# Electron orbital configuration?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 18, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256 "2020-10-18T12:56:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/1 "2020-10-18T12:56:45Z")

</div>

Yesterday we drank at VooDoo Brewery beer garden. I was admiring the graffiti art on the building, which historically was a movie theater at one point (The Ritz).

There’s “hidden meanings” all over the wall. The hops Bud, the movie film, the mask/skull, etc. But I was stumped by the formula, recognizing finally that it was chemistry; some element’s electron orbits.

Any chemists out there? Click on pic for a picture of the whole mural.

[[Album] Electron orbital configuration? ![](https://i.imgur.com/cxMVFpo.jpeg?fb "Electron orbital configuration?") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/8HCLssx)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/2 "2020-10-18T13:06:10Z")

</div>

That’s going to be aluminum.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/3 "2020-10-18T13:10:52Z")

</div>

Thanks!

Aluminum because of beer cans I guess.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/4 "2020-10-18T14:14:11Z")

</div>

Now you just need to find the formula or structure diagram for ethanol hidden in there somewhere. My looking at your big pic wasn’t finding it.

Lovely clear crisp afternoon there in PA. Time to enjoy the outdoors while you still can. Cheers!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/5 "2020-10-18T14:42:33Z")

</div>

🍻

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electron-orbital-configuration/923256/6 "2020-10-18T16:47:45Z")

</div>

More info here, since I know we’re nasty like that:

> **[Electron configuration](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_configuration)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
> 
> In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. For example, the electron configuration of the neon atom is 1s2 2s2 2p6, meaning that the 1s, 2s and 2p subshells are occupied by 2, 2 and 6 electrons respectively.
> Electronic configurations describe each electron as moving independently in an orbital, in an aver...