Potassium

Properties of potassium atoms

Ionisation Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of potassium is 48.4  kJ mol^-1. The ionisation energies of potassium are given below.

Electronic configuration

The following represents the electronic configuration and its associated term symbol for the ground state neutral gaseous atom. The configuration associated with potassium in its compounds is not necessarily the same.

• Ground state electron configuration:  [Ar].4s¹
• Shell structure:  2.8.8.1
• Term symbol:   ²S_1/2

A schematic representation of the shell structure of potassium - not what the atom of potassium "looks like".

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