Potassium has the atomic number 19.Determine the electron configuration of a neutral potassium atom.

1. ### Break Down the Problem

To determine the electron configuration of a neutral potassium atom, we need to:

1. Identify the number of electrons in a neutral potassium atom.
2. Apply the Aufbau principle, Hund's rule, and the Pauli exclusion principle to fill in the electron configuration.

2. ### Relevant Concepts

• A neutral atom has the same number of electrons as its atomic number.
• The Aufbau principle states that electrons fill lower-energy orbitals before filling higher-energy ones.
• The order of filling for orbitals is as follows: 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, 4p, etc.

3. ### Analysis and Detail

1. Potassium has an atomic number of 19, meaning it has 19 electrons.
2. The filling order for potassium is:
   • 1s can hold 2 electrons: $1s^2$
   • 2s can hold 2 electrons: $2s^2$
   • 2p can hold 6 electrons: $2p^6$
   • 3s can hold 2 electrons: $3s^2$
   • 3p can hold 6 electrons: $3p^6$
   • 4s can hold 2 electrons: $4s^1$ (only 1 electron goes here since we only have 19 total)

4. ### Verify and Summarize

Counting the electrons:

• $1s^2 + 2s^2 + 2p^6 + 3s^2 + 3p^6 + 4s^1 = 2 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 6 + 1 = 19$. The electron configuration is correct for 19 electrons.

Final Answer

The electron configuration for a neutral potassium atom is:

$\text{Electron Configuration}: 1s^2 \, 2s^2 \, 2p^6 \, 3s^2 \, 3p^6 \, 4s^1$