What is the correct ground-state electron configuration of a neutral copper atom (Z = 29)?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. [Ar] 4s1 3d10
Copper is an anomaly to the Aufbau principle due to the thermodynamic stability of a completely filled d-subshell. One 4s electron is promoted to the 3d subshell, yielding the ground-state electron configuration [Ar] 4s1 3d10 rather than [Ar] 4s2 3d9. Chromium exhibits a similar effect ([Ar] 4s1 3d5) with a half-filled d-subshell.
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