Antimony Electron Configuration & Sb³⁺, Sb⁵⁺ Ions Explained

Antimony is the 51th element in the periodic table and the symbol is ‘Sb’. Antimony has an atomic number of 51, which means that its atom has 51 electrons around its nucleus.

The electron configuration of antimony is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p³, which means that the first two electrons enter the 1s orbital. Since the 1s orbital can hold only two electrons, the next two will enter the 2s orbital. The next six electrons enter the 2p subshell. The p subshell can hold a maximum of six electrons. So first we put six electrons in the 2p subshell and then the next two electrons in the 3s orbital.

Since the 3s is now full, the electrons will move to the 3p subshell, where the next six electrons will enter. The 3p subshell is now full. Consequently, the following two electrons will enter the 4s orbital. Since the 4s orbital is full, the next ten electrons will move into the 3d subshell. The d subshell can hold a maximum of ten electrons. So, the next six electrons will enter the 4p subshell.

Since the 4p is full, the next two electrons will move to the 5s orbital. The 5s orbital is now full. Consequently, the next ten electrons will enter the 4d subshell. Since the 4d is full, the remaining three electrons will enter the 5p subshell. Hence, the electron configuration of antimony will be 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p³.

The electron configuration of antimony refers to the arrangement of electrons in the antimony atom’s orbitals. It describes how electrons are distributed among the various atomic orbitals and energy levels, and provides a detailed map of where each electron is likely to be found.

To understand the mechanism of antimony electron configuration, you must understand two basic things. These are orbits and orbitals. Also, you can arrange electrons in those two ways. In this article, I have discussed all the necessary points to understand the mechanism of antimony electron configuration. I hope this will be helpful in your study.

Electron arrangement of Antimony through the Bohr model

The atomic number is the number of electrons in that element. The atomic number of antimony is 51. That is, the number of electrons in antimony is fifty-one. Therefore, an antimony atom will have two electrons in the first shell, eight in the 2nd orbit, and eighteen electrons in the 3rd shell.

According to Bohr’s formula, the fourth shell will have twenty-three electrons but the fourth shell of antimony will have eighteen electrons and the remaining five electrons will be in the fifth shell. Therefore, the order of the number of electrons in each shell of the antimony atom is 2, 8, 18, 18, 5.

Electron configuration of Antimony through orbital

Atomic energy shells are subdivided into sub-energy levels. These sub-energy levels are also called orbital. The most probable region of electron rotation around the nucleus is called the orbital.

The sub-energy levels depend on the azimuthal quantum number. It is expressed by ‘l’. The value of ‘l’ is from 0 to (n – 1). The sub-energy levels are known as s, p, d, and f.

Orbit Number	Value of ‘l’	Number of subshells	Number of orbitals	Subshell name	Electrons holding capacity	Electron configuration
1	0	1	1	1s	2	1s2
2	0 1	2	1 3	2s 2p	2 6	2s2 2p6
3	0 1 2	3	1 3 5	3s 3p 3d	2 6 10	3s2 3p6 3d10
4	0 1 2 3	4	1 3 5 7	4s 4p 4d 4f	2 6 10 14	4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14

Explanation:

• If n = 1,
  (n – 1) = (1–1) = 0
  Therefore, the value of ‘l’ is 0. So, the sub-energy level is 1s.
• If n = 2,
  (n – 1) = (2–1) = 1.
  Therefore, the value of ‘l’ is 0, 1. So, the sub-energy levels are 2s, and 2p.
• If n = 3,
  (n – 1) = (3–1) = 2.
  Therefore, the value of ‘l’ is 0, 1, 2. So, the sub-energy levels are 3s, 3p, and 3d.
• If n = 4,
  (n – 1) = (4–1) = 3
  Therefore, the value of ‘l’ is 0, 1, 2, 3. So, the sub-energy levels are 4s, 4p, 4d, and 4f.
• If n = 5,
  (n – 1) = (n – 5) = 4.

Therefore, l = 0,1,2,3,4. The number of sub-shells will be 5 but 4s, 4p, 4d, and 4f in these four subshells it is possible to arrange the electrons of all the elements of the periodic table.

Sub-shell name	Name source	Value of ‘l’	Value of ‘m’ (0 to ± l)	Number of orbital (2l+1)	Electrons holding capacity 2(2l+1)
s	Sharp	0	0	1	2
p	Principal	1	−1, 0, +1	3	6
d	Diffuse	2	−2, −1, 0, +1, +2	5	10
f	Fundamental	3	−3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, +3	7	14

The orbital number of the s-subshell is one, three in the p-subshell, five in the d-subshell, and seven in the f-subshell. Each orbital can have a maximum of two electrons.

The sub-energy level ‘s’ can hold a maximum of two electrons, ‘p’ can hold a maximum of six electrons, ‘d’ can hold a maximum of ten electrons, and ‘f’ can hold a maximum of fourteen electrons.

Aufbau is a German word, which means building up. The main proponents of this principle are scientists Niels Bohr and Pauli. The Aufbau method is to do electron configuration through the sub-energy level.

The Aufbau principle is that the electrons present in the atom will first complete the lowest energy orbital and then gradually continue to complete the higher energy orbital.

The energy of an orbital is calculated from the value of the principal quantum number ‘n’ and the azimuthal quantum number ‘l’. The orbital for which the value of (n + l) is lower is the low energy orbital and the electron will enter that orbital first.

Orbital	Orbit (n)	Azimuthal quantum number (l)	Orbital energy (n + l)
3d	3	2	5
4s	4	0	4

Here, the energy of 4s orbital is less than that of 3d. So, the electron will enter the 4s orbital first and enter the 3d orbital when the 4s orbital is full. Following the Aufbau principle, the sequence of entry of electrons into orbitals is 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 4s 3d 4p 5s 4d 5p 6s 4f 5d 6p 7s 5f 6d 7p.

Therefore, the complete electron configuration for antimony should be written as 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d¹⁰ 4p⁶ 5s² 4d¹⁰ 5p³.

Note: The unabbreviated electron configuration of antimony is [Kr] 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p³. When writing an electron configuration, you have to write serially.

Antimony excited state electron configuration

Atoms can jump from one orbital to another orbital in an excited state. This is called quantum jump. The ground-state electron configuration of antimony is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p³. In the antimony ground-state electron configuration, the last electrons of the 5p orbital are located in the 5p_x, 5p_y and 5p_z orbitals.

We already know that the p-subshell has three orbitals. The orbitals are p_x, p_y, and p_z and each orbital can have a maximum of two electrons. Then the correct electron configuration of antimony in the ground state will be 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p_x¹ 5p_y¹ 5p_z¹. This electron configuration shows that the last shell of the antimony atom has three unpaired electrons. So in this case, the valency of antimony is 3.

When the antimony atom is excited, then the antimony atom absorbs energy. As a result, an electron in the 5s orbital jumps to the 5d_xy orbital. We already know that the d-subshell has five orbitals.

The orbitals are d_xy, d_yz, d_zx, d_x²-y² and d_z² and each orbital can have a maximum of two electrons. Therefore, the electron configuration of antimony(Sb*) in an excited state will be 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s¹ 5p_x¹ 5p_y¹ 5p_z¹ 5d_xy¹. The valency of the element is determined by electron configuration in the excited state. Here, antimony has five unpaired electrons. So, the valency of antimony is 5.

Antimony ion(Sb³⁺,Sb⁵⁺) electron configuration

The electron configuration shows that the last shell of antimony has five electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of antimony are five. There are two types of antimony ions. The antimony atom exhibits Sb³⁺ and Sb⁵⁺ ions. The element that forms a bond by donating electrons is called cation. The antimony atom donates three electrons in the 5p orbital to form an antimony ion(Sb³⁺). That is, antimony is a cation element.

Sb – 3e^– → Sb³⁺

Here, the electron configuration of antimony ion(Sb³⁺) is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰ 5s². On the other hand, the antimony atom donates three electrons in the 5p orbital and two electrons in the 5s orbital to convert antimony ion(Sb⁵⁺).

Sb – 5e^– → Sb⁵⁺

The electron configuration of antimony ion(Sb⁵⁺) is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹⁰ 4s² 4p⁶ 4d¹⁰. This electron configuration shows that the antimony ion(Sb⁵⁺) has four shells and the last shell has eighteen electrons and it achieves a stable electron configuration. The antimony atom exhibits -3, +3, +5 oxidation states. The oxidation state of the element changes depending on the bond formation.