Which is the correct ground-state electron configuration for silver?

Which is the correct ground-state electron configuration for silver?

• A. [Kr] 5s2 4d9
• B. [Kr] 5s1 4d10
• C. [Kr] 5s2 4d10
• D. [Kr] 4d10 5s2

Answer: (B)

Silver has 47 electrons, so after the krypton core there are 11 electrons to place. The most stable arrangement is to fill the 4d subshell completely and have a single electron in the 5s orbital, giving 4d10 5s1. A full d subshell is notably stable, and placing one electron in 5s minimizes repulsion and energy compared with alternative distributions like 5s2 4d9. An option suggesting 4d10 5s2 would require 12 electrons beyond krypton, which isn’t the case for silver. So the ground-state configuration is [Kr] 4d10 5s1 (often written as [Kr] 5s1 4d10).

Silver has 47 electrons, so after the krypton core there are 11 electrons to place. The most stable arrangement is to fill the 4d subshell completely and have a single electron in the 5s orbital, giving 4d10 5s1. A full d subshell is notably stable, and placing one electron in 5s minimizes repulsion and energy compared with alternative distributions like 5s2 4d9. An option suggesting 4d10 5s2 would require 12 electrons beyond krypton, which isn’t the case for silver. So the ground-state configuration is [Kr] 4d10 5s1 (often written as [Kr] 5s1 4d10).