Question

write the complete ground - state electron configuration of k.
for multi - digit superscripts or coefficients, use each number in succession

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the atomic number of K

Potassium (K) has an atomic number of 19. This means a neutral K atom has 19 electrons.

Step2: Fill the electron orbitals according to the Aufbau principle

• The 1s orbital can hold 2 electrons: \(1s^{2}\)
• The 2s orbital can hold 2 electrons: \(2s^{2}\)
• The 2p orbital can hold 6 electrons: \(2p^{6}\)
• The 3s orbital can hold 2 electrons: \(3s^{2}\)
• The 3p orbital can hold 6 electrons: \(3p^{6}\)
• After filling the 3p orbital, we move to the 4s orbital (since it has lower energy than the 3d orbital at this stage). The 4s orbital can hold 2 electrons, but we only need 1 more electron (since \(2 + 2+6 + 2+6=18\) and we have 19 electrons in total). So we have \(4s^{1}\)

Answer:

\(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}4s^{1}\)