In: Chemistry
Consider neutral molybdenum atoms. On the periodic table, molybdenum is shown as
42 Mo 95.94
a. Based on the info provided above, what is the most abundant isotope of molybdenum?
b. How many protons and neutrons are there in the nucleus of this isotope?
c. Write the electron configuration of a neutral molybdenum atom, first in full, and then using the shorthand form. (Give the expected e- configuration).
d. How many valence electrons does a neutral molybdenum have?
a) Molybdenum-100 is the only naturally occurring isotope that is not stable. Molybdenum-100 has a half-life of approximately 1×1019 y and undergoes double beta decay into ruthenium-100. Molybdenum-98 is the most common isotope, comprising 24.14% of all molybdenum on Earth. Molybdenum isotopes with mass numbers 111 and up all have half-lives of approximately .15 µs
b) according to it's atomic number, it has 42 protons. Now, for the number of neutrons:
#N = 95 - 42 = 53 neutrons.
c) and d)
[Mo] = 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s1 4d5
[Mo] = [Kr] 4d5 5s1 With one electron of valence.