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Topic: Why does Silver (Ag) have 1 electron in its 5th energy level?  (Read 5157 times)

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khaoz

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Why does Silver (Ag) have 1 electron in its 5th energy level?
« on: February 13, 2006, 08:15:16 PM »
Is there any real reason to why Silver has one electron in its 5th energy level? Woudn't it make sense for it to have 2?

Edit:
Shoudn't its electron configuration be [Kr] 5s2 4d9
« Last Edit: February 13, 2006, 08:17:54 PM by khaoz »

Offline Mitch

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Re:Why does Silver (Ag) have 1 electron in its 5th energy level?
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2006, 08:23:42 PM »
The is a common trend Cr, Mo, Zn, Cu, Ag, Au all do it.
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Offline Yggdrasil

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Re:Why does Silver (Ag) have 1 electron in its 5th energy level?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2006, 11:03:49 PM »
There is a special stability associated with having a half-full or completely-full d shell.  Since the 5s and 4d orbitals are so close in energy the added stability of a full d shell makes up for the cost of putting the electron in a 4d orbital instead of the 5s orbital (which is usually lower in energy than the 4d orbitals).

Mr T

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Re:Why does Silver (Ag) have 1 electron in its 5th energy level?
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2006, 01:17:43 AM »
Ag: [Kr] 5s1  4d10

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