How to Write the Electron Configuration for Nickel (Ni)?

Nickel is the 28th element in the periodic table and the symbol is ‘Ni’. Nickel has an atomic number of 28, which means that its atom has 28 electrons around its nucleus.

To write the electron configuration for nickel, 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 now full, the remaining eight electrons will move into the 3d subshell. Hence, the electron configuration of nickel will be 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d⁸.

The electron configuration of nickel refers to the arrangement of electrons in the nickel 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 nickel electron configuration, you need to 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 nickel electron configuration. I hope this will be helpful in your study.

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Electron arrangement of Nickel through orbit

The atomic number is the number of electrons in that element. The atomic number of nickel is 28. That is, the number of electrons in nickel is twenty-eight. Therefore, the nickel atom will have two electrons in the first shell and eight in the 2nd orbit.

According to Bohr’s formula, the third orbit will have eighteen electrons but the third orbit of nickel will have sixteen electrons and the remaining two electrons will be in the fourth orbit. Therefore, the order of the number of electrons in each shell of the nickel(Ni) atom is 2, 8, 16, 2.

Electron configuration of nickel 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 nickel should be written as 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 4s² 3d⁸.

Note: The abbreviated electron configuration of nickel is [Ar] 3d⁸ 4s². When writing an electron configuration, you have to write serially.

The excited state electron configuration of Nickel

Atoms can jump from one orbital to another orbital in an excited state. This is called quantum jump. The ground state electron configuration of nickel is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁸ 4s². In the nickel ground-state electron configuration, the eight electrons of the 3d orbital are located in the d_xy, d_yz, d_zx, d_x²-y², and d_z² orbitals.

We already know that the d-subshell has five orbitals. The orbitals are dxy, dyz, dzx, dx2-y2 and dz2 and each orbital can have a maximum of two electrons. Then the correct electron configuration of nickel in the ground state will be 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3dxy2 3dyz2 3dzx2 3dx2-y21 3dz21 4s2. This electron configuration shows that the nickel atom has two unpaired electrons. So the valency of nickel is 2.

When a nickel atom is excited, then the nickel atom absorbs energy. As a result, an electron in the 4s orbital jumps to the 4p_x orbital. We already know that the p-subshell has three orbitals

The orbitals are px, py, and pz and each orbital can have a maximum of two electrons. Therefore, the electron configuration of nickel(Ni*) in an excited state will be 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3dxy2 3dyz2 3dzx2 3dx2-y21 3dz21 4s1 4px1. The valency of the element is determined by electron configuration in the excited state. Here, nickel has four unpaired electrons. So, in this case the valency of nickel is 4.

Nickel ion(Ni²⁺, Ni³⁺) electron configuration

The electron configuration of nickel shows that the last shell of nickel has two electrons and the d-orbital has a total of eight electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of nickel are ten. There are two types of nickel ions.

The nickel atom exhibits Ni²⁺ and Ni³⁺ ions. The nickel atom donates two electrons in the 4s orbital to form a nickel ion(Ni²⁺).

Ni – 2e^– → Ni²⁺

Here, the electron configuration of nickel ion(Ni²⁺) is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁸. The nickel atom donates two electrons in the 4s orbital and an electron in the 3d orbital to convert nickel ion(Ni³⁺).

Ni – 3e^– → Ni³⁺

The electron configuration of nickel ion(Ni³⁺) is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d⁷. Nickel atom exhibit +2 and +3 oxidation states. The oxidation state of the element changes depending on the bond formation.

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