Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
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Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
we know that orbitals are given by s, p, d, and f subshells, and we know that each of these can hold 2, 6, 10, and 14 electrons, respectively. But where do those numbers come from?
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
I think it's related to their shape
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
^simply the way the orbitals are shaped determines the amount of electrons it can hold
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
Jennifer Guzman 1L wrote:we know that orbitals are given by s, p, d, and f subshells, and we know that each of these can hold 2, 6, 10, and 14 electrons, respectively. But where do those numbers come from?
Each orbital is capable of holding 2 electrons. The magnetic quantum number (m(l)) depicts the orientation/# of orbitals based on the orbital angular momentum quantum number (l), which gives shape.
S-shape has 1 orbital, a p-shape has 3 (px, py, pz), a d-shape has 5, and a f-shape has 7. Again, each orbital can hold 2 electrons, so 1x2=2, 3x2=6, 5x2=10, and 7x2=14.
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
At 0, 0=s
At 1, 1=p
At 2, 2=d
At 3, 3=f
S has to have one orbital and one orbital can contain 2 electrons.
P has three orbitals (the orbitals increase in increments of 2), containing 6 electrons.
D has five orbitals, containing 10 electrons.
F has seven orbitals which can hold 14 electrons.
The s orbital's shape is spheric, making it able to hold 2 electrons, one at the other "end" of the sphere.
P is more complex, having px, py, and pz.
and so forth: their shape is what determines the amount of electrons they can hold. Hope that helped.
At 1, 1=p
At 2, 2=d
At 3, 3=f
S has to have one orbital and one orbital can contain 2 electrons.
P has three orbitals (the orbitals increase in increments of 2), containing 6 electrons.
D has five orbitals, containing 10 electrons.
F has seven orbitals which can hold 14 electrons.
The s orbital's shape is spheric, making it able to hold 2 electrons, one at the other "end" of the sphere.
P is more complex, having px, py, and pz.
and so forth: their shape is what determines the amount of electrons they can hold. Hope that helped.
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
The shape of the orbital is what determines how many electrons it can house. Electrons also must spin in different directions and because there are only two options, there can only be two electrons on each orbital. It is important to note that each level has a different number of orbitals (s=1, p=3, d=5, f=7).
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
s, p, d, and f refer to specific types of orbitals that are found in elements. So these numbers simply represent the maximum amount of electrons that can occupy a space. Hope this helps!
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Re: Why do the orbitals of an atom only hold a certain amount of electrons?
This is due to their shape
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