4 [2,2] 2 2 2 2
(Be)
5 Boron (B) 5 5 [2,3] 3 3 13 2
6 Carbon (C) 6 6 [2,4] 4 4 14 2
Nitrogen
7 7 7 [2,5] 5 3 15 2
(N)
8 Oxygen (O) 8 8 [2,6] 6 2 16 2
9 Fluorine (F) 9 9 [2,7] 7 1 17 2
10 Neon (Ne) 10 10 [2,8] 8 0 18 2
Sodium
11 11 11 [2,8,1] 1 1 1 3
(Na)
Magnesium
12 12 12 [2,8,2] 2 2 2 3
(Mg)
Aluminium
13 13 13 [2,8,3] 3 3 13 3
(Al)
14 Silicon (Si) 14 14 [2,8,4] 4 4 14 3
Phosphorus
15 15 15 [2,8,5] 5 3 15 3
(P)
16 Sulphur (S) 16 16 [2,8,6] 6 2 16 3
Chlroine
17 17 17 [2,8,7] 7 1 17 3
(Cl)
18 Argon (Ar) 18 18 [2,8,8] 8 0 18 3
Potassium
19 19 19 [2,8,8,1] 1 1 1 4
(K)
Calcium
20 20 20 [2,8,8,2] 2 2 2 4
(Ca)
 Potassium and Calcium both show a unique behaviour.
 Even though the capacity of third shell is 18, only 8 electrons are accommodated in the third shells of
potassium and calcium.
 This is because orbits/shells are also called as energy levels.
 The remaining electrons, i.e. 1 electron of potassium and 2 electrons of calcium, have energies little
higher than the third shell.
 That is why even though the shell capacity is 18, the remaining electrons are accommodated in the
fourth shell in case of potassium and calcium.
 Thus electronic configuration of Potassium (K19) is (2,8,8,1) and of Calcium (Ca20) is (2,8,8,2).

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Electronic Configuration and Valency

 The arrangement of electrons in shells/orbits/energy levels is called electronic configuration.

Groups and Electronic configuration:

Atomic Name of Protons Electrons Electronic Valence Group Period

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