a)
The electronic configuration of iron is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d6
In its electronic configuration, iron has 4 shells, placing it in the 4th period.
Iron is a d block element so to determine the group number we need to add the electrons in the outermost s subshell and the number of electrons in the preceding d subshell. So, the group number is 6+2 = 8. [1 mark]
b) In Fe2O3 we know that the oxidation number of oxygen is -2.
As the total charge of the compound is '0' we can write
2Z + [3*(-2)] = 0 [ Z= oxidation number of iron]
Z= +3
So the oxidation number of iron in Fe2O3 is +3
[1 Mark]
c) Fe+3 will contain 3 electons less than Fe atom.
So, the electronic configuration will be
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d5
[1 Mark]