Gallium Electron Configuration:7 Easy Steps on How to Write!

Gallium is an element of Boron’s group that is group 13 in the periodic table. Let us briefly make a quick study on the description of this element below:

Gallium has atomic number of 31 which is found to be in the group in between Aluminium (Al) and Indium (In). In period 4 the element is found next to Zinc (Zn). The symbol the element is Ga. A silvery blue appearance of the element is found in solid state.

The electron configuration of the element appears to be the notation of electron arrangement in the shells as well as orbitals of on Gallium atom. Let us discuss the electron configuration of Gallium throughput the article below:

How to write gallium electron configuration?

Aufbau principle, Pauli’s expansion rule and Hund’s rule are the three rules of writing electron configuration of atoms. In accordance with Aufbau principle, the systematic process of writing the configuration is given below:

Step 1: Writing the electron shell number
Gallium has 4 electron shells which are written as 1, 2, 3, 4
Step 2: Putting orbital notations after the number of electron shells
Gallium atom is consists of 3 orbitals such as ‘s’, ‘p’ and ‘d’
Step 3: Calculating the number of electron in orbitals
Gallium has each orbital filled with electrons as per the capacity of the orbitals except the last ‘p’ orbital
The electrons are written on the orbital notations as subscripts
Step 4: Identifying the ideal noble gas of Ga
Gallium follows the electron configuration of Argon
The electron configuration of gallium is written as [Ar] 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s²3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p¹

Gallium electron configuration diagram

The electron configuration diagram of Gallium highlights the distribution of 31 electrons in the orbitals and electrons shells in the Gallium atom. The description of the diagram is given below:

In 1s orbital the atom has 2 electron as per the highest capacity of a s orbital
In 2s orbital it has 2 electrons
In 2p orbital the atom has 6 electron s as per the highest capacity of p orbital
In 3s orbital again it has 2 electrons
In 3p orbital it has 6 electrons
In 3d orbital Ga atom has 10 electron as per the highest capacity of d orbital
In 4s orbital it has 2 electron
In the last orbital that is 4p it has only 1 electron

The electron configuration is as follows:

Gallium electron configuration notation

The electron configuration notation of a gallium atom is

[Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p¹.

s, p and d are the notion of orbitals. Electron shells are denoted by general numbers and number of electrons is denoted by subscripts with orbital notations. The above notation is displaying that 3d orbital has 10, 4s orbital has 2 and 4p orbital has 1 electron in gallium atom.

Gallium unabbreviated electron configuration

Unabbreviated electron configuration of gallium atom is 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p¹.

Ground state gallium electron configuration

Ground state electron configuration of gallium atom is [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p¹.

Excited state of Gallium electron configuration

Electron configuration of gallium atom in excited state is found to be [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s¹ 4p². In this state, one electron from filled 4s orbital jumps to the vacant p orbital of the atom.

Ground state Gallium orbital diagram

Ground state orbital diagram of gallium atom displayed the filled structure of the electron shells and the presence of nucleus in with full design of the atom.

The diagram is as follows:

Gallium condensed electron configuration

The condensed electron configuration of gallium atom is [10, 4, 1].

Gallium arsenide electron configuration

Electron configuration of Gallium arsenide refers to the electronic arrangement in the compound made of Ga⁺ and As^– ions. Therefore the election configuration of individuals ions are as follows:

Electron configuration of Ga⁺ ion is [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s²
Electron configuration of As^– ion is [Ar] 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁴

Conclusion

Gallium atom is found to follow the stable configuration of Argon. That is why this noble gas is written before the whole configuration of the Ga atom. The filled stable configuration of Argon is noticed to influence the Gallium atom to achieve the same configuration.

Read more about the following electron configuration

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Sarnali Mukherjee

Hi…..I am Sarnali Mukherjee, a graduate from the University of Calcutta. I love to teach and share knowledge on chemistry. I have gradually gained interest in article writing since one year ago. I would love to acquire more knowledge on my subject in the future.
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