The orbital diagram for magnesium (Mg), which has an atomic number of 12, illustrates the distribution of electrons in its atomic orbitals.
Magnesium’s electron configuration can be written as 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s². This means it has:
- 2 electrons in the 1s orbital
- 2 electrons in the 2s orbital
- 6 electrons in the 2p orbitals
- 2 electrons in the 3s orbital
The orbital diagram visually represents this configuration:
1s: ↑↓ 2s: ↑↓ 2p: ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑↓ 3s: ↑↓
In this representation, each line (or box) corresponds to an orbital, and the arrows represent electrons, where one arrow pointing up (↑) indicates one electron, and one pointing down (↓) indicates another. The pairs of arrows indicate that the electrons are occupying the orbitals in accordance with the Pauli exclusion principle.
Understanding this diagram helps in visualizing how electrons are arranged in an atom, which is fundamental to the study of chemistry and the behavior of elements.