Q.

The electronic configurations of bivalent europium and trivalent cerium are  (atomic numbers: Xe = 54, Ce = 58, Eu = 63)

1 [Xe]4f2 and [Xe]4f7  
2 [Xe]4f7 and [Xe]4f1  
3 [Xe]4f76s2 and [Xe]4f26s2  
4 [Xe]4f4 and [Xe]4f9  

Ans.

(2)

Eu2+:[Xe]4f7;  Ce3+:[Xe]4f1