To determine the ground state configuration of an atom, we need to know the atomic number (Z) rather than the atomic mass number. The atomic number determines the number of protons in the nucleus, which directly determines the element.
However, you provided the number of neutrons instead. If we assume that the atom has a neutral charge (no charge), the number of protons will be equal to the atomic number. To find the atomic number, we can subtract the number of neutrons from the atomic mass number:
Atomic number (Z) = Atomic mass number (A) - Number of neutrons
In this case, the atomic mass number is given as 37, and the number of neutrons is given as 20. Therefore:
Z = 37 - 20 Z = 17
Now that we know the atomic number is 17, we can determine the element. The element with atomic number 17 is chlorine (Cl).
The ground state configuration of a chlorine atom (Z = 17) is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁵.