How many atomic orbitals are there in an h subshell?

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How many atomic orbitals are there in an h subshell?

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Answer 1 · 2014-06-17T12:32:12

11

Explanation:

There are 11 atomic orbitals in the $h$ $h$ subshell, and they can hold a total of 22 electrons.

The hydrogenic (one-electron) orbitals are each associated with a principal quantum number ( $n$ $n$ ) and an orbital angular momentum quantum number ( $l$ $l$ ). The different values of $l$ $l$ are denoted by letters instead of numbers.

For example, orbitals having $l = 0$ $l=0$ are called $s$ $s$ orbitals, those with $l = 1$ $l=1$ are called $p$ $p$ orbitals, then $d, f, g, h,$ $d, f, g, h,$ and so on.
(excluding j)
Following the lettering system, we see that $h$ $h$ orbitals are associated with $l = 5$ $l=5$ .

Finally, the number of orbitals in each sub-shell is equal to $2 l + 1$ $2l+1$ , so there is only 1 $s$ $s$ orbital, but there are 3 $p$ $p$ orbitals, and 5 $d$ $d$ orbitals in each sub-shell. Following this trend, we see that the number of $h$ $h$ orbitals is equal to $2 \times 5 + 1 = 11$ $2times5+1=11$ .

(Each orbital can hold up to 2 electrons if they have opposite spin angular momentum quantum numbers, so the $h$ $h$ shell can hold a maximum of 22 electrons.)

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How many atomic orbitals are there in an h subshell?

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