How many values of the magnetic quantum number, m_ℓ, correspond to a value of 4 for the orbital quantum number, ℓ? A) 3 B) 5 C) 8 D) 9 E) 7

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

For a given value of ℓ, the values of mS and mℓ span the range from –ℓ to +ℓ in increments of 1. Therefore, for ℓ = 4, there are 9 possible values of mℓ (–4, –3, –2, –1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4) and 2 possible values of mS (+1/2, –1/2) for a total of 18 possible values of mS and mℓ. However, the question asks for the values of m_ℓ that correspond to ℓ = 4. Since each value of mℓ corresponds to two different values of mS, there are a total of 9 x 2 = 18 possible values of the quantum numbers.

How Many Values of the Magnetic Quantum Number, Mℓ, Correspond

How Many Values of the Magnetic Quantum Number, M_ℓ, Correspond