(Address)

(Date)

To my dearest friend,
How are you?
I hope you are doing well in your studies. I have received your letters and I am glad that
you are eager to know more about the elements in the periodic table. There are a lot of things
that I wanted to tell you about the periodic table and the likes. I know that learning science is a
little bit stressful, so I want to share to you this trick of mine about learning how to write the
electron configuration for an element in the periodic table.
To easily determine the electron configuration of an element, I will teach you how to
use the block method. First, group the columns in the periodic table of elements into blocks.
The first two columns from the left are labeled as s-block; the third until twelfth column is
grouped as d-block; from the twelfth until the rest of the columns to the right, the label is p-
block. The inner-transition elements on the bottom part of the periodic table are grouped as
the f-block. My dear friend, the element Helium on the upper right corner of the periodic table
is an exception. It belongs to the s-block. From the top row downwards, put coefficients on
each row starting from one. Also, my friend, please take note that the coefficient of the d-block
is always one less than the row it is in and the f-block is two less than the row it is in.
Now, I am going to teach you how to identify the electron configuration of any element
in the periodic table. First, with the periodic table labeled in blocks, encircle your element of
interest. From hydrogen as your starting point, glide across each row until you reach the
element of interest. The number of elements you pass in each block is your superscript.
Suppose that we want to identify the electron configuration of the element Germanium. To
reach Germanium, we first pass the first row for s-block with 2 elements, Hydrogen and Helium.
It would be 1s2 (1 because it is in the first row, s because it is on the s-block, and superscript 2
because there are two elements in the block which are Hydrogen and Helium. When we reach
the row where Germanium belong, we will have 4p 2. Therefore, the electron configuration for
Germanium is 1s22s22p63s23p64s23d104p2. Lastly, take note that in writing the electron
configuration, the configuration per block is written from the rightmost block to the left.
I hope you learned something from me, my friend. I really wish I could teach this to you
personally. Anyway, I wish you all the best for your studies. Continue having fun in learning.
God bless.
Lovingly yours,
(Your Name)