How many electrons can the s orbital hold?

Answer 1

• s - 2
• p - 6
• d - 10
• f - 14

Answer 2

• s - 2
• p - 6
• d - 10
• f - 14

Answer 3

The number of electrons an orbital can hold vary depending on which orbital we are talking about. There are a number of orbitals, and suborbitals are also possible. And they are all determined by the electrons themselves. Remember that electrons don't like each other, and they're "stuck" around a positively charged nucleus. This positive charge holds them in place, but they work out among themselves a method of "getting along" in the electron cloud so they aren't "in each other's way" owing to the repulsion of their negative charges on each other. You can think of orbitals as energy levels. They are. You can also think of orbitals as electron shells, and they are called that, too. Orbitals and suborbitals are used quite interchangeably with shells and subshells. There are four basic orbitals in an atom, and they are the s, p, d, and f orbitals. There are also suborbitals within these, and they explain, when looked at as a whole, the electron structure in the electron cloud around any atom. There is a bit of "repetition" going on when we look at the subshells, but the electron configurations of all elements can be mapped with this system of four orbitals. There is also a gorbital, but g-block atoms are super-heavy ones that have only been theorized. The number maximum number of electrons a given orbital will hold are as follows: * s - 2 * p - 6 * d - 10 * f - 14 Note that this is a maximum number, and it will apply to the suborbitals. For instance, the 1s, the 2s, the 3s and any other s orbital will hold a maximum of 2 electrons. With the p orbital, the 2p, the 3p, and so on all max out at 6 electrons. With the d orbital, it's always gonna be 10 electrons (for the 3d, the 4d, etc.). The f orbital will always be 14 electrons at maximum. The suborbitals are denoted by a numeral or number before the orbital thus: * 1s * 2s, 2p * 4s, 3d, 4p These are just examples of the way the suborbitals can be designated. After we have our orbitals and suborbitals set up, we can "plug in" numbers that show the electron count and identify the electron structure for a given element. Here's an example or two of that: * 1s1 - hydrogen * 1s2 - helium * 1s2, 2s2, 2p2 - carbon * 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6 - argon * 1s2, 2s2, 2p6, 3s2, 3p6, 4s2, 3d10, 4p3 - arsenic Notice that the "sequence" is starting to jump around a bit. This is because the "next" electron orbital is at the next energy level out, as all electrons take the lowest energy possible when "forming up" in the electron cloud. And the next outer energy level possible might be in another orbital. You'll learn the why's and wherefore's in chemistry when you study the introduction to the quantum mechanical nature of the atom. With this construct, we can find the electron structure of any element. Wikipedia has a nice post with a cool chart that lays all this out. A link is provided to this periodic table of electron configurations. Welcome to the world of quantum mechanics and chemistry. This is the basis for all of the stuff we do in chemical studies. And it is by understanding all of these fundamentals that we move into the larger world of chemistry. We can take our extensive knowledge and apply it to bring us paints, adhesives, plastics and pharmaceuticals, as well as a whole host of other things we use every day without thinking about them and how they originated.

Answer 4

the maximum electron an s orbital can hold is 2

Answer 5

• s - 2
• p - 6
• d - 10
• f - 14

Answer 6

There are always up to 2 electrons in any given S orbital

Answer 7

Maximum of 2 electrons in each s orbital

Answer 8

2

Answer 9

four