clarification

[krish shah]

I wanted to confirm that knowing the m_l and m_s number does not allow you to do more than pinpoint the subshell (you cannot find the particular orbital through this method.

[Wesley Zhou 1F]

Hi there,

m_l tells us the magnetic quantum number (orbital orientation).

For example: let's take the p-orbital.

l = 1, therefore m_l can be -1, 0, or +1

Each number corresponds to 3 p-orbital orientations, Px, Py, and Pz respectfully.

m_s tells us the spin and only the spin of the electron. -1/2 and the electron spins clockwise; +1/2 and the electron spins counterclockwise.

Hope this helps!

[Anna Furton]

n is the principal quantum number and tells you the shell (n=1, n=2, etc).

l is the angular momentum quantum number and tells you the sub-shell (l=0 means s, l=1 means p, l=2 means d, l=3 means f)

m(l) is the magnetic quantum number and tells you the orbital (m(l) branches out from 0. For example, in the p shell, m(l)= -1, 0, and 1. This tells you the orbital and its orientation, aka p(x), p(y), or p(z).)

m(s) is the spin magnetic quantum number and tells you the spin of the electron (either +1/2 or -1/2. If there's two electrons in one orbital, one must be + and the other must be -, or else they repulse).


If you only know m(l) and m(s), you might be able to guess which sub-shell and energy level (if m(l) is -2, it has to be d or f, which means an energy level of at least n=3) but you can't entirely determine the other quantum numbers, and therefore, you don't know where in the atom the electron is.

[Talia Tam 3L]

n gives us the shell, and l gives us the subshell. ml gives us the orientation and orbital. ms gives us the spin.