Electrons in an Orbital [ENDORSED]

[nicolesalcedo]

Hi, I wasn't able to come to lecture on Friday, so I'm unsure about the number of electrons in a orbital. I've seen models where there are up to 8 electrons in an orbital, is the maximum really just two?

[JoeyAnn Mateo 1D]

An orbital can only contain up to 2 electrons. This is Pauli's exclusion principle.

[nicolesalcedo]

And just to confirm, those two electrons need to have opposite spins, otherwise they cannot be together?

[JoeyAnn Mateo 1D]

Yes, when two electrons are in the same orbital they must have opposite spins. The short term for these electrons is that they are "paired".

[nicolesalcedo]

For instance, in the carbon example that Lavelle gave us in class, why are the two electrons in two different orbitals even though they are in the same subshell? Is it just because they have the same spin?

[JoeyAnn Mateo 1D]

According to Hund's rule, electrons repulse each other because they are the same charge, and while in the same subshell, they must occupy different orbitals. This means that there are two electrons in the 2p subshell and must first fill two orbitals and have parallel spins. ( two unpaired electrons )

[Aryana Nazem 1A]

does anyone know if we will be required to draw what the different atomic orbitals looks like?

[Aryana Nazem 1A]

Also can someone explain how the 4th quantum number ties into this topic?

[Chiara Berruto 1K]

The fourth quantum number tells us the spin of the electron, it is called the spin magnetic quantum number. This correlates to the fact that two electrons in the same orbital cannot have the same spin.