Question

how many unpaired electrons does phosphorous have? 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p³ 3 2 0 1

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the electron configuration

Phosphorus has the electron configuration \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{3}\). The key is to look at the \(3p\) sublevel.

Step2: Apply Hund's rule

Hund's rule states that electrons will occupy degenerate orbitals (orbitals of the same energy) singly before pairing up. For the \(3p\) sublevel (which has 3 orbitals), with 3 electrons, each electron occupies one orbital singly.

Answer:

3