Polonium Electron Configuration: 5 Easy Steps to Follow!

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The electronic configuration of an element is useful for defining the distribution of electrons in an atomic orbital. Let us look at the electronic configuration of Polonium below.

Polonium is a highly radioactive element with no stable isotopes. Polonium is a Chalcogen and is only found in small tiny traces naturally. The metal belongs to group 16 of the periodic table. Polonium exists as two metallic allotropes α-Po and β-Po with Simple and Rhombohedral cubic structures respectively.

Polonium electronic configuration facts such as ground state orbital diagram, writing polonium electronic configuration and unabbreviated electronic configuration are discussed in the article below.

How to write Polonium electron configuration

The Po (Polonium) atom has 84 electrons. By following Aufbau’s principle, electrons will be filled according to the increasing energies of the orbitals. After that, following Hund’s rule, the pairing of electrons takes place and spins of electrons in particular orbital will be according to Pauli’s exclusion principle.

A step-by-step procedure for writing electron configuration is stated below:

  • Step 1: The first fundamental step is to write the shell number.
  • It is known to us that Polonium has a total of 6 electron shells.
  • Step 2: The next step is to indicate the orbitals present.
  • There are a total of four orbitals named s, p, d and f which hold electrons in an atom.
  • The highest capacity of holding electrons by s, p, d and f orbitals are 2, 6, 10 and 14 respectively.
  • The method of writing orbitals is 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 3d 4s 4p 4d 4f 5s 5p 5d… and so on.
  • Step 3: The final step is to write electron configuration by putting subscripts that indicate the number of electrons that can be filled in the orbital.
  • Following all the steps, the final configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4.

Polonium electron configuration diagram

According to the Aufbau principle, the electronic configuration of polonium can be expressed as given in the diagram below.

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Polonium electron configuration diagram

Polonium electron configuration notation

The Polonium electron configuration notation is represented in the following manner –

[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s2 6p4.

The electron configuration notation depicts that out of 84 electrons;

  • 54 electrons are taken from the Xenon gas electron configuration.
  • In the 4th shell and f orbital, there are 14 electrons.
  • In the 5th shell and d orbital there are 10 electrons.
  • In the 6th shell and s orbital there are 2 electrons.
  • 4 electrons are in the 6th shell and p orbital.

Polonium unabbreviated electron configuration

Polonium unabbreviated electronic configuration is represented as follows –

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p4.                                                

Ground state Polonium electron configuration

The ground state electronic configuration of gaseous neutral polonium is [Xe] 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p4 and its term symbol will be 3P2.

Excited state of Polonium electron configuration

Polonium’s excited state electron configuration is considered to be [Xe] 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p3 as the last valance electron present in 6p gets a higher orbital position due to a higher energy level gained by the polonium atom.

Ground state polonium orbital diagram

The ground state polonium orbital diagram shows the filling of electrons in the shells present in the atom. In the ground state polonium diagram, it is found that s, p and f orbitals are filled, but the 6p orbital is holding only 4 electrons where it has the capacity of holding a total of 6 electrons.

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Ground state polonium orbital diagram

Conclusion

According to the electron configuration notation, all the orbitals of polonium atom are fully filled except the 6p orbital. Polonium is used as an alpha-particle source and to eliminate static electricity in processes like rolling paper or metal sheets.

Read more about Gallium Electron Configuration.

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