Question

La belongs to group 3 while Hg belongs to group 12 and both belong to period 6 of the periodic table. Write down the general outer electronic configuration of the ten elements from La to Hg together using orbital notation method.

Answer 1

1. La and Hg both belong to period 6. Therefore, n = 6.
2. Elements of group 3 to group 12 belong to the d-block of the modern periodic table.
3. The general outer electronic configuration of the d-block elements is ns^0-2 (n – 1)d^1–10
4. Therefore, the outer electronic configuration of all ten elements from La to Hg is as given in the table below.

   Element	Outer electronic configuration
   La	5d16s2
   Hf	5d26s2
   Ta	5d36s2
   W	5d46s2
   Re	5d56s2
   Os	5d66s2
   Ir	5d76s2
   Pt	5d96s1
   Au	5d106s1
   Hg	5d106s2