Question

What is the shorthand notation for a ground-state silicon (Si) atom?

Answer 1

[Ne] `3s^2 3p^2`

Explanation:

Silicon (ground state) has 14 electrons. Using this information and the electron configuration table:

We know that Silicon's full electron configuration is `1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^2`

To write the short-hand notation we simply look for the noble gas that can fit silicon, in this case it would be neon with 10 electrons.

So we can rewrite `1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^2` as:
[Ne] `3s^2 3p^2`