Sodium orbital diagram

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In the sodium 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 a single electron, totaling eleven electrons.

To illustrate the sodium 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 sodium’s orbital arrangement.

Steps

Find electrons

The atomic number of sodium represents the total number of electrons of sodium. Since the atomic number of sodium is 11, the total electrons of sodium are 11.

Write electron configuration

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

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

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 sodium is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s¹. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of sodium up to 3s 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:

3s¹ indicates that the 3s subshell has 1 electron. So draw one arrow in the 3s box showing one electron as follows:

That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of sodium as we have used all 11 electrons.

Next: Magnesium orbital diagram

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Related

• Periodic table

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• Sodium valence electrons