What is the orbital diagram for a ground state carbon atom?

1 Answer
Dec 14, 2016

The ground state is #1s^2 2s^2 2p^2#. In the explanation below, I show a common means of diagramming this.

Explanation:

Using arrows to show the spin orientation of each electron, the orbital diagram is often shown this way:

http://intro.chem.okstate.edu/1515SP01/Lecture/Chapter10/Lec11601.html

The single electrons in the two p-orbitals is in accordance with Hund's Rule.