The noble gas notation for the electron configuration of selenium (Se) is [Ar] 4s2 3d10 4p4.
To break it down:
- Selenium has an atomic number of 34, meaning it has 34 electrons.
- The noble gas preceding selenium in the periodic table is argon (Ar), which has the atomic number of 18. This means we can start the electron configuration from argon.
- After argon, selenium continues filling the 4s and 3d orbitals before finishing with the 4p orbital. Specifically, selenium will fill the 4s orbital with 2 electrons, the 3d orbital with 10 electrons, and finally the 4p orbital with 4 electrons.
This notation is a concise way of representing the electron configuration and highlights the stable electron configuration of the noble gas that precedes selenium.