Question

1. which lewis dot structure correctly represents an aluminum atom in the ground state?

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the valence electrons of aluminum

Aluminum (Al) has an atomic number of 13. Its electron configuration is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{1}\). The valence electrons are in the outermost shell (\(n = 3\)), and the number of valence electrons is \(3\) (from \(3s^{2}3p^{1}\)).

Step2: Draw the Lewis dot structure

In a Lewis dot structure, each dot represents a valence electron. For aluminum with 3 valence electrons, we place 3 dots around the symbol "Al". The correct way to distribute the dots (following Hund's rule for maximum spin multiplicity in a simple dot - structure sense, placing one dot on each side before pairing) gives us the structure where there are 3 non - paired dots around Al.

Answer:

The Lewis dot structure with 3 non - paired dots around "Al" (the first option if the first option has 3 non - paired dots as per the correct valence electron count) is the correct one.