The Periodic Table and Electron Configurations

Judith A. Strong
Moorhead State University, Moorhead. MN 56560

When electron configurations are taught, many texts use

the Uncle Wiggly path or a typographical variation such as
that reported recently in THIS JOURNAL'. These systems
provide students with a method of writing correct electron
configurations, although some of my students who rely on
such methods spend an inordinate amount of time when
requested t o write electron configurations for heavy elements, such as lead. even after the material has been "covered" and they supposedly have mastered the technique.
I have been using a different approach, which is found, in
part, in many textbooks2. My students seem to findit a t least
as easy, if not easier than the Uncle Wiggly method. I prefer
this approach for a number of reasons. Most importantly, i t
uses the periodic table as a mnemonic device, and use of the
periodic L b l e for prediction is a transferable skill and one
widely used by chemists. Also, application is as easy and
rapid for heavy elements as for lighter ones. Once learned,
the system seems memorable-one glance a t a periodic table
and most students can eive
an outer electron confieura"
tion-without resort to pencil and paper. Some exceptions
to the order of filling, especially those for the coinage metals,
copper, silver, and gold, as well as those for chromium and
molybdenum, are readily incorporated into the presentation. Finally, it is also possible t o use the same techniques in
prediction of electron quantum numbers. This application is
not commonly found in textbooks, yet i t seems worthwhile in
that i t focuses on the fact that quantum numbers and electron configurations are merely different representations of
similar information.
For prediction of electron configurations I use the following procedure. I usually draw my own diagram of the periodic table on the board and fill in the details as I go along.
Alternatively, an overhead transparency of an uncluttered
periodic table may be used with a wax pencil or marker to
add details. The procedure is best considered in terms of the
following three-step process.
First, the periodic table is presented in terms of s,p, d, and
f blocks, where the label designates the kind of orhital the
"most-recently-addeP3 (MRA) electron is filling. The block
diagram is shown in Figure 1.
Next, the columns within each block are numbered, starting with one, going from left to right. Each number represents the quantity of MRA electrons present in the outermost orbitals of the elements in that column. For example,
nitrogen is in column 3 of the D block corresnondin~to a n3
conf~guration.Iff blorks are ikcludrd. the cklunm iumheru
arefromone to 14 if lanthanum and dctinlumaro ~nrludedas
part of the f block. In this form of the periodic table, 15
columns are present in the f block. However, if lanthanum
and actinium are placed in the d block, the f block columns
are numbered from two to 14 as shown in Figure 2. An
asterisk is placed above the last column in the f block, instead of a number, as this represents a somewhat irregular
configuration, d T 4 . If exceptional configurations are to be

included, then column numbers four and nine in the d block

and eight in the f block also receive asterisks for later explanation.
In step three, the periods, or rows, of the periodic table are
numbered from one to seven. This numbering is identical to
the period numbers shownon the left side of most versionsof
the periodic table. The row number,R, is related to the value
of the principal quantum number, n, of electrons being filled
within that row. For s and p electrons, the row number is
equal ton. For d electrons, filling of electrons corresponding
to a particular value of the principal quantum number fol-

' Carpenter, A. K. J. Chem Educ. 1983, 60, 562.

Mortimer, C. E. "Chemistry: A Conceptual Approach", 4th ed.:

Van Nostrand: New York, 1979; p 53.
"Outermost" electron implies that of lowest ionization energy;
hence, I prefer to avoid the term. Mortimer (see footnote 2) uses the
term "differentiatingelectron".

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Journal of Chemical Education

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the periodic table indicating s, p, d and

blocks.

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the periodic table indicating row and column
numbers and elements of inegular electron configurations. The asterisks
above a column and the circles in the table indicate presence of elements with
irregular electron configurations that are predicted on the basis of the stability
of half-or wholly filledsubsheils.The X values indicate lhe presence of other
elements with irregular electron configurations.

lows filling of s electrons in orbitals with nrincinal

. auantum
.
number one unit higher. Onre this occur;, a new row of the
periodic table hegins. For this reason one might speak of d
electronsas filling one row late, which means that n = R 1.
Similarly, for/electrons, filling is two rows late so n = R - 2.
Now the diagram should resemble Figure 2 and some regular
electron configurationsmay he written. Discussionof irregular electron configurations is hest deferred until prediction
of regular configurations is mastered.
T o illustrate the method. an element. suchasantimonv. is
selected. I t is in column three of the p block and therefore
contains three electrons in the outermostp orbitals. Antimony is in row five of the periodic table, so the three electrons
are in the 5p orbitals, based upon the fact that the row
number, five, equals the principal quantum number for the
p block. I t now remains to describe the remaining outer
electrons of antimony. I work back across the row from right
to left, indicating to my students that it is possible LO use the
elements in the table to count electrons because each element has one more electron than its predecessor. When
looking a t antimony, three elements, indium, tin, and antimony, are found in t h e p block, representing successive addition of the threep electrons; similarly, there are 10 elements
precedingthesein the d block. As the row number is five, and
d orbitals fill one row late. there are 10 4d electrons nresent.
There are two elements in the s block and, since n R for s
orbitals, two 5s electrons are present. Finally the last 36
elements in antimony can be specified by the electron configuration of krypton. The complete electron confieuration
is now

A.

Another example may he useful, this time with platinum.

The logic is as follows: Platinum is in column eight of the d
block in row six. Thus there are eight electrons in the 5d
orbitals. Working backwards, the symbol indicating the
presence of the lanthanum series is found. A quick count
reveals 14 elements in the f block. The row number is six and
f orbitals fill two rows late, so 14 electrons in the 4f orbitals
are predicted. Finally, two electrons are present in the 6s
orbitals and the remaining 54 electrons may he represented
by the symhol, Xe. We have
(Xe") 6s24f"5d8

The system will even work to predict regular electron

configurations for the f blocks. There are so many irreeular
configurations there, as indicated by the X and 6 designations shown in Figure 2, some may find i t undesirable. Because of the d' configurations observed for lanthanum and
actinium, some of the regularity is lost in numbering the
columns. After introduction to the diagrams and how to
interpret them to obtain electron configurations, I finalize
my diagram by replacing the asterisks withappropriateconfigurations such as sld" ss'd'U,f d l , and f 'dl and a presentation on thestability of half- and wholly filled suhshells. This
is R good place to discus the experimental nature of these
electron configurations and the role of s ~ e r t r o s c o ~inv their
determination. Students may need a reminder ofihe role of
experimentation in the midst of this highly theoretical topic.
Once this type of a construct is available, it is reasonably
simple to go into an exercise on quantum numbers. I use an
approach in which I describe the MRA electron of an element by specification of its four quantum numbers. Of
course, this only works for those elements having a regular
electron configuration.
This interrelation between the quantum numbers and the
electron configurations may be shown using the electron
configurations themselves, or hv another schematic diagram
of the periodic table. The use of the periodic table for &termination is as follows. The principal
number. n. is
. quantum
.
readily found, as above, f r o i the row number. Thus inantimony for the third p electron, n = 5, and, because it is a D
electron, the azimuthal or subsidiary quantum number, 1, is,
by definition, one for a p electron. T o find the mametic
orbital quantum number. m,. and the magnetic snin &an~ ~ - ~ - tum number, m., Hund's kui& are applied. Among states of
given n and 1values. Hund's first rule states that the state of
maximum multiplicity has the lowest energy. Hund's second
rule4 specifies that of the possible states of the same multiplicityand electronconfi&ration, thestateofgreatest orhital angular momentum is the most stnble.This turnsout to he
the case when the mi value of each electron is maximized
subject to the constraints of Hund's first rule. In assienine
quantum numbers todesrribeelectronsesadded to fo& th;
ground stateofan element, theorbital within asuhshell with
the maximum value of mi is used first, and the minimum
value last, i.e., f o r d orbitals, +2 is assigned first, then +1,0,
-1, and finally -2. Secondly, spin up, or m, = +'IZ, is assigned to the first electron in a given orbital; spin down, or m.
= -%,to the second electron added t o a eiven orbital. Not all
-~-texts-use this assignment, but I prefe; the consistency of
starting with the positive number in both cases and working
down. This assignment is also convenient a t the upper level
to relate the Russell-Saunders term svmbols for the eround
states t o the electron configuration lit turns out &at the
value of the total orbital angular momentum, L, of the
ground state term can be obtained by summation of the mi
values of the electrons present).
Now, this information is incorporated into a schematic
diagram of the periodic table. T h e n and 1values are given by
row numbers and block assignments. Then, each column
within a block is labelled with an mr value according to
Hund's Rules. For example, the first element in the d block
gets +2, the next +1, then 0, then -1, then -2. We are now in
the middle of the d block and each of these five d orbitals
contains an electron of spin up, as required by Hund's rule of
maximum multiplicity. Thus, a hracket may be drawn from
column one to c&mn five of the d block to designate m, =
+% for all of these; the remaining five columns have m. =
-'I2 and have the same sequence of ml values from +2 to -2.
Figure 3 shows a completed diagram indicating quantum

~.~
~

Figure 3. Schematic diagram d lhe periodic table showing lhe far quantum
numbers of the most recently added electron for elemems with regular elecWon configurations.Hellum is indicated bath in its normal position and adjacent
to hydrogen. The )alteris more appropriate for the present purpose.

--

a Bromberg, J. P. "Physical Chemistry", 2nd ed.; Allyn and Bacon:

Boston. 1984: p 583.

Volume 63 Number 10 October 1988

835

numbers. One might predict +3 t o -3 in the f block, hut

most tables place lanthanum and actinium in the d block, so
numbering starts with +2 instead of +3. T o reiterate, these
are the four quantum numbers of the MRA electron, assuming regular order of filling. I then give my class sets of four
quantum numbers, from which they determine the element.
For example, given n = 5 , 1 = 2, ml = 1,and m. = -%,it can
be seen from the first two values that the element has 5d
electrons; given mr = 1and m. = -%the sixth column of the
d block is located. The element is iridium, Ir.

836

Journal of Chemical Education

Although all these diagrams may seen complex, the logic

involved and reliance upon the simple skill of counting simplifies the process. Most of my students can draw diagrams
as in Figures 2 or 3 a t will. The major focus is twofold.
Students should he able t o ascertain an outer electron confiauration auicklv and accuratelv. Thev should also he exposed to some ofthe marvelous order chat arises from consideration of the periodic table and the relationship between
quantum numbers and the elements. I believe my approach
allows fulfillment of both of these aoals while keeoine.
. rote
memorization of rules and diagramsto a minimum.