textbook 1D.11

[Miyown Meeks 2F]

Hi, in this question it's asking you to find the n and l quantum numbers for each orbital. For 6p the answer is n=6 and l=1. However why doesn't using the formula n-1=l work in this situation?

[Kristy Sun 3L]

Hello!

For n=6, l can equal to 0 to n-1. In this case, l can equal to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Therefore, we would find the correct l value by looking at 6p. For p-orbitals, the corresponding l value should be 1. That's why the answer is 1.

Hope that helps!

[gary_vernes]

n-1 = l is not the actual formula for finding the angular momentum (l). Instead, it represents the upper limit for what l can be, meaning it can be anything from 0 to n-1. So for n=6, the possible values for l would be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So 5 is a valid orbital for l, but I am actually not sure what it represents, since we only learned up to the f orbital in this class (l=4). Hope this helps!