Question

How do you figure out the electron configuration of an element?

Answer 1

count the number of electrons (if it's elemental (i.e. neutral)) \(\color{blue}{\sf fill\; them\; in \;the \;order \;of\; the\; chart\; i \;attached.}\)

s orbitals fit a max of 2 e
p orbitals fit a max of 6 e
d orbitals fit a max of 10 e
f orbitals fit a max of 14 e

I'll do an example, elemental P has 15 electrons \(\large1s^{\color{red}2}2s^{\color{red}2}2p^{\color{red}6}3s^{\color{red}2}3p^{\color{red}3}\)

NOTE: the subscripts (in red) are the electrons.