Hafnium Electron Configuration(Explained for Beginners)

An element’s electronic configuration aids in understanding its valency, and predicting its chemical characteristics. Let us deal with the electronic configuration of Hafnium.

The electronic configuration of Hafnium, 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s²3d¹⁰4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d². Hf is found to be a d block element with atomic number is 72. It is denoted by a chemical symbol Hf. It is a grey coloured substance with lustrous appearance.

Hafnium is a tetravalent metal which has resemblance in various properties with zirconium. Let us discuss about the electronic configuration of Hafnium and other fact in the following section.

How to write Hafnium electronic configuration

The electronic configuration of an element can be drawn by shell wise and subshell wise. Let us look into the following steps.

Step 1: Writing the shells involved

Writing the number of shells involved in Hafnium is the primary step. There are 6 shells involved in Hafnium electronic configuration.

Step 2: Determination of subshells

There are four subshells like s,p,d,f.Two electrons can fit in the s orbital, whereas the p, d, and f orbitals can each store six, ten, or fourteen electrons.

Step 3: Arrangement of subshells

The orbitals are written in a way like 1s 2s 2p 3s… in agreement with Aufbau’s principle.

Step 4: Electron filling in subshells

The maximum number of electrons that each orbital can hold are placed into each orbital in this stage. The superscript indicates the number of electrons that an orbital can accommodate.

Step 5 : Final electronic configuration of hafnium

Here in Hafnium its atomic number 72 so the electronic configuration of Hafnium is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d².

Hafnium electronic configuration diagram

The electronic configuration diagram of Hf as drawn on the basis of the number of electrons present in its various shells is 2,8,18,32,10,2.

Hafnium electron configuration notation

The electronic configuration notation of Hf is [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d²6s² .

Hafnium unabbreviated electronic configuration

The unabbreviated electronic configuration of Hf is, 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d².

Ground state Hafnium electronic configuration

The ground state electronic configuration of Hf is, 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d².

Excited state of Hafnium electronic configuration

The excited state of Hf electronic configuration is, 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 4f¹⁴ 5d² 6s¹.

Ground state Hafnium orbital diagram

The ground state Hf orbital configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p⁶ 6s² 4f¹⁴ 5d² .

Conclusion

The electronic configuration of Hafnium is explained with all other facts. Hafnium is significant element that is used as control rods in nuclear reactors, alloys, microprocessors and isotope geochemistry. The properties are similar to that of Zirconium.

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Aparna Dev

Hi… I am Aparna Dev, a chemistry Postgraduate with a good understanding of chemistry concepts. I am working in Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited Kollam with experience in the development of electrocatalysts as a part of post graduate thesis.
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