What is the electron configuration for Carbon?

The electron configuration for Carbon can be derived from its atomic number, which is 6. This means that a neutral carbon atom has 6 electrons. To determine the correct configuration, these electrons fill the atomic orbitals based on the principles of quantum mechanics, specifically the Aufbau principle, which states that electrons occupy the lowest energy orbitals first.

The first two electrons fill the 1s orbital, conforming to the configuration [He] for helium. Then, the next four electrons fill the next available orbitals. The next two electrons will fill the 2s orbital (thus 2s^2), and the remaining two electrons will begin filling the 2p orbital.

The 2p subshell can hold a maximum of six electrons, but for carbon, only two electrons will occupy this subshell, leading to a configuration of 2p^2. Therefore, combining all these, the complete electron configuration for carbon is [He] 2s^2 2p^2. This accurately represents the distribution of electrons among the various atomic orbitals for a neutral carbon atom with six electrons.