How Many Orbitals in the 3rd Shell?

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In summary, the 3rd shell of an atom can hold a maximum of 18 electrons in 3 subshells (s, p, and d) which correspond to 9 orbitals. Each orbital in the 3rd shell can hold a maximum of 2 electrons based on the Pauli exclusion principle. The 3rd shell can hold a total of 18 electrons due to the 3 subshells having a maximum of 2, 6, and 10 electrons respectively. The 3rd shell can have a maximum of 3 subshells (s, p, and d) based on the principle that each subshell corresponds to an angular momentum quantum number (l). The number of orbitals in
  • #1
Miike012
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Question: There are ___ orbitals in the third shell.

25
4
9
1

I picked 4... but the answer is 9... How did they come up with this?
 
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  • #2
I believe by adding together the orbitals of the subshells.

The s subshell has 1 orbital, the d has 3, and p has 5, hence 9 =)
 
  • #3
Isnt that the fourth shell that you are counting from?

I was starting at 3s... with one orbital.. then 3p with 3 orbitals...
 
  • #4
Then after that is 4s, but then it returns to 3d, which is 5 orbitals. So overall, the 3rd shell has 9 orbitals.
 
  • #5
Gotcha... thank you.
 

1. How many orbitals are in the 3rd shell of an atom?

The 3rd shell of an atom can hold a maximum of 18 electrons, which corresponds to 3 subshells: s, p, and d. Each subshell has a specific number of orbitals: s = 1, p = 3, d = 5. Therefore, there are a total of 9 orbitals in the 3rd shell.

2. How many electrons can fit in each orbital in the 3rd shell?

Each orbital in the 3rd shell can hold a maximum of 2 electrons. This is based on the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that each orbital can only contain 2 electrons with opposite spins.

3. How many electrons can the 3rd shell of an atom hold?

The 3rd shell can hold a maximum of 18 electrons. This is because the 3rd shell has 3 subshells (s, p, and d) which can hold a total of 18 electrons (2 in the s subshell, 6 in the p subshell, and 10 in the d subshell).

4. What is the maximum number of subshells in the 3rd shell?

The 3rd shell can have a maximum of 3 subshells: s, p, and d. This is based on the principle that each subshell corresponds to an angular momentum quantum number (l) and in the 3rd shell, l can have values of 0, 1, and 2.

5. How does the number of orbitals in the 3rd shell compare to the 2nd and 4th shells?

The number of orbitals in the 3rd shell (9 orbitals) is greater than the 2nd shell (4 orbitals) and less than the 4th shell (16 orbitals). This is because the number of orbitals increases with the principle quantum number (n), and for a specific n value, the number of orbitals increases with the angular momentum quantum number (l).

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