Answer to Question #134992 in Inorganic Chemistry for NISAA

Question

What are the similarities and the difference between:
i. a 1s orbitals and a 3s orbitals
ii. a 2px orbitals and 2pz orbitals
The highest energy electrons in an atom Q have the principal quantum number n = 4 and the angular quantum number l = 0. What is the maximum number of electrons present in atom Q?

Answer 1

1. 1s and 3s orbitals are similar in the sense that both have a maximum of two electrons and both have a spherical shape ,however they have are found on different energy levels ,indicated by the different principal numbers 1 and 3.
2. the 2p_x and the 2p_z have the same energy level by virtue of the same principal number 2 ,both take two electrons ,an up spin and low spin electron. The only difference is that they have different axis ,2p_x is on the x-axis and the 2p_z is on the z-axis.

the maximum number of electrons in an atom n= 4 , l=0

when the angular quantum number is 0 ,the orbital is s. the outermost orbital for the atom is 4s²

the electron configuration of atom Q is 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁶3d¹⁰4s²

the electron numbers is 2+2+6+2+6+10+2 = 30 electrons