Orbitals

[AKatukota]

When n=6, why are the possible values for l = 0,1,2,3,4,5,6? I thought it would just be 0-5, since it's n-1?

I am trying to answer all parts of this question:
(a) How many values of the quantum number l are possible when n = 6? (b) How many values of ml are allowed for an electron in a 5f-subshell? (c) How many values of ml are allowed for an electron in a 2s-subshell? (d) How many subshells are there in the shell with n=3?

[Justin Seok 2A]

You are correct, the possible values for l should be 0-5, as n=6 shouldn't be an exception. Maybe you were reading the answers for another problem as this one is 1D.14, which shouldn't have an answer in the solutions manual.

[Tai Metzger 3K]

When n=6, there are 6 possible values for l but these values of l start at 0. So the 6 possible values of l are 0,1,2,3,4,5.

[Sion Hwang 4D]

If n=6, there are indeed n-1 subshells (l).
These would be the s, p, d, f, and g subshells.
For ml, these are all values from -l to +l.

[Caroline Zepecki]

Yes, there are always going to be n-1 possible values. But 0 is included in those, so it would only go from 0-5!

[Caroline Zepecki]

Yes, there are always going to be n-1 possible values. But 0 is included in those, so it would only go from 0-5!