What is the electron configuration for Sodium?

The electron configuration for Sodium is expressed as [Ne] 3s^1. This configuration reflects the arrangement of electrons in the sodium atom, which has 11 electrons in total.

To understand this configuration, we start by recognizing that sodium is located in the third period of the periodic table and belongs to group 1, the alkali metals. The [Ne] notation denotes that sodium's core electrons match those of Neon, which has an atomic number of 10 and a complete electron configuration of 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6.

After accounting for the 10 electrons represented by [Ne], sodium has one additional electron, bringing its total to 11. This extra electron resides in the 3s subshell, hence the notation 3s^1. This indicates that sodium has one electron in the outermost shell, which is characteristic of alkali metals, giving them their distinctive properties, such as high reactivity.

In contrast, the other configurations presented do not accurately represent the distribution of electrons in a sodium atom. The configuration with 3s^2 suggests that sodium has two electrons in the 3s subshell, which would actually correspond to magnesium, a larger atomic number. The