Orbital spins

[Paloma Sanchez 3L]

How do we know if 2 electrons will have opposite spin or same spin?

[Julie Mai 1K]

Hi!

If 2 electrons are paired they have opposite spin, if they are parallel they have same spin.

[Briana Chavez 3F]

Hi! When you are writing out electron configuration spin directions, you need to keep in mind that the orbitals must be filled with one spin direction (typically up), before you can write in the opposite direction (typically down) once they are paired up, according to Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hund's Rule. For example, Carbon would look like this, because it has 6 electrons:
2p: up, up, __
2s: up-down
1s: up-down

[Emily Chen 1G]

Is it possible for two electrons within the same orbital to have the same spin given that the electrons are in an excited state? Or does Hund's rule apply regardless of ground-state vs. excited state?

[Aashna Sibal 2F]

If two electrons are in the same orbital, they must have opposite spin (one up and one down). If electrons are unpaired and in different orbitals, they have parallel spin.

[Kaitlyn Bateman 1L]

Hi! if there are 2 electrons together in one orbital then they have opposite spins, but if they are both in the same subshell but different orbitals and parallel then they are the same spin.

[Joanne Sarsam 2F]

2 electrons in the same orbital will have opposite spin due to the Pauli Exclusion principle which states that no two electrons can have the same four quantum numbers, meaning electrons in the same orbital cannot have the same magnetic spin numbers, and thus two electrons in the same orbital cannot have the same spin.

[Ishpreet Kaur 3C]

You can refer to the Pauli Exclusion principle for this question. If they're in the same orbital, they'll have opposite spin, but otherwise electrons enter shells with parallel spin until they're forced to have opposite spin by being in the same orbital.

[Clarence Clavite 2K]

Usually electrons filling in an orbital will fill the sub orbitals in an up spin first, then when those are full they will start to fill in with a down spin. Two electrons in the same sub orbital will never being spinning the same way. Hope this helps!

[Daryl Gall 1E]

We can refer to the Pauli exclusion principle and Hund's Rule for this question. When thinking about electron spins, we first look to the Pauli exclusion Principle, which tells us that electrons will first fill each orbital with 1 electron and they will all have the same spin, then we look to Hund's Rule which states that once we do start pairing electrons in orbitals, they will have opposite spins.

[Katryn Heine 3A]

If the two electrons are paired (only two electrons can be in a single orbital) they must have opposite spin. If they're in different orbitals they'll have parallel spin. Electrons will fill each orbital in a shell before they pair so if you have P^3, you'll have 3 electrons, one in Px, one in Py and one in Pz, each having parallel spin since they are in different orbitals.

[Matt Vargo 2D]

If two electrons are paired, then they will have an opposite spin from each other. In terms of comparing non-paired electron spin, we can refer to each electron's ms value to see if electrons have the same or opposite spin. Electrons in a sub-shell will all have the same spin until electron pairing occurs within that given sub-shell.

[Michael 1G]

If two electrons occupy the same orbital, they will have opposite spins. If they are in different orbitals, in the same subshell and are parallel with each other, they will have the same spin.

[Albert 1I]

Two electrons will have opposite spins if they occupy the same orbital. For example, if there are two electrons present in a 1s subshell, then the electrons will have opposite spins. This ensures will no two electrons will have the same 4 quantum numbers in an atom.

[Hope Galarneau 1A]

Hi, so generally electrons will have different spins if they are within the same orbital. One electron will spin up and the other will spin down, which is a paired spin. However, when the electron spin is the same between 2 electrons, whether that be up or down, the spin will be called parallel.

[isabella garcia - 1G]

If electrons are paired up, they will opposite spins. Anytime two electrons occupy the same orbital, they will have opposite spins.

[tashyavakil 2K]

Paired electrons will always have opposite spin, but due to Hund's rule they will be placed with parallel spins in different orbitals and then opposite spins with two electrons in the same orbital.

[Natasha]

You will know the spins depending on whether or not they are paired electrons. If they are paired electrons then they will have opposing spins.

[Lucy Farnham 1G]

Electrons in the same orbital have oposite spin. However, electrons fill up empty orbitals first, then fill in occupied orbitals with opposite spins.

[Michelle Jeong 1B]

If the electrons are in the same orbital they will have opposite spins.

[Joellen 1B]

If they are in the same orbital, they have to be opposite spins. Hund's rule says that orbitals are occupied singly before electrons double up, so for example, if there are three orbitals and three electrons, there will only be one electron in each orbital, all spin up.

[amreen_sandhu1k]

Hi! When you are writing out electron configuration spin directions, you need to keep in mind that the orbitals must be filled with one spin direction (typically up), before you can write in the opposite direction (typically down) once they are paired up, according to Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hund's Rule. For example, Carbon would look like this, because it has 6 electrons:
2p: up, up, __
2s: up-down
1s: up-down

And just to clarify, the reason why the 2p orbital is Up Up is because it is not completely filled and according to Hund's rule you have to place one electron in each orbital before you fill it with the second one (only 2 electrons per orbital) and the P subshell has 3 orbitals so in order for it to be Up Down Up Down Up Down it would need 6 electrons.

[Zoe Apple 1F]

The fourth quantum number tells us if it is spin up or down; +1/2 means up and -1/2 means down. If the electrons are in the same orbital, this means that their spins will also be the same and vice-versa.

[Mekenna Faulkner]

Electrons in the same orbital have opposite spins. If they’re in the same sub shell but different orbital they have the same spin.

[Marie Khijniak 2E]

Hi Paloma!
Essentially, you just have to know that if there are two electrons in the orbital, they are paired up, and they will have opposite spins as a result, because this puts the atom into the lowest-energy, or ground state. If the electrons are in different orbitals, they are parallel to each other and will have the same spin (either both up or both down).
Hope this helps!

[Charlie Gravereaux]

Orbital spins will be opposite when they are in the same orbital (+1/2,-1/2), and have the same spin when they are spread out among different orbitals, or when they are parallel to each other. If they can, electrons will spread out among orbitals first before pairing up within one (electron repulsion), so they will at first have the same spin, but once they start filling up the second electron, then they will begin to have opposite spins.

[Emily2J]

Hello, I just remember that if two electrons are in the same orbital, they have opposite spin. If electrons are unpaired and in different orbitals, they have parallel spin.

[Nishan Reddy 3K]

By Pauli's Exclusion Principle, electrons in the same orbital must have opposite spins in order to overcome the electron electron repulsion and satisfy the wave function that predicts the position of the electrons.

[Jessica Sun 2I]

When two electrons are paired within the same orbital they will have opposite spin (-1/2 and 1/2). On the other hand, electrons that are unpaired within different orbitals will have parallel spin

[Palig Kechichian 3F]

Parallel, unpaired electrons go in the same direction (like parallel lines), so they have the same spin. Electrons that go in opposite directions are therefore paired

[Akshat Katoch 2K]

If two electrons are paired in the same orbital then they have opposite spins, one is down and the other is up. If the electrons are unpaired in each orbital they have parallel spins, their spin is up.

[Shannon Lau 14B - 1H]

We can also tell this when determining whether it is at the ground state or its excited state. When it is at its ground state, we look at which orbital it is in and how many electrons there are. When we draw it, it will all be parallel first, filling each of them first going up and then after we go back through them and fill it up again therefore making them opposite. It very much conceptual and it may seem confusing but once you get it, it will just be second nature when drawing them.

[tashyavakil 2K]

paired electrons have opposite spin and unpaired electrons have the same spin such as ones in different orbitals.

[ElizabethKarlin2E]

If the electrons are paired in the same subshell they will have opposite spins

[205819952]

If two electrons are in the same orbital, they must have opposite spins. If electrons are unpaired and in different orbitals, they have parallel spin.

[Darlene Luu 1H]

If 2 electrons are in the same orbital, they spin in opposite directions(up and down). If the electrons are not in the same orbital, a subshell is occupied by one electron, then they spin in a parallel direction (up and up).

[Emily Hou 1H]

Electrons in the same orbital must have opposite spins. Electrons in different orbitals will be parallel (same spin).

[Madison Rhynhart 3H]

To determine electrons spins you would look at what orbital they are in: thus if they occupy the same orbital they have to have opposite spins to cancel each other out however if they are in the same shell but different orbitals they will have the same spin direction.