Question

How many electrons can n 4 have?

Answer 1

Answer:

For n

th

orbital possible values of azimuthal quantum number (subshell), l are from 0 to (n-1). Total of 'n' values.

In n=4, l=0,1,2,3 thus there are 4 subshells i.e.s,p,d,f respectively.

Magnetic quantum number m

l

have values from -l to +l and total of 2l+1 values.

For n=4, possible values of l and m

l

are:

m

l

=0 for l=0; total m

l

values =1

m

l

=−1,0,1 for l=1; total m

l

values =3

m

l

=−2,−1,0,1,2 for l=2; total m

l

values =5

m

l

=−3,−2,−1,0,1,2,3 for l=3; total m

l

values =7

Total number of orbitals = total values of m

l

for n=4,

∴1+3+5+7=16 orbitals

Each orbital can occupy maximum of two electron

Number of electrons =2×16=32

Therefore in n=4, number of subshells=4, orbitals=16 and number of electrons =32.