Questions: An atomic cation with a charge of +2 has the following electron configuration: [Kr] 5s^2 4d^10 5p^1 What is the chemical symbol for the ion? How many electrons does the ion have? How many 5p electrons are in the ion?

An atomic cation with a charge of +2 has the following electron configuration:
[Kr] 5s^2 4d^10 5p^1

What is the chemical symbol for the ion?
How many electrons does the ion have?
How many 5p electrons are in the ion?

Transcript text: An atomic cation with a charge of +2 has the following electron configuration: \[ [\mathrm{Kr}] 5 \mathrm{~s}^{2} 4 \mathrm{~d}^{10} 5 \mathrm{p}^{1} \] What is the chemical symbol for the ion? How many electrons does the ion have? How many $5 p$ electrons are in the ion?

Solution

Solution Steps

Step 1: Determine the Element from the Electron Configuration

The given electron configuration for the cation is $[\mathrm{Kr}] 5\mathrm{s}^2 4\mathrm{d}^{10} 5\mathrm{p}^1$ . This configuration indicates that the neutral atom has one more electron than the cation, which would be $[\mathrm{Kr}] 5\mathrm{s}^2 4\mathrm{d}^{10} 5\mathrm{p}^2$ . This corresponds to the element with atomic number 50, which is tin (Sn).

Step 2: Identify the Cation

Since the cation has a charge of +2, it means two electrons have been removed from the neutral atom. Therefore, the chemical symbol for the ion is $\mathrm{Sn}^{2+}$ .

Step 3: Calculate the Number of Electrons in the Ion

The neutral tin atom has 50 electrons. Since the cation has a charge of +2, it has lost 2 electrons, resulting in $50 - 2 = 48$ electrons in the ion.

Step 4: Determine the Number of 5p Electrons

The given electron configuration for the cation is $[\mathrm{Kr}] 5\mathrm{s}^2 4\mathrm{d}^{10} 5\mathrm{p}^1$ . This indicates that there is 1 electron in the 5p subshell.