Phosphorus: Unpaired Electrons, Chemical Reactivity, And Paramagnetism
Phosphorus has three unpaired electrons due to its electron configuration ([Ne]3s²3p³). The atomic number of phosphorus (15) indicates that it has 15 electrons, with three valence electrons in the 3p orbitals. According to Hund’s rule, electrons occupy orbitals with parallel spins whenever possible, resulting in three unpaired electrons in phosphorus’s 3p orbitals. This unpaired electron…