Here are some examples of electron configuration. 1. On the periodic table the atomic number of magnesium, Mg, is 12.

There are 12 electrons in magnesium. Using the table below we would place the electrons like this: 2e- in 1s 2e- in 2s 6e- in 2p 2e- in 3s The electron configuration is 1s22s22p63s2. The small exponent indicates how many electrons are in that level. The orbital diagram would be In each orbit one e- is up and one e- is down. 1s 2s 2p 3s 2. Oxygen has 8 electrons: 2e- in 1s, 2e- in 2s, and 4e- in 2p to give 1s22s22p4. _ 1s 2s 2p The 2p orbit puts three e is up and then starts filling the remaining electron in the opposite spin direction (down.) The orbital diagram would be