Which element has the electron configuration [He] 2s^2 2p^2?

The electron configuration [He] 2s² 2p² corresponds to an element that has a total of 4 electrons in its outer shell, contributing to the valence shell configuration of the second period of the periodic table. The notation [He] indicates that the configuration starts from the electron configuration of helium, which accounts for the first two electrons.

In this case, the additional 4 electrons can be broken down into 2 in the 2s subshell and 2 in the 2p subshell. The sum of these electrons (2 from the 2s and 2 from the 2p) gives a total of 6 electrons, meaning the element is in group 14 of the periodic table.

When counting the total number of electrons in this configuration, after the helium core, the breakdown is as follows:

• Helium ([He]) has 2 electrons.

• The 2s² contributes 2 electrons.

• The 2p² contributes an additional 2 electrons.

Therefore, the total number of electrons is 2+2+2 = 6. The element with this particular electron configuration is carbon, which has an atomic number of 6 and is found in group