Achieve 1D #25

[Naomi Christian 1E]

I am having trouble with the achieve problem ID #25:
Which of the following subshells cannot exist in an atom: (a) 2d; (b) 4d; (c) 4g; (d) 6f?

I am a bit confused on how to tell if subshells can or cannot exist, if someone could explain the rules for knowing?

[Phillip Ma 1J]

Hi! Make sure to look at the quantum numbers in order to answer this question. For example, for a), n=2 and l= 0,1 (you find the highest l by doing n-1, which is 2-1=1). n represents the shell and l represents the subshell. Therefore, l can only equal 0 or 1, which corresponds to the s and p orbital. 2d is impossible. For c), n=4 and l=0,1,2,3. The l corresponds to s, p, d, or f. 4g cannot exist. Hope this helps!

[Crystal Ma 2J]

To tell, the largest value that l can be is n-1, so l can be anything from 0 to (n-1)!