How many 3dz2 orbitals have n=3 and l=2?

1 Answer
Nov 9, 2016

You already specified an orbital, so... one...

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/http://www.chemguide.co.uk/

The 3dz2 is the specific orbital with:

  • n=3, because the 3 in front says that. Thus, it is in the 3rd quantum level.
  • l=2, which corresponds to a d orbital, since the values of l correspond as (0,1,2,3,4,...)(s,p,d,f,g,...).
  • ml for this orbital is one of the values in the following set: {2,1,0,+1,+2}. It does not matter which one, but it is only one of them, since you have specified only one d orbital. That is, ml is known, but is yours to choose, since all the 3d orbitals in an atom are the same energy (degenerate).
  • ms requires more information to specify, but it can either be ±1/2 in general. It depends on how many electrons were in that orbital to begin with, whether it's spin-up or spin-down for the electron of choice.