An atomic cation with a charge of +1 has the following electron configuration: 1s22s22p63s23p63d14s1 What is the chemical symbol?

Answer 1

An easy way to determine the nature of the element is to simply count the number of electrons. Since this is said to be a cation with a 1+ charge, that means that the element has lost an electron, so we will add 1 to our number of electrons to obtain the number of electrons in the neutral element.

1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁶ 3d¹ 4s¹ electrons are the number in bold type

Number of electrons = 20, and add one since the neutral element has lost an electron to become 1+, and we have 21 electrons. Looking in the periodic table for element number 21 we find it to be Scandium (Sc).

So the chemical symbol for the element is Sc and the chemical symbol for the 1+ cation in question is Sc⁺

Answer 2

In this case, it's Sc. Scandium. You generally remove the electron from the highest energy level orbital. So if it was in a normal configuration, you'd finish 4s2 3d1. But because you took an electron away (giving it that +1 charge) you end up with 4s1 3d1 because you took an electron from the highest orbital (4 > 3, right?).