Helium

Properties of helium atoms

Ionisation Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of helium is 0  kJ mol^-1. The ionisation energies of helium are given below.

Electronic configuration

The following represents the electronic configuration and its associated term symbol for the ground state neutral gaseous atom. The configuration associated with helium in its compounds is not necessarily the same.

• Ground state electron configuration:  1s²
• Shell structure:  2
• Term symbol:   ¹S₀

A schematic representation of the shell structure of helium - not what the atom of helium "looks like".

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