Question

Number of unpaired electrons present in Co2+ ion is

Answer 1

3 unpaired electrons.

Answer 2

Answer:

3

Explanation:

Co2+ is a d7 metal, meaning that it has 7 valence electrons. Cobalt's electron configuration is [Ar] 3d7 4s2, so Co2+ would have an electron configuration of [Ar]3d7 (since the electrons would be taken from the 4s shell first).

Since there can be 10 electrons in a d subshell (so 5 blanks since each orbital can have 2 electrons and you fill them each with one before pairing them) and you are filling up 7 of them, you'd have 3 unpaired electrons