Degenerate Definition

[maliamichelsen_3a]

what does it mean for an element to be degenerate? i don't really understand the concept and this term has been thrown around occasionally in lecture, and it seemed to be related to hund's rule.

[Tanvi Akula 2K]

Degenerate just means equal energy, if something is referred to as degenerate it just means they both have the same energy.

[Devika Nair 2D]

"Degenerate" means equal energy. It can apply to electrons, molecules, orbitals, etc. It's most commonly used in lecture in reference to orbitals. Orbitals from the same shell and subshell have equal energy. For example, all 2p orbitals (2px, 2py, 2pz) are degenerate--they have the same energy. Hund's rule applies to degenerate orbitals. An electron is added to each degenerate orbital first before pairing up. 2px1, 2py1, 2pz1, 2px2, 2py2, 2pz2.

[Nathalia Garibay 1D]

Hi, I was confused about this at first too but "degenerate" just means that they have the same amount of energy. For example, 2s and 2p both have the value n=2. They have the same energy level and thus they are degenerate.

[905740390]

degenerate means equal in energy

[Esmeralda_Solis_2D]

"Degenerate" in chemistry is mainly used when systems have the same or equal energy.