Why are the electron configurations of Cu and Ag more stable?

Answer 1

The atom always stays in maximum stability.. The orbital with full electrons , no electron or half electrons is maximum stable ... In the case of Cu the electron moves in 3d orbital because in that case the 3d orbital is going to be filled with maximum 10 electrons hence the 4s orbital is going to be filled with half number of electrons - 1 electron .....

So the last electron goes in the 3d orbital except going into 4s orbital..... therefore the electron configuration of Cu is [Ar]3d10 4s1 .....The reason is same for the atom of Silver.....

Answer 2

The observed electronic configurations of copper and silver are:-

Cu [Ar] 3d10 4s1

Ag [Kr] 4d10 5s1

These elements are exceptions to the aufbau principle which predicts that the 4s orbital would be filled before the 3d the 5s before the 4d. The normal explanation is that a fully filled d sublevel is imparts extra stability. A half filled subshell appears to give extra stability too. Whether this is the real underlying reason for the stability is still debated.

Answer 3

The electron configurations of Cu and Ag are more stable because they prefer to have a completely filled or half-filled d orbital, which results in lower energy levels and increased stability due to the exchange energy that arises from electron-electron repulsion. This stability is achieved by promoting an electron from the 4s orbital to the 3d orbital in the case of copper and from the 5s to the 4d orbital in the case of silver.

Answer 4

The electron configuration for Cu is [Ar]3d104s1. The electron configuration for Cu+ is [Ar]3d104s0.