Question

draw the orbital diagram for a neutral potassium atom. write the electron - configuration.

Explanation:

Step1: Determine potassium's atomic number

Potassium (K) has an atomic number of 19, so a neutral potassium atom has 19 electrons.

Step2: Fill the orbitals according to the Aufbau principle

1s orbital can hold 2 electrons. Fill it with 2 paired electrons. 2s orbital can hold 2 electrons. Fill it with 2 paired electrons. 2p orbital has 3 sub - orbitals and can hold 6 electrons. Fill it with 6 paired electrons. 3s orbital can hold 2 electrons. Fill it with 2 paired electrons. 3p orbital can hold 6 electrons. Fill it with 6 paired electrons. 4s orbital is filled before 3d according to the Aufbau principle. Put the remaining 1 electron in the 4s orbital as an unpaired electron.

Step3: Write the electron configuration

The electron configuration is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}4s^{1}$.

Answer:

Orbital diagram: 1s: two paired electrons (using the "paired" symbol), 2s: two paired electrons, 2p: three sets of two paired electrons, 3s: two paired electrons, 3p: three sets of two paired electrons, 4s: one unpaired electron (using the "unpaired" symbol).
Electron configuration: $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{6}4s^{1}$
Number of unpaired electrons: 1