When electrons ocoupy different orbitals of the same sub-level, do they all have the same spin?

1 Answer
Meave60
Sep 9, 2017

Only as single electrons in the orbitals of a partially filled sublevel.

Explanation:

An orbital can contain a maximum of two electrons with opposite spins. Each orbital in the same sublevel must have one electron with the same spin before a second electron with an opposite spin enters the orbital. When there are multiple orbitals in the same sublevel, such as the three #"2p"# orbitals, #"2p"_x"p"_y"p"_z"#, each orbital receives one electron of the same spin. If there are more electrons than #"2p"^3"#, the additional electrons will enter each #"2p"# orbital with an opposite spin.

https://opentextbc.ca/chemistry/chapter/6-4-electronic-structure-of-atoms-electron-configurations/

Related questions
See all questions in Orbitals, and Probability Patterns
Impact of this question
4973 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License