Question

how many unpaired electrons would arsenic (as) have in its orbital diagram?

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the electron configuration of As

Arsenic (As) has an atomic number of 33. Its electron configuration is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}4s^{2}3d^{10}4p^{3}\).

Step2: Analyze the \(4p\) orbital

According to Hund's rule, electrons in degenerate orbitals (same - energy orbitals) fill one - electron per orbital first before pairing. The \(4p\) sub - shell has three orbitals (\(4p_x\), \(4p_y\), \(4p_z\)). For the \(4p^{3}\) configuration, each of the three \(4p\) orbitals has one unpaired electron.

Answer:

3