How many atomic orbitals are there in a g subshell?

1 Answer
Stefan V.
Apr 19, 2015

You can determine how many orbitals the g-subshell would have by using quantum numbers.

https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-textbook/introduction-to-quantum-theory-7https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-textbook/introduction-to-quantum-theory-7

The angular momentum quantum number, or ll, tells you the subshell in which an electron is located. The values of ll correspond to

l = 0 ->l=0→ s-subshell;
l = 1 ->l=1→ p-subshell;
l = 2 ->l=2→ d-subshell;
l = 3 ->l=3→ f-subshell
l = 4 ->l=4→ g-subshell;

The type of orbitals a subshell contains is given by the magnetic quantum number, or m_lml, which, as you can see, can take values ranging from -l−l to +l+l.

Since a g-subshell is described by an angular momentum quantum number equal to 4, you'll get a total of

underbrace("-4, -3, -2, -1, 0 ,+1, +2, +3, +4")_(color(blue)("9 orbitals"))

The equation that tells you the type of orbitals present in a subshell is

m_l = 2l + 1

Once again, the number of orbitals present in a g-subshell will be

m_l = 2 * 4 + 1 = 9

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