Answer: The electronic configuration of potassium atom in excited state is [tex]1s^22s^22p^63s^22p^64s^04p^1[/tex]
Explanation:
There are 2 states classified under energy levels:
1. Ground state: This is the lower energy state which is termed as stable state.
2. Excited state: This is the upper energy state and is termed as the unstable state. All the electrons which are present in this state always come back to the ground state.
Ground state electronic configuration of potassium (Z = 19) : [tex]1s^22s^22p^63s^22p^64s^1[/tex]
As, only 1 electron can freely move to upper state. Hence, the excited state electronic configuration of potassium will be: [tex]1s^22s^22p^63s^22p^64s^04p^1[/tex]
Since Potassium atom is made up of 19 electrons, that is, its atomic number is 19; therefore the electronic configuration that represents potassium in an excited state is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²2p⁶4s⁰4p¹
When the quantum state of a system has higher energy than the absolute minimum, then the system (such as molecules, nucleus) is in excited states.
In other words, the quantum state of the system has more energy than the ground state. The excited state is the upper energy state and it is not stable because it is above the absolute minimum.
However, a system cannot remain in an excited state for a long time because the induced emission of energy will take place after the system gets to the excited state.
Ground states: this is stable and it means the quantum state of the system is at the lowest energy state. The ground state is the zero point and it is stable.
Notably, the electron configuration for a potassium atom in the ground state is 2-8-8-1, this implies that that the first electron shell has 2 electrons (1s²); the second electron shell has eight electrons (2s²2p⁶), the third electron shell has (3s²3p⁶) and the fourth electron shell has one electron (4s¹).
Since only one electron can move freely from one energy level to another (upper level), therefore, the excited state electronic configuration that represents potassium is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²2p⁶4s⁰4p¹
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