Assign the values of the quantium number n,l and m for the outermost electron in potassium atom
Answers
Explanation:
The four quantum numbers for an atom refer to the state of the valence or outermost electron.
The four numbers are:
n
is the distance of the electron from the nucleus, and can be
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
etc,
l
is the shape of the orbital of the electron, from
0
to
n
−
1
m
l
is the orientation of the orbital, ranging from
−
l
to
+
l
, and
m
s
is the spin property of the electron, either
+
1
2
or
−
1
2
For a potassium atom, the electron configuration is
1
s
2
2
s
2
2
p
6
3
s
2
3
p
6
4
s
1
, which means that
n
=
4
.
It also means that, since the outermost electron is in an
s
orbital,
l
=
0
.
m
l
can range from
−
l
to
+
l
, but if
l
=
0
because it is an
s
orbital, then
m
l
must be
0
, too.
m
s
can be either
+
1
2
or
−
1
2
, depending on the spin of the electron, it doesn't particularly matter in this case.
Therefore, the full set of quantum numbers for a
K
atom is
4
,
0
,
0
,
±
1
2