orbitals

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  1. Stickyelmo's Avatar
    • Full Member
    • Posts: 95
    orbitals
    I dont understand how to answer these orbitals. As far as i know it all goes like:
    1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 (how would 3d go?)

    A question came along and asked me
    ''A modern model of the atom arranges electrons into orbitals, sub-shells and shells.
    Complete the following table showing the maximum number of electrons which can be found
    within each region.''

    Number of electrons
    a 2p orbital
    the 3s sub-shell
    the 4th shell

    I thought 2p would be 6 (2p6) 3s would be 2 (3s2) and 4th shell would be 2 (3s2)
    but answers tell me it is
    a 2p orbital 2 
    the 3s sub-shell 2 
    the 4th shell 32 
    How do I work these out correctly?
  2. clownfish's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 665
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by Stickyelmo)
    I dont understand how to answer these orbitals. As far as i know it all goes like:
    1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 (how would 3d go?)

    A question came along and asked me
    ''A modern model of the atom arranges electrons into orbitals, sub-shells and shells.
    Complete the following table showing the maximum number of electrons which can be found
    within each region.''

    Number of electrons
    a 2p orbital
    the 3s sub-shell
    the 4th shell

    I thought 2p would be 6 (2p6) 3s would be 2 (3s2) and 4th shell would be 2 (3s2)
    but answers tell me it is


    How do I work these out correctly?
    Just need to learn these:
    - An orbital can only ever hold 2 electrons
    - s sub-shell holds 2 electrons (p sub-shell holds 6, d subshell holds 10)
    - 1st shell holds 2 (s only), 2nd shell holds 8 (s and p), 3rd shell holds 18 (s,p,d), 4th shell holds 32 (s,p,d,f - not that you need to know about the f subshell!)
  3. arvin_infinity's Avatar
    • Peer Of The TSR Realm
    • Location: Middle of the nowhere
    • Posts: 1,964
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by clownfish)
    Just need to learn these:
    - An orbital can only ever hold 2 electrons
    - s sub-shell holds 2 electrons (p sub-shell holds 6, d subshell holds 10)
    - 1st shell holds 2 (s only), 2nd shell holds 8 (s and p), 3rd shell holds 18 (s,p,d), 4th shell holds 32 (s,p,d,f - not that you need to know about the f subshell!)
    As for the last point its 2n2 right?
  4. Stickyelmo's Avatar
    • Full Member
    • Posts: 95
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by clownfish)
    Just need to learn these:
    - An orbital can only ever hold 2 electrons
    - s sub-shell holds 2 electrons (p sub-shell holds 6, d subshell holds 10)
    - 1st shell holds 2 (s only), 2nd shell holds 8 (s and p), 3rd shell holds 18 (s,p,d), 4th shell holds 32 (s,p,d,f - not that you need to know about the f subshell!)
    why does the answer say the 2p subshell has 2 electrons, not 6?
  5. clownfish's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 665
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by Stickyelmo)
    why does the answer say the 2p subshell has 2 electrons, not 6?
    It says a 2p orbital not subshell, so the answer is 2.
  6. clownfish's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 665
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by arvin_infinity)
    As for the last point its 2n2 right?
    Sorry I don't understand the question
  7. arvin_infinity's Avatar
    • Peer Of The TSR Realm
    • Location: Middle of the nowhere
    • Posts: 1,964
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by Stickyelmo)
    why does the answer say the 2p subshell has 2 electrons, not 6?
    Where you got these from ! cuz the wording is weird!

    It should have been "each orbital in the p sub-shell can contain 2 electrons"
  8. arvin_infinity's Avatar
    • Peer Of The TSR Realm
    • Location: Middle of the nowhere
    • Posts: 1,964
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by clownfish)
    Sorry I don't understand the question
    You know

    2=n=1
    8--n=2
    18--n=3
    32 --n=4
    .
    .
    .
    2n2
  9. clownfish's Avatar
    • Benevolent Member
    • Posts: 665
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by arvin_infinity)
    You know

    2=n=1
    8--n=2
    18--n=3
    32 --n=4
    .
    .
    .
    2n2
    Never come across that. But if it works then great

    To answer your other post, it's from question 1 of OCR A F321 June 2011.
  10. Stickyelmo's Avatar
    • Full Member
    • Posts: 95
    Re: orbitals
    Oh wow thanks a lot guys
  11. thegodofgod's Avatar
    • TSR Legend
    • Location: London
    • Posts: 10,868
    Re: orbitals
    (Original post by arvin_infinity)
    As for the last point its 2n2 right?
    Yeah, 2n2 tells you how many electrons an energy level (1, 2, 3, 4 etc.) can hold, where 'n' is the principle quantum number
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