Magnesium orbital diagram

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Magnesium orbital diagram
Magnesium orbital diagram | Image: Learnool

In the magnesium orbital diagram, the 1s subshell accommodates two electrons, the 2s subshell holds another pair, the 2p subshell has a maximum of six electrons, and the 3s subshell contains two electrons, totaling twelve electrons.

To illustrate the magnesium orbital diagram, start by determining the number of electrons from the periodic table. Note the electron configuration for reference, and adhere to the three essential rules: Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s rule. This systematic approach ensures an accurate representation of magnesium’s orbital arrangement.

Steps

Find electrons

A periodic table featuring 118 elements arranged in ascending order of atomic numbers | Image: Learnool

To determine the number of electrons in a magnesium atom, refer to its atomic number on the periodic table. With an atomic number of 12, magnesium contains a total of 12 electrons.

Write electron configuration

The electron configuration of magnesium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2.

Now in the next step, start drawing the orbital diagram for magnesium.

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 magnesium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of magnesium up to 3s subshell as follows:

Blank orbital diagram of magnesium | Image: Learnool

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:

Two arrows drawn in 1s box represent 1s2 | Image: Learnool

2s2 indicates that the 2s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 2s box showing two electrons as follows:

Two arrows drawn in 2s box represent 2s2 | Image: Learnool

2p6 indicates that the 2p subshell has 6 electrons. So draw six arrows in the 2p box showing six electrons as follows:

Six arrows drawn in 2p box represent 2p6 | Image: Learnool

3s2 indicates that the 3s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 3s box showing two electrons as follows:

Two arrows drawn in 3s box represent 3s2 | Image: Learnool

That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of magnesium as we have used all 12 electrons.

Next: Potassium orbital diagram

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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.

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