What is differentiating electron? Give an example

Electron

• Electrons are said to be negatively charged particles.
• Electrons are represented by${\mathrm{e}}^{-}$.
• Electrons revolve around the nucleus.

Differentiating electron

• The differentiating electron is the final electron added when constructing an atom's electronic configuration.
• It is the electron that differentiates the atom from the one just before it in the periodic table.

Example

• Consider an example of sodium ($\mathrm{Na}$) having an atomic number$11$.
• Electronic configuration of sodium is$1{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{s}}^{2}2{\mathrm{p}}^{6}3{\mathrm{s}}^1$.
• In this case, differentiating electron is$3{\mathrm{s}}^1$.