Magnesium Electronic Configuration(Explained for Beginners)

The element present at the 12th position of the periodic table is Magnesium with atomic number 12. Let us discuss the electronic configuration of Magnesium (Mg).

Magnesium electronic configuration is [Ne]3s2. As magnesium have 2 electrons in its valence shell therefore it belongs to group 2 and period 3. It is shiny silver in appearance and is alkaline earth metal.

The article explains the rules followed for the accommodation of electrons in the atomic orbitals of Mg and its orbital diagram.

How to write the magnesium electron configuration

The electronic configuration of Magnesium is – 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2,which consists of 12 electrons which are distributed in shells according to different principles like Aufbau, Hund’s rule and Pauli exclusion.

  • Aufbau’s Principle states that the lower energy orbital will be filled before the higher energy orbital, Example-1s orbital filled before the 2s orbital.
  • Hund’s rule state that each orbital of a given subshell should be filled with one electron each before pairing them, i.e. each orbital gets one electron first, before adding the second electron to the orbital.
  • Therefore, final electronic configuration of Magnesium is – 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2.

Magnesium electron configuration diagram

The electronic configuration of Mg is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2. It is depicted in the form given below where filling of orbitals around nucleus takes place in increasing order of energy.

EC Mg Diagram 2
Magnesium Electronic Configuration Diagram

Magnesium electron configuration notation

[Ne]3s2 is the electronic configuration notation of Mg, where it has 12 electrons out of which 10 electrons can be represented for Neon and remaining two electrons in 3s.

Magnesium unabbreviated electron configuration

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 is an unabbreviated electronic configuration of magnesium.

Ground state magnesium electron configuration

[Ne] 3s2 is the ground state configuration of Mg.

Excited state of magnesium electron configuration

[Ne] 3s13p1 is the excited state electron configuration of Mg, where one electron is transferred from 3s to 3p to get an excited state.

Ground state magnesium orbital diagram

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 is the ground state electronic configuration of Magnesium i.e., neither gain nor loss of electrons.

Orbital Mg Diagram 1
Magnesium Orbital Diagram

What is the Electron Configuration of Lawrencium?

The lawrencium electron configuration explained reveals that lawrencium, a synthetic element, has an atomic number of 103, with its electrons arranged in the 2-8-18-32-32-8-3 configuration. This configuration signifies the distribution of electrons in various electron shells and subshells within the atom. The unique electron arrangement contributes to lawrencium’s properties and behavior in chemical reactions.

Magnesium oxide electron configuration

The electron configuration of Magnesium and Oxygen in Magnesium oxide is given below.

Mg2+ → [Ne]

O2-→ 1s2 2s2 2p6

MgO
Magnesium Oxide

Magnesium sulfate electron configuration

The electronic configuration of magnesium and sulfate is represented as:

  • Mg2+ → [Ne], where Sulfate is a polyatomic ion with 6 valence electrons of sulfur and 4 electrons of oxygens.
  • Hence, 4*6 electrons = 24 e- and a charge of -2. On adding all electrons there are 32 valence electrons.
  • Therefore its configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p2.
MgSo4
Magnesium Sulphate

Conclusion

Magnesium sulfate is ionic salt with high solubility in water. Its heptahydrate form is known as Epsom salt. It is mainly used in agriculture as a plant nutrient as well as a desiccant in organic reactions.

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