# Question #96d3a

Jun 26, 2017

6

#### Explanation:

Given that $n$ (your principle quantum number) is 3, and $s$ (your angular quantum number) is 1, we can make a couple of statements right off the bat:

• $n = 3$ means that we're talking about the third energy level.
• $l = 1$ means that we're referring to the $p$ - subshell

In other words, the question can be rephrased to ask how many electrons can fit in the 3p subshell?

We know that $p$-subshells can hold 6 electrons across their orbitals, and therefore we'd have 6 electrons in the 3p subshell.

The key concept here to understand is that the quantum numbers are kind of like an address, with each quantum number giving even more specific information. $n$ and $l$ give you the rough equivalent of the city and general area, while the more specific quantum numbers - ${m}_{l}$ and ${m}_{s}$ - give the equivalent of the street and house number.

You can find more information on quantum numbers in this wikipedia article , or in this video .

Hope that helps :)