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Electron Configuration Definition

Chemistry Glossary Definition of Electron Configuration

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., About.com

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Definition: A statement describing the populations of electronic energy sublevels of an atom. See the chart of electronic configurations to get the notation for all of the elements.

Examples: The electronic configuration of the lithium atom is 1s22s, which indicates there are two electrons in the 1s sublevel and one electron in the 2s energy sublevel.

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