Lanthanum

Properties of lanthanum atoms

Ionisation Energies and electron affinity

The electron affinity of lanthanum is 48  kJ mol^-1. The ionisation energies of lanthanum 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 lanthanum in its compounds is not necessarily the same.

• Ground state electron configuration:  [Xe].5d¹.6s²
• Shell structure:  2.8.18.18.9.2
• Term symbol:   ²D_3/2

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

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