Potassium orbital diagram

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In the potassium 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 a single electron, totaling nineteen electrons.

To illustrate the potassium orbital diagram, begin 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 potassium’s orbital arrangement.

Steps

Find electrons

The atomic number of potassium represents the total number of electrons of potassium. Since the atomic number of potassium is 19, the total electrons of potassium are 19.

Write electron configuration

The electron configuration of potassium is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s¹.

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

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 potassium is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s¹. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of potassium 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:

4s¹ indicates that the 4s subshell has 1 electron. So draw one arrow in the 4s box showing one electron as follows:

That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of potassium as we have used all 19 electrons.

Next: Calcium orbital diagram

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Related

• Periodic table

More topics

• Potassium
• Potassium Bohr model
• Potassium protons neutrons electrons
• Potassium valence electrons

External links

• https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-electron-configuration-orbital-diagram-and-noble-gas-notation-of-pot
• https://study.com/academy/answer/a-write-an-orbital-diagram-for-the-ground-state-of-potassium-atom-b-is-the-atomic-substance-diamagnetic-or-paramagnetic.html
• https://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/draw-orbital-energy-diagram-k-potassium–represent-electrons-arrows-spin–core-valence-ele-q58378301