The information on this page is ✔ fact-checked.
In the calcium orbital diagram, the 1s subshell accommodates two electrons, the 2s subshell holds another pair, the 2p subshell has a maximum of six electrons, the 3s subshell contains two electrons, the 3p subshell has a maximum of six electrons, and the 4s subshell accommodates two electrons, totaling twenty electrons.
To illustrate the calcium orbital diagram, determine the number of electrons from the periodic table. Note the electron configuration for reference and follow the three essential rules: the Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s rule. This systematic approach ensures a precise representation of calcium’s orbital arrangement.
Steps
Find electrons
The atomic number of calcium represents the total number of electrons of calcium. Since the atomic number of calcium is 20, the total electrons of calcium are 20.
Write electron configuration
The electron configuration of calcium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2.
Now in the next step, start drawing the orbital diagram for calcium.
Draw orbital diagram
Before drawing the orbital diagram, you should know the three general rules.
- Aufbau principle – electrons are first filled in lowest energy orbital and then in higher energy orbital
- Pauli exclusion principle – two electrons with the same spin can not occupy the same orbital
- Hund’s rule – each orbital should be first filled with one electron before being paired with a second electron
Also, you should know the number of orbitals in each subshell.
We can calculate the number of orbitals in each subshell using the formula: 2ℓ + 1
Where, ℓ = azimuthal quantum number of the subshell
For s subshell, ℓ = 0
For p subshell, ℓ = 1
For d subshell, ℓ = 2
For f subshell, ℓ = 3
So each s subshell has one orbital, each p subshell has three orbitals, each d subshell has five orbitals, and each f subshell has seven orbitals.
Now start to draw!
As mentioned above, the electron configuration of calcium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of calcium up to 4s subshell as follows:
In the above orbital diagram, the box represents an orbital. Each orbital has a capacity of two electrons. And the arrows (↑↓) are drawn inside the box to represent electrons.
Now 1s2 indicates that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 1s box showing two electrons as follows:
2s2 indicates that the 2s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 2s box showing two electrons as follows:
2p6 indicates that the 2p subshell has 6 electrons. So draw six arrows in the 2p box showing six electrons as follows:
3s2 indicates that the 3s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 3s box showing two electrons as follows:
3p6 indicates that the 3p subshell has 6 electrons. So draw six arrows in the 3p box showing six electrons as follows:
4s2 indicates that the 4s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 4s box showing two electrons as follows:
That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of calcium as we have used all 20 electrons.
Next: Rubidium orbital diagram
📝 Your feedback matters. Visit our contact page.
Related
More topics
External links
Deep
Learnool.com was founded by Deep Rana, who is a mechanical engineer by profession and a blogger by passion. He has a good conceptual knowledge on different educational topics and he provides the same on this website. He loves to learn something new everyday and believes that the best utilization of free time is developing a new skill.
