Orbitals

[Matia Kim 1B]

What's the difference between the outer most orbital and shell? Is the shell now the outer most orbital?

[Chloe Qiao 4C]

I believe usually "shell" is referred to n, "subshell" to l, and "orbital" to ml.

[hazelyang2E]

I believe the terms shell and orbital refer to two separate phenomenons. "Shell" defines the energy level and size of the a wave function and is determined by the principle quantum number, or n. "Orbital" refers to the orientation of a specified subshell and is determined by the magnetic quantum number or m.

[Alexandra Albers 1D]

Shells refer to the quantum number n and can be 1, 2, 3,.... Orbitals refer to the more specific subshells of electrons, indicated by l. 1s, 2s, 2p,... are examples of orbitals.

[Hanlin Zhu 4G]

the outermost shell refers to the principal quantum number n and the energy level. For example, the number of electrons present in the outermost shell of a carbon atom is 4. (2s2, 2p2)