It is a grayish and white-looking metal, cataloged as the fifth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and as the most dissolved ion in the ocean, not only because of its mass but also because of its molarity.
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The Electron configuration of calcium
It has a total of 20 electrons, which are distributed as follows:
- 2 electrons in its first shell.
- 8 electrons in its second shell.
- 8 electrons in its third shell.
- 2 electrons in the fourth shell.
Simplified Electron configuration of calcium.
One of the ways to create the electron configuration and orbital diagram of calcium is to follow Kerner’s rule, which is a model that perfectly abbreviates an element’s orbital diagram and Electron structure.
To achieve this simplified configuration, it is necessary to have the noble gases as a reference, these are found in group VIIIA within the periodic table, as is the case for argon, helium, xenon , krypton and radon.
As calcium has 20 electrons and its basic (non-simplified) Electron configuration is: 1s22s22p63s23p64s2, the first thing to do to simplify this configuration is to take the previous element in the group of noble gases, following the periodic table, which in this case it corresponds to argon, symbol Ar, which has 18 electrons.
This noble gas is traditionally configured (in a non-simplified way) as follows:
1s22s22p63s23p6
Now, at first glance, it is confirmed that the configuration of argon is contained in that of calcium, that is to say that the orbitals of argon are the same as the five starting orbitals of calcium:
Ar: 1s22s22p63s23p6
Cl: 1s22s22p63s23p64s2
This is why, by simple observation, we conclude that the simplified or abbreviated Electron configuration with Calcium Kernel is:
To obtain the orbital diagram, the same procedure is performed, so the orbital diagram of calcium through Kernel will be represented as follows:
Calcium isotopes.
This chemical element has a total of 6 stable isotopes, among which the most abundant is 40Ca, which is considered the same as 40Ar, due to the decay of 40K.
This calcium isotope (40Ca) produces the 41Ca isotope by neutron activation, synthesizing in the most superficial layers of the soil, where the neutron bombardment is very intense. This isotope (41Ca) is used by scientists as an indicator of solar system anomalies due to its ability to decay into 41K.
Properties of calcium
- It is considered an alkaline earth metal.
- Its atomic mass is 40.078 u.
- It is found in period 4 and group 2 of the periodic table.
- Its average radius is 180 pm, the covalent is 174 pm, and the Bohr or atomic is 194 pm.
- Its atomic number is 20 and its symbol is Ca.
- It has a boiling point of 1800 degrees K and a melting point of 842.85 degrees K.
- Its natural state is solid, it becomes paramagnetic.
- It is white and low density.
- It is colorful.
- It has a low ionization energy.
