Europium Electron Configuration:Everything You Need to Know!

Europium is a lanthanide with the most reactivity and is symbolized as Eu. Let us analyze its electronic properties as illustrated in this article.

The electron configuration of europium is 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p66s24f7. Europium is a very soft silvery-white metal that can be easily oxidized and is usually stored in inert fluid for preventing reactivity. Its atomic number is 63 and is one of the rarest earth elements in the f-block.

The electronic and atomic properties associated with europium are of great significance as they are an insight into its complexation and coordination chemistry. Let us inspect its electronic configurations, orbital diagrams, etc.

How to write europium electron configuration?

The electron configuration of Eu can be written by following certain steps.

  • Check the atomic number of Eu which is 63 as this will give information about the number of electrons.
  • Then according to the number of electrons write the electron configuration keeping the Aufbau principle and energy in consideration.
  • First, write the energy level followed by the subshell and then the number of electrons it can hold in the superscript.
  • The electron configuration of Eu will be 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p66s24f7.

Europium electron configuration diagram

The diagrammatic representation of Eu electronic configuration can be done according to the Aufbau principle.

europium electron configuration
Europium electron configuration according to Aufbau principle

Europium electron configuration notation     

The Eu electron configuration notation is,

[Xe]4f76s2

This electron configuration notation shows the stable noble gas configuration xenon by the symbol of Xe and then the rest of the configuration where both 4f and 6s orbitals have half-filled and fully filled stability respectively.

Europium unabbreviated electron configuration

The unabbreviated electron configuration of Eu is,

1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p65s24d105p66s24f7.

Ground state europium electron configuration

The ground state europium configuration is

[Xe]4f76s2

europium ec
Ground state electron configuration of europium

The excited state of europium electron configuration

The excited state of Eu is not fixed or certain. It is highly dependent on the complexation it is undergoing with specific ligands. Another factor on which the excited state configuration of Eu depends is the symmetry and the hybridization of the complex.

Ground state europium orbital diagram

The ground state Eu orbital diagram has configuration 2,8,18,25,8,2. The diagram of this configuration is out of scope due to large no. of electrons involved in each energy shell.

Europium 3+ electron configuration

The Eu3+ electron configuration can be written as,

[Xe]4f6

Here Eu3+ means that there will be a loss of 3 electrons to form cations. 2 electrons are donated from the 6s orbital, and 1 electron is donated from 4f orbitals.

Europium 2+ electron configuration

The Eu2+ electron configuration is,

[Xe]4f7

In Eu2+ there is the removal of only 2 electrons from the 6s orbital according to energy consideration. So Eu2+ ion is left with an outer 4f7 orbital which exhibits half-filled stability.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, europium is a lanthanide that belongs to the f block. Eu has a lengthy electron configuration due to the presence of 63 electrons. Its electron configuration and properties related to it explain its complexation and behavior in the ground and excited states.

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