what is the ground state electron configuration for Molybdenum?

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nickname asked:

i said [Kr]5s2, 4d4. why is this wrong? explain this to me please?
AHHHHHH, i hate trick questions.
thanks though, it makes sense now.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Chemistry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “what is the ground state electron configuration for Molybdenum?”

David W Says:
September 12th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
It’s simpler than you think. The d-orbitals can carry a total of 10 electrons, and there are 5 d-orbitals, right? So an atom has a lower energy state and therefore greater stability when it has five 1/2-filled d-orbitals instead and a half-filled s-orbital, as opposed to 4 electrons in the d-orbitals and 2 in the s-orbital. The same goes for Chromium (right above Molydenum), and the group containing Gold, Silver and Copper. Therefore, Mb is actually [Kr]5s1, 4d5. This is a trick question that you will see in chemistry classes time and again.