Electron spin

[Sharon Rodriguez 3H]

I understand how to get the other quantum numbers however the spin state seems very conceptual. Are we ever going to be expected to figure out the spin state and if so, how would you go about doing that?

[Isha_Maniyar_Dis2E]

I don't think we will be going into finding the spin state of a specific electron. The idea of that quantum number is just that an electron can either have a positive spin or a negative spin, or a quantum number of +1/2 or -1/2. I think the main concept to understand is that if given 2 electrons in the same shell, the same subshell, and in the same orientation, the only difference would be the fourth quantum number, the spin state. This is why no two electrons in the same atom will ever have the exact same quantum numbers.

Hope this helped!

[AKhanna_3H]

I think that as long as you understand that +1/2 indicates a positive spin and -1/2 indicates a negative spin for the fourth quantum number, you should be good!

[Justin Quan 4I]

If the problem asked us to figure out the sign of the electron spin, and the electron is alone in its orbital, how do we know whether the electron has a positive or negative spin?

[Astrid Lunde 1I]

Is it only possible for an electron to have a +1/2 or -1/2 spin?

[Cynthia Gong 1L]

I believe +1/2 and -1/2 are the only possible spin states

[Qiu Ya Wu 4I]

Since there are two possible electrons that can have the same n,l, and m quantum numbers, we use +1/2 and -1/2 spin to distinguish them. For that reason, there can only be 2 spin states.

[sarahsalama2E]

Just like what was mentioned above, use +1/2 and -1/2 spin to distinguish up vs down spin. Remember, no two electrons in the SAME element can have the same set of quantum numbers.

[Arvind 4G]

As long as you remember that +1/2 is a positive spin and -1/2 is a negative spin, that's all I think matters