Question

How do you write the noble-gas electron configuration for gold?

Answer 1

You are correct, except it is an anomalous configuration (which most professors don't expect you to know entirely)!

Explanation:

`Au`: `[Xe]6s^(2)4f^(14)5d^9`

is the expected configuration, however

`Au`: `[Xe]6s^(1)4f^(14)5d^10`

is a more stable configuration that gold usually takes.

A full 5d subshell and a half full 6s subshell is preferable to the awkward "expected" configuration.