Quantum Numbers

Each electron has a set of four numbers, called quantum numbers, that specify it completely; no two electrons in the same atom can have the same four. That's a more precise statement of the Pauli exclusion principle Bob was discussing. (He also mentioned stillanother way of expressing this important idea.) Is there a special reason why there are four, and not three or six or fifty-nine?

Good question. There are certainly reasons, but I won't be able to explain them to you here, any more than Bob could explain where his rules were coming from. What I can offer you is a mathematical expression of those rules, which I hope will make them easier to work with and perhaps provide some insight into the underlying patterns. Okay, I can live with that. Tell me about the four numbers.

First, the "primary quantum number," which is given the symbol n, corresponds to those colored rows you saw in the chart. The lowest row, the pink one, has electrons with n=1; the yellow row is n=2, and they go up from there. All right, so n tells you which of the "main" energy levels you're in. I suppose there's another quantum number that goes with the sublevels--s, p, d, and all that.

Very good. The second quantum number is known as l. A value of l=0 corresponds to s, l=1 is p, l=2 is d, and so forth.

This all seems very abstract to me. What does l reallymean? Can you give me some concrete way to think about it?

I have two answers for that. First, l, unliken, does have an association with angular momentum. If you'd like to know more about this, click on the "advanced" button at right.

If "angular momentum" means nothing to you, don't despair. You can also picture its significance this way: l, along with n and the third quantum number, m, is responsible for determining the shape of an electron's probability cloud. Here are a few examples:

n=1, l=0, m=0

n=3, l=2, m=1

n=3, l=2, m=2

n=4, l=2, m=2

What is the meaning of S P D F (energy sub levels)?

The orbital labels s, p, d, and f originate from a now-discredited system of categorizing spectral lines as sharp, principal, diffuse, and fundamental, based on their observed fine structure. When the first four types of orbitals were described, they were associated with these spectral line types, but there were no other names. The designation g was derived by following alphabetical order. Shells with more than five subshells are theoretically permissible, but this covers all discovered elements. For mnemonic reasons, some call the s and p orbitals spherical and peripheral.
S.P.F.D. refers to the different sub shells in nucleus S-represents 0 on the sub shell notation P-represents 1 D-represents 2 F-represents 3

What is the meaning of KLMNO ?

electrons are filled in accodance with Aufbau principle i.e orbital are filledorder to their energy least energy orbital is filled first then next and so on energies are as -----1s< 2s< 2p<3s<3p<4s<3d<4p<5s<4d< 5p i.e. least( n+ l) value orbital is filled first. if ( n+ l) values are same{ 2p,3s ) ( 3p,4s) ( 3d,4p) then the orbital whose value of n is less (as in above ) is first filled. e.g Sc{ 21 } = 1s2.2s2,2p6,3s2,3p6 3d1,4s2 = 2, 8 ,9 ,2 Cu{29} = 1s2,2s2,2p6,3s2,3p6,3d10,4s1 = 2,8,18,1 [ half filled or full filled orbitals are stable so 3d10,4s1 { 3d is full filled & 4s is half filled }

Structure of an atom
In this page we are going to discuss about explain the structure of an atom concept .Electrons revolve around the nucleus in different energy levels or shells and each shell is associated with definite energy. The energy of the K shell is the least while those of L, M, N and O shells increases progressively. We also know that any system that has least energy is the most stable.1st energy level is K shell2nd energy level is L shell3rd energy level is M shell4th energy level is N shell and so on

Bohr and Bury Scheme - Important Rules

2 Maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a shell is given by 2n where n = shell number For 1st energy level, n = 1Maximum number of electrons in 1st energy level = 2n22 x (1) 2 = 2 For 2nd energy level n = 2Maximum number of electrons in the 2nd energy level = 2n22 x 22 = 2 x 4 = 8 For 3rd energy level n = 3Maximum number of electrons in the 3rd energy level = 2n2= 2x(3) 2= 2 x 9 = 18 For 4th energy level n = 4Maximum number of electrons in the 4th energy level = 2n2= 2x(4) 2= 2x16 = 32

Sl.No Electron Shell 1 2 3 4 K Shell L Shell M shell N shell

Maximum Capacity 2 electrons 8 electrons 18 electrons 32 electrons

The outermost shell of an atom cannot accommodate more than 8 electrons, even if it has a capacity to accommodate more electrons. This is a very important rule and is also called the Octet rule. The presence of 8 electrons in the outermost shell makes the atom very stable.