Achieve Question 21 Weeks 2-4

[Angela_Li_1J]

Question 21 asks "How many electrons in an atom could have these sets of quantum numbers?"
n=3
n=4, l=0
n=7, l=1, ml=-1

How would I determine the electrons based on the given information?

[Caleb_Mei_1J]

Hey there!

Notice how in each of the three problems, you aren't given all 4 quantum numbers to specify a single, specific electron in an atom. This means that in each of the three problems, there will be 2 or more electrons with those quantum numbers.

For example, for n=3, you can look at the periodic table and ask yourself how many electrons have the principle quantum number 3. Same goes for n=4 and l=0 as well as n=7, l=1, and ml=-1.

I hope this helps!

[Coline Luo 2E]

Another way you can approach this question is to look at how many orbitals there are in each level. For example, given n=2, there can be two 4 possible orbitals (1 for 1=0 and 3 for l=1) and since each orbital has two electrons, there can be 8 possible electrons for n=2. Hope this helps!

[Natalie Flores 1F]

My TA walked us through this problem and broke it down for us in a way we could understand it easier. Basically, we think of n, l, and ml as umbrellas where n is the overarching umbrella with l within it (l is also its own umbrella) and ml is its own small umbrella (within l and n). I can attach my notes with diagrams to help visualize. So whichever factor they ask you to examine (n, l, or ml) we can narrow down our options.