quantum numbers [ENDORSED]

[205696437]

How do you find the number of electrons in quantum numbers?

[Meghan Spoeri 2D]

hi!
Each electron has a unique set of 4 quantum numbers. for instance, if a problem says something like find the number of electrons that could have the quantum numbers n=2, l=1, ml=0 then the answer would be 2 electrons because the only difference in quantum numbers in this case would be ms or the spin. If you're given less specific quantum numbers, such as n=2, l=1, then there are more electrons that could have those quantum numbers since ml will vary as well as ms. In this case, you need to think about all the possible combinations of the quantum numbers n=2 and l=1. You can have (2,1,-1,+1/2) or (2,1,-1,-1/2), etc. Overall, there would be 6 different possible combinations, so therefore 6 electrons could have those quantum numbers. Another way to determine this is using the formula number of orbitals = 2l + 1. In this case, l=1, so 2(1)+1 = 3. 3 orbitals can have those quantum numbers and there are two electrons in each orbital so you get 6 electrons.