What are quantum numbers used to describe?
1 Answer
Quantum numbers are used to describe an atom's electron distributions. Particularly, they represent acceptable solutions to Schrodinger's wave equations for the Hydrogen atom (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger_equation )
There are
The quantum number that indicates the orbital is
and so on.
Think of quantum numbers as forming a map to a certain electron's location, each electron having a distinct set of quantum numbers to describe its position.
For example,