| Date | May 2011 | Marks available | 1 | Reference code | 11M.1.hl.TZ1.5 |
| Level | HL | Paper | 1 | Time zone | TZ1 |
| Command term | Apply | Question number | 5 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
What is the electron configuration of vanadium?
A. \({\text{1}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{4}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{3}}}\)
B. \({\text{1}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{3}}}{\text{4}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}\)
C. \({\text{1}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{4}}}{\text{4}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{1}}}\)
D. \({\text{1}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{5}}}\)
Markscheme
B
Examiners report
On one of the G2’s it was stated that it would have been better if the 3d level was placed after the 4s level. It is true that in many textbooks that the electron configuration of V is written as \({\text{1}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}{\text{4}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{3}}{{\text{d}}^{\text{3}}}\). However, most candidates (72.19%) gave B as the correct answer.
