Principal quantum numbers

Electrons with lowest energy orbit closer to

the nucleus. These orbits are called shells
such as n=1, n=2, n=3, ----- etc. n=1 is the
orbit closest to nucleus. n=1, n=2, n=3, -----
etc shells are called K, L, M, N, ---- shells,
respectively.
There are subshells in each shell. For an
example, there 2s and 2p subshells in the
shell of n=2. Similarly other subshells can
be given as below.
1s
2s 2p
3s 3p 3d
4s 4p 4d 4f
Electrons fill on the subshells in the order of
1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, 3d, 4p, -----etc.
Maximum number of electrons in s, p, d and
f subshells are 2, 6, 10 and 14, respectively.
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Number of electrons in each subshell is
given as a superscript.
For an example, electronic configuration of
Mg with atomic number 12 is
1s22s22p63s2
l is equal to 0, 1, 2, 3, ---- for s, p, d, f, ---
subshells, respectively. ml changes from –l to l
through zero. So ml has 2l+1 different values.
For an example, when l=2, ml=-2, -1, 0, 1, 2.
In addition to the orbital motion of electron,
electron spins around its own axis.
For spin up electron, s=+1/2
For spin down electron, s=-1/2
r r
Energy of magnetic moment is given by E = −µ.B

When ml is positive, E is negative. When ml is

negative, E is positive. Because electrons fill
from the lowest energy level to highest level,
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electrons fill from the highest positive value of
ml to the highest negative value of ml in
subshells. According to Pauli’s principle, only
one electron can be found in one quantum
state. Spin up and down electrons are
considered as two different quantum states. So
one spin up electron and one spin down
electron can occupy one subshell with each
value of ml. If there is one spin up electron and
one spin down electron in one subshell, the
total spin or total magnetic moment is zero. So
the total spin of a completely filled subshell is
zero. As a result, only the subshells with one
electron contribute to magnetic moment. The
magnetic moment due to spin is much stronger
than the magnetic moment due to orbital
motion. In most cases, only the magnetic
moment due to spin is taken into consideration.

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Example: Find the L, S and J values of Fe+2 with
24 electrons.
Electron configuration of Fe+2 is
1s2 2s22p6 3s23p6 4s2 3d4
Because 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p and 4s subshells are
completely filled, they don’t contribute to
magnetic moment. Because 3d subshell is
partially filled, only 3d subshell contributes to
magnetic moment. l=2 for d subshell. So ml
values are -2, -1, 0, 1 and 2. 4 Electrons in 3d
subshell start to fill from ml=2 subshell as
following.

ml=2 1 0 -1 -2

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According to Hund’s rule, all the spin up
electrons fill in subshells first to obtain the
maximum value of S. After filling all the spin up
electrons, then spin down electrons fill in
subshells starting from ml=2 again.
We have to add ml values of filled electrons to
find value of L.
L = ∑ m =2+1+0-1=2
l

There are four spin up electrons in subshells

Total spin=S=4x(1/2)=2
If five electrons are filled, 3d subshell is half
filled. Because there are only four electrons in
our case, it is less than half filled.
So J = L − S =2-2=0

Example: Find L, S and J values of Ni with 28

electrons.
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Electron configuration of Ni is
1s2 2s22p6 3s23p6 4s2 3d8
8 electrons in 3d subshell are filled as following.

ml=2 1 0 -1 -2
First 5 electrons with spin up fill in 5 subshells,
then other 3 electrons fill as spin up electrons
starting from ml=2. Now we have to add ml
values of all spin up and spin down electrons.
L = ∑ m =2+1+0-1-2+2+1+0=3
l

Because there are paired electrons in first three

subshells, the total spin is zero in first three
subshells. Because there are only two unpaired
electrons,
Total spin=S=2x(1/2)=1
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If five electrons are filled, 3d subshell is half
filled. Because there are eight electrons in our
case, it is more than half filled.
Because this shell is more than half filled,
J=L+S=3+1=4