{"id":28144,"date":"2025-06-20T10:35:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/?p=28144"},"modified":"2025-06-20T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T10:35:47","slug":"identify-the-correct-abbreviated-electron-configuration-for-the-zinc-ion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/identify-the-correct-abbreviated-electron-configuration-for-the-zinc-ion\/","title":{"rendered":"Identify the correct abbreviated electron configuration for the zinc ion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Identify the correct abbreviated electron configuration for the zinc ion: Group of answer choices a. [Ar]4s23d8 b. [Ar]3d10 c. [Ar]4s23d10 d. [Ar]3d104s2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct abbreviated electron configuration for the zinc ion (<strong>Zn\u00b2\u207a<\/strong>) is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>b. [Ar]3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Zinc (Zn) is element number <strong>30<\/strong> on the periodic table. Its <strong>neutral<\/strong> atom has an electron configuration of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1s\u00b2 2s\u00b2 2p\u2076 3s\u00b2 3p\u2076 4s\u00b2 3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong><br>Abbreviated: <strong>[Ar] 4s\u00b2 3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When forming a <strong>Zn\u00b2\u207a ion<\/strong>, zinc <strong>loses two electrons<\/strong>. Electrons are always removed <strong>first from the outermost shell<\/strong>, which in this case is the <strong>4s<\/strong> orbital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, Zn loses its <strong>two 4s electrons<\/strong>, leaving only the 3d\u00b9\u2070 electrons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zn\u00b2\u207a electron configuration: [Ar] 3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>4s orbital becomes empty<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>3d orbital remains full<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This configuration is particularly <strong>stable<\/strong> because the <strong>3d subshell is completely filled<\/strong>, which contributes to the relative inertness of the Zn\u00b2\u207a ion in chemical reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why the other options are incorrect:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>a. [Ar] 4s\u00b2 3d\u2078<\/strong> \u2192 Incorrect: This suggests a different element with 2 electrons in 4s and only 8 in 3d. That\u2019s not zinc or Zn\u00b2\u207a.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>c. [Ar] 4s\u00b2 3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong> \u2192 Incorrect: This is for <strong>neutral Zn<\/strong>, not Zn\u00b2\u207a. Zn\u00b2\u207a has lost the 4s\u00b2 electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>d. [Ar] 3d\u00b9\u2070 4s\u00b2<\/strong> \u2192 Incorrect: Same as option c, just the order flipped. Still includes 4s\u00b2, which should be removed in the Zn\u00b2\u207a ion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Correct Answer<\/strong>: <strong>b. [Ar] 3d\u00b9\u2070<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This reflects the loss of 4s electrons and a fully filled 3d subshell, typical of the Zn\u00b2\u207a ion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner5-105.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner5-105.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner5-105-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner5-105-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner5-105-768x768.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Identify the correct abbreviated electron configuration for the zinc ion: Group of answer choices a. [Ar]4s23d8 b. [Ar]3d10 c. [Ar]4s23d10 d. [Ar]3d104s2 The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The correct abbreviated electron configuration for the zinc ion (Zn\u00b2\u207a) is: b. [Ar]3d\u00b9\u2070 Explanation: Zinc (Zn) is element number 30 on the periodic table. Its neutral atom [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quiz-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28149,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28144\/revisions\/28149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}