Orbitals?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Dencology

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
396
Reaction score
0
guys i get this wrong for some reason and if someone can clarify this for me that would be great:

how many orbitals are in the n=4 shell? how many electrons in n=4?

S has 1 orbital
P has 3 orbitals
d has 5 orbitals
so adding them i get 18 but the answer is 16. how?

i was also trying to figure this out in a different way.

we have 4 s orbitals so we have 4 orbitals, then we have 3 p orbitals for a total of 9. then 1 d orbitals for a total of 5. adding them i get 18. so why the ans is 16?

part two, there are 32 electrons in n=4. using 2n2 formula.

Members don't see this ad.
 
You're forgetting the f orbitals.

1 s, 3p, 5d, 7f, for a total of 16 orbitals - 32 electrons.
 
Last edited:
how is f orbital comes in to this picture? can you explain? what about n=5 and n=6. how many orbitals are in there?
 
Last edited:
Starting from n=4 there are f orbitals. Remember: l (the azimuthal quantum number) is a non-negative integer from 0 to n-1 so, for n=3, l could be 0, 1, or 2, (s, p, d). For n=4, l could be 0,1,2,3 (s, p, d, f), and so on. When n=5 and 6, there are additional orbitals.
 
Top