chemistry·NCERT Class 11·Structure of Atom

Atomic Orbitals & Aufbau

Medium+70 XP

Why does Chromium have the configuration [Ar]3d⁵4s¹ instead of [Ar]3d⁴4s²? Half-filled stability breaks the Aufbau rule. Explore the orbital clouds in 3D.

Aufbau principle: fill in order of increasing (n+l); same n+l → lower n first.
Hund's rule: maximize spin in degenerate orbitals before pairing.