Dysprosium Electron Configuration(Explained for Beginners)

Dysprosium is a lanthanide with 66 electrons which is used in laser materials. Let us dig deep into the electronic configuration of Dy.

The electronic configuration of Dy is [Xe]4f¹⁰6s². Electron per shell configuration comes out to be 2,8,18,28,8,2. Dy shows 0, +1, +2, +3, +4 oxidation states.

Dy is a rare earth element that is in the solid phase at STP. In this article, we shall explore the electronic configuration of Dy.

How to write dysprosium electron configuration

The electron configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s² which is written using the following steps. which is illustrated as follows-

• S orbital can have 2 electrons.
• P orbital can have 6 electrons.
• D orbital can have 10 electrons, and
• F orbital can have 14 electrons.
• Different orbitals can accommodate a certain number of electrons that are filled as per Aufbau’s principle, Pauli’s exclusion principle and Hund’s rule.

Dysprosium electron configuration diagram

The electronic configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s² which is drawn as follows-

Dysprosium electron configuration notation

The electronic configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s² which is written in the following two ways-

• [Xe]4f¹⁰6s² with respect to noble gas Xenon, and
• 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s² in terms of orbitals.

Dysprosium unabbreviated electron configuration

The unabbreviated electron configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s².

Ground state dysprosium electron configuration

The ground state electron configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s².

The excited state of dysprosium electron configuration

The excited state electron configuration of Dy is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s².

Ground state dysprosium orbital diagram

To draw the ground state orbital diagram, we follow the given steps-

• Firstly, the orbitals are arranged in increasing order of energies.
• Then the electrons are filled as per Aufbau’s principle, Pauli’s exclusion principle and Hund’s rule. The ground state orbital diagram of Dy where the electronic configuration is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²4p⁶4d¹⁰5s²5p⁶4f¹⁰5d⁰6s² is drawn as follows-

Conclusion

Dy is silvery white in appearance belonging to period 6 of the periodic table. Dy is a weakly basic oxide and was discovered by Lecoq de Boisbaudran. It is used in lasers, cement, dosimeters, and Dysprosium iodides are used in metal-halide lamps.

Also Read:

• Lawrencium electron configuration
• Iodine electron configuration
• Actinium electron configuration
• Selenium electron configuration
• Lead electron configuration
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• Hafnium electron configuration
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• Germanium electron configuration
• Cesium electron configuration