General Chemistry DAT Question: magnetic quantum number

[toothhornet88]

The question is:
What is the maximum number of electrons that an orbital with a magnetic quantum number of two could hold?

A. 2
B. 5
C. 8
D. 10

The answer is A. Can you please explain this?

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[AmpedUp]

for L =2 ??

Shouldn't that be 8 electrons? I mean, it includes -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 (each of those contain 2 electrons...mult by 4 and you get 8 electrons)

Where did this problem come from?

I'm not sure I understand what this question is asking for if the answer is A.

 

[299678]

This is just tricky. No matter what energy level is, maximum number of electrons that an orbital can carry is two, always !

 

[UCB05]

n = principal = shell
l = azimuthal = subshell
ml = magnetic quantum number = orientation
ms = spin = which of a pair

the magnetic quantum number refers to the orientation of one of the subshell's orbitals, in which only a pair of electrons exists. It sounds like you're confusing the magnetic (2 electrons max) with the azimuthal number.

*also, ml=2 doesn't necessarily mean l=2=d orbital. Electrons in f orbitals can have ml = 2 as well

 

[toothhornet88]

thank you for your responses, i see how this is a bit tricky.