Question

How many p orbitals are there in a neon atom?

Answer 1

Three.

Explanation:

Your tool of choice for this problem will be neon's electron configuration.

Neon, `"Ne"`, is located in period 2, group 18 of the periodic table, and has an atomic number equal to `10`. This means that a neutral neon atom will have a total of `10` protons in its nucleus and `10` electrons surrounding its nucleus.

Now, neon's electron configuration, which must account for `10` electrons, looks like this

`"Ne: " 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6`

So, a neon atom has

• two electrons located in the 1s-orbital
• two electrons located in the 2s-orbital
• six electrons located in the 2p-orbitals

To get the number of p-orbitals you have, you can use quantum numbers.

The first energy level that can hold p-orbitals is the second energy level, for which the principal quantum number, `n`, is equal to `2`.

The principal quantum numbers talls you the energy level, or shell. The angular momentum quantum number, `l`, tells you the subshell.

In your case, the p-orbitals correspond to an angular momentum quantum number equal to `1`.

Now, the number of orbitals you get per subshell is given by the magnetic quantum number, `m_l`. In your case, `m_l` can take the values

`m_l = {-1; 0; 1}`

This means that you can find a total of three p-orbitals, `p_x`, `p_y`, and `p_z`, in the p-subshell.

In neon's case, since its only p-orbitals are located on the second energy level, it follows that it contains a total of three p-orbitals, `2p_x`, `2p_y`, and `2p_z`.