The condensed ground state electron configuration of phosphorus (P) is [Ne] 3s2 3p3.
To understand this, let’s break it down. Phosphorus has an atomic number of 15, which means it has 15 electrons. The electron configuration represents the distribution of these electrons across different atomic orbitals.
We start with the nearest noble gas prior to phosphorus, which is neon (Ne). Neon has an atomic number of 10 and a full shell of electrons, represented as [Ne]. The first 10 electrons fill the 1s, 2s, 2p, and 3s orbitals completely.
After the configuration of neon, we have 5 electrons left to account for (15 – 10 = 5). These additional electrons fill the 3s orbital first, which can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, and then they occupy the 3p orbital. Thus, we show 2 electrons in the 3s orbital and 3 electrons in the 3p orbital, leading to the complete condensed electron configuration of [Ne] 3s2 3p3.