Question

what is the shorthand electron configuration for sulfur atom? ar 3p4 ne 3s23p4 na 3s23p3 he 3s23p4

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the atomic number of sulfur

The atomic number of sulfur (\(S\)) is \(16\).

Step2: Analyze the electron - configuration of the noble gas core

• The electron - configuration of \(Ar\) (argon) is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}\), and its atomic number is \(18\), which is larger than \(16\). So \([Ar]3p^{4}\) is incorrect.
• The electron - configuration of \(Ne\) (neon) is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}\), and its atomic number is \(10\).
• After the \(Ne\) core (\(10\) electrons), we need to account for \(16 - 10=6\) more electrons. The next sub - shells are \(3s\) and \(3p\). The \(3s\) sub - shell can hold \(2\) electrons and the \(3p\) sub - shell can hold \(6\) electrons. For \(6\) electrons after \(Ne\), we fill \(3s^{2}3p^{4}\). So \([Ne]3s^{2}3p^{4}\) is correct.
• The electron - configuration of \(Na\) (sodium) is \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{1}\), and using \([Na]\) as a core is not a standard noble - gas - like core for electron - configuration notation (since \(Na\) is not a noble gas). Also, the electron counts would not match.
• The electron - configuration of \(He\) (helium) is \(1s^{2}\), and its atomic number is \(2\). After the \(He\) core (\(2\) electrons), we would need to account for \(16 - 2 = 14\) electrons, which is not consistent with the given \([He]3s^{2}3p^{4}\) (because after \(He\), we would have more sub - shells filled before \(3s\) and \(3p\) in a non - abbreviated form, and the electron count is wrong).

Answer:

\([Ne]3s^{2}3p^{4}\)