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Nihonium (Nh)

Element 113 · post-transition metal · group 13, period 7

Nihonium shell diagram: 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 3 electronsNh113
Electron shells, 2 + 8 + 18 + 32 + 32 + 18 + 3. The outer shell is highlighted - it is the only one that takes part in bonding.

Nihonium is element 113, a post-transition metal in group 13 and period 7. Its electron configuration is [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1. That leaves 3 valence electrons in the outer shell, with the shells filling 2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 3. Losing its 3 valence electrons is the shorter route to a full shell, so it carries a charge of +3.

Properties

Atomic number113
SymbolNh
Standard atomic weight286 u
Group13
Period7
Blockp-block
Categorypost-transition metal
Electron configuration1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f14 6s2 6p6 6d10 7s2 7p1
Noble-gas notation[Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1
Electrons per shell2, 8, 18, 32, 32, 18, 3
Valence electrons3
Common ionic charge+3
Electronegativity (Pauling)no accepted value
Protons / electrons113 / 113

Electron configuration of nihonium

Orbitals fill from the lowest energy upward. Writing that out for nihonium gives 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f14 6s2 6p6 6d10 7s2 7p1, which is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f14 6s2 6p6 6d10 7s2 7p1 in plain text.

Everything up to Rn is the same as in that noble gas, so it is usually abbreviated to [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1. The part outside the bracket is what does the chemistry.

SubshellElectronsCapacity
1s 2 2
2s 2 2
2p 6 6
3s 2 2
3p 6 6
3d 10 10
4s 2 2
4p 6 6
4d 10 10
4f 14 14
5s 2 2
5p 6 6
5d 10 10
5f 14 14
6s 2 2
6p 6 6
6d 10 10
7s 2 2
7p 1 6

Nihonium ion charge

Nihonium commonly forms ions with a charge of +3.

It has 3 valence electrons, so it is 5 short of a full octet and 3 above an empty outer shell. An atom takes whichever route is shorter, which is why the charge comes out as it does.

Common questions

How many valence electrons does nihonium have?

Nihonium has 3 valence electrons. For a main-group element the count is the group number minus 10, and nihonium is in group 13.

What is the electron configuration of nihonium?

1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 4d10 4f14 5s2 5p6 5d10 5f14 6s2 6p6 6d10 7s2 7p1, or [Rn] 5f14 6d10 7s2 7p1 written from the previous noble gas. Orbitals fill lowest energy first.

What is the charge of nihonium?

Nihonium commonly forms ions with a charge of +3. With 3 valence electrons it is 5 short of an octet and 3 above an empty shell, so it takes whichever route is shorter.

How many protons, electrons and neutrons does nihonium have?

A neutral nihonium atom has 113 protons and 113 electrons. Its standard atomic weight is 286, so the most common isotope has about 173 neutrons.

See the ionic charge of every element →

How this page was produced. The configuration was built by filling orbitals in energy order from atomic number 113 alone, not looked up. The shell counts, the valence count and the charge all follow from it. Nothing on this page is written per element.