Which of the following statements describes an orbital?
A) Orbitals fill in the order of increasing energy from lowest to highest.
B) Each orbital can hold up to two electrons with opposite spins.
C) When there is a set of orbitals of equal energy, each orbital becomes half-filled before any of them becomes completely filled.
D) All of these are correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A) This statement is correct. The order of filling orbitals is determined by their energy level, with the lowest energy orbitals being filled first.

B) This statement is also correct. The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of four quantum numbers, which means that each orbital can hold only two electrons, with opposite spins.

C) This statement is also correct. Hund's Rule states that when there are multiple orbitals of the same energy level available, electrons will first fill each orbital singly with parallel spins before they pair up. This leads to each orbital becoming half-filled before any are completely filled.

Therefore, all three statements are correct and the answer is D.

Which of the Following Statements Describes an Orbital