Give the ground-state electron configuration for silicon (SiSi) using noble-gas shorthand. Express your answer in condensed form as a series of orbitals. For example, [Ar]4s23d8[Ar]4s23d8 would be entered as [Ar]4s^23d^8.

[Ne] 3s² 3p²

Explanation:

Silicon atoms have 14 electrons. The ground state electron configuration of ground state gaseous neutral silicon is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p².

Using noble gas shorthand, the electronic configuration is reduced to;

[Ne] 3s² 3p². Ne s the nearest noble gas to silicon, Ne contains 8 electrons, this means there's still 4 more electrons to fill. The s orrbital can only hold 2, hence the reaing two is transferred to the p orbital.