Orbitals

[Raquel Rodriguez]

Have people memorized the different values that come with the different orbitals? or is their a different way?

[904936893]

I don't think you have to memorize the different energy values of the different orbitals. Just know that s is always the lowest energy, and then p. Once you get to the fourth row, s fills up first because its a lower energy, but then once one electron is in the 3d orbital, that becomes your lowest, which is why the notation is 3d4s4p, etc. So once you have an electron in your d orbital for that row, it will just go in numerical order. (since 3 < 4).

[Elena Saab 4A]

What values are you referring to?

[Justin Haggard 1E]

If you're referring to the quantum numbers, all you have to do is remember that they are connected in the following way:

n is the principal quantum number, and is the shell (it is the first number you see when an orbital is listed, such as 2s or 3p, etc.)

l is the angular momentum number, and it describes the shape (s,p,d,f). The values for this are l=0, l=1, all the way to l=n-1. Therefore, if you have a principal quantum number of 3, the possible l values would be {0,1,2}. Each l is a subshell:

l=0 is an s-orbital
l=1 is a p-orbital
l=2 is a d-orbital
and l=3 is a f-orbital

is the magnetic quantum number, and labels different orbitals of a subshell, such as , , . The possible values are = l, l-1, l-2, all the way to -l. So this means if you have a l value of 1, the values would be {-1,0,+1}.

The is just electron spin, and the values are always {}

Hope this helps.