What is the ground-state electron configuration of neon (Ne)?

• A. $1s{2}^{}2s{1}^{}2p{6}^{}$
• B. $1s{2}^{}2s{2}^{}2p{4}^{}$
• C. $1s{2}^{}2s{2}^{}2p{6}^{}$
• D. $1s{2}^{}2s{2}^{}2p{5}^{}$

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the atomic number of neon (Ne), which tells you the total number of electrons in a neutral atom. Neon has an atomic number of 10, so it has 10 electrons.
2. Recall the order in which electron orbitals are filled according to the Aufbau principle: electrons fill orbitals starting from the lowest energy level to higher ones. The order for the first 10 electrons is 1s, 2s, then 2p.
3. Fill the 1s orbital first. The 1s orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons, so assign 2 electrons to 1s: \$1\mathrm{s}^2$.
4. Next, fill the 2s orbital, which can also hold 2 electrons. Assign 2 electrons to 2s: \$2\mathrm{s}^2$.
5. Finally, place the remaining 6 electrons in the 2p orbital, which can hold up to 6 electrons. Assign 6 electrons to 2p: \$2\mathrm{p}^6\(. Combining all, the ground-state electron configuration of neon is \)1\mathrm{s}^2\ 2\mathrm{s}^2\ 2\mathrm{p}^6$.