Questions: 1. How many electrons are in the highest occupied energy level of a neutral strontium atom? Write the ground state spdf electron configuration or use the periodic table. Number of electrons:

Solution Steps

Strontium (Sr) is an element in the periodic table with an atomic number of 38. This means a neutral strontium atom has 38 electrons.

The electron configuration of an atom describes the distribution of electrons among the various atomic orbitals. For strontium, the electron configuration is:

\[ 1s^2 \, 2s^2 \, 2p^6 \, 3s^2 \, 3p^6 \, 4s^2 \, 3d^{10} \, 4p^6 \, 5s^2 \]

The highest occupied energy level is the one with the largest principal quantum number, \(n\). In the electron configuration of strontium, the highest \(n\) is 5, corresponding to the \(5s\) orbital.

In the \(5s\) orbital, there are 2 electrons. Therefore, the number of electrons in the highest occupied energy level of a neutral strontium atom is 2.

Final Answer