Mercury Electronic Configuration(Explained for Beginners)

Mercury (Hg) is the periodic table’s 80th element. It belongs to period 6 and group 12. Let us look at some facts about the electronic configuration of the mercury atom.

Mercury has the electronic configuration 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s² . It is a hard, silvery d-block element, and is the only metallic element known to be liquid under standard temperature and pressure conditions. Its freezing point is -38.83°C and its boiling point is 356.73°C.

Let us see some fascinating facts about Hg’s electron density and distribution.

How to write mercury electronic configuration?

Hg has an atomic number of 80, which corresponds to the number of electrons it contains. A set of rules describes the electronic structure. These are listed below:

• All electron-filled atomic orbitals follow the Aufbau principle, which follows the (n+l) rule, where n = principal quantum number (refers to 1,2, etc.) and l = azimuthal quantum number (refers to s,p etc.). The energy order for Hg is 1s<2s<2p<3s<3p<3d<4s<4p<4d<5s<5p<4f<5d<6s.

• According to Pauli’s exclusion principle, an orbital with different spins comprises only two electrons. For example, an s-orbital can hold 2 electrons, a p-orbital can hold 6 electrons, and a d-orbital can hold 10 electrons. In the arrangement of the ordered orbitals, the electrons should be noted as superscripts.
• According to Hund’s rule, each orbital of the “sub-level” must be filled before pairing electrons. The resulting electronic configuration is as follows: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s²

Mercury electronic configuration diagram

The Hg atom has 80 electrons, the lowest energy orbital being filled first, followed by the remaining orbitals.

Mercury electronic configuration notation

Hg electronic configuration notation is represented as-

[Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s²

It has a Xe core, so use [Xe] instead of 54 electrons in electronic configuration notation, and the remaining electrons are distributed among 4f, 5d, and 6s orbitals.

Mercury unabbreviated electronic configuration

Hg unabbreviated electronic configuration is,

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

Ground state mercury electronic configuration

The Hg ground state electronic configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s².

Excited state of mercury electronic configuration

Hg does not exist in an excited state as it has completely filled s and p orbitals, making it chemically inert and highly stable.

Ground state mercury orbital diagram

According to quantum number, the Hg ground state orbital diagram has 80 electrons per shell around the nucleus, and it takes 5 shells to arrange those 80 electrons, which are,

• K-shell = two electrons (1s²)
• L-shell = a shell with 8 electrons (2s² 2p⁶)
• M-shell = a shell with 18 electrons (3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰)
• N-shell = a shell with 32 electrons (4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 4f¹⁴)
• O-shell = a shell with 18 electrons (5s² 5p⁶ 5d¹⁰)
• P-shell = a shell with two electrons (6s²)

Mercury 2⁺ electronic configuration

The electronic configuration of Hg²⁺ is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p⁶ 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s⁰. Since it is Hg²⁺, it has to release two electrons. By taking two electrons from 6s², it will result in 6s⁰.

Mercury condensed electronic configuration

The condensed electronic configuration of Hg is [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s². In the condensed electronic configuration, apply [Xe] instead of 54 electrons, and the remaining electrons are distributed among the 4f, 5d, and 6s orbitals.

Conclusion

Hg does not react with most acids, including dilute sulfuric acid. Many metals dissolve in mercury to form amalgams, including gold and silver. The electronic configuration notation for Mercury is [Xe] 4f¹⁴ 5d¹⁰ 6s² and does not have excited state.

Also Read:

• Potassium electron configuration
• Lithium electron configuration
• Nickel electron configuration
• Strontium electron configuration
• Selenium electron configuration
• Bromine electron configuration
• Gd3 electron configuration
• Meitnerium electron configuration
• Beryllium electron configuration
• Americium electron configuration