Question

How many electrons can a ‘d’ orbital have?

Answer 1

The orbitals are arranged around a nucleus according to their maximum capacity. The orbitals are in order of s, p, d, f, and the electron capacity is also in order of their size. The d orbital has five subshells and one can guess about the maximum number of electrons accordingly.

Complete step by step answer:

1. First of all we will learn about the concept of an orbital. The orbitals can be elaborated as the three-dimensional space which is present around the nucleus where the probability of finding an electron is highest.
2. Now the nucleus which is the center of an atom is surrounded by the orbitals. The orbitals contain the electrons according to their capacity.
3. The orbitals are arranged around the nucleus as per their size. The lowest size orbital is the s orbitals and then the size increases as per p orbital, d orbital, and f orbital.
4. Now let us learn about the d orbitals. The d orbital has the five subshells present in it. Each subshell can hold a maximum of two electrons which are placed in opposite directions with others. As the d orbital has five subshells, we can say that the d orbital can have a maximum of the total in ten electrons considering each subshell has two electrons.
5. Therefore, a ‘d’ orbital can have a maximum of ten electrons.

Note:
The s, p, and f orbital have a maximum capacity of electrons as two, six, and fourteen electrons respectively. The filling of electrons in each orbital is done as per the Aufbau principle and Pauli's exclusion principle.