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Question: The degenerate orbitals have the same values of quantum numbers. (A) True (B) False...

The degenerate orbitals have the same values of quantum numbers.
(A) True
(B) False

Explanation

Solution

The orbitals that have the same value of energy are called degenerate orbitals. We have total of four quantum numbers; principal quantum number, azimuthal quantum number, magnetic quantum number and spin quantum number

Complete answer:
Let’s get some information about the degenerate orbitals as well as the quantum numbers of the orbitals.
- Degenerate orbitals are the orbitals that have the same energy. We know that the five d-orbitals have the same energy. That means they are degenerate.
- There are a total four quantum numbers to assign the configuration of electrons. We will take a look at all of them one by one.

  1. The principal quantum number is shown as ‘n’. It shows the number of the shell or orbit of the orbital. We know that there are K, M, N,… shells available which are assigned 1, 2, 3 numbers respectively. This quantum number is always the same for the degenerate orbitals.
  2. The azimuthal quantum number is shown as ‘l’. It indicates the subshell of the shell. Thus, for the orbitals s, p, d.. the azimuthal quantum numbers are 0, 1, 2… Now we can say that the azimuthal quantum number is also the same for the degenerate orbitals.
  3. The magnetic quantum number is shown as ‘m’. It indicates the magnetic moment of the orbital. We know that the ‘m’ values for the orbital ‘l’ are –l to +l. So, we can say that the degenerate orbitals do not have the same ‘m’ value.
  4. The spin quantum number is shown as ‘s’. It describes the spin of the electron present in the orbital. The value of ‘s’ can be the same or different for the degenerate orbitals.
    - Thus, we can conclude that all the quantum numbers are not the same for degenerate orbitals.

Therefore, the correct answer is (B).

Note:
Remember that the d-orbitals of the transition metals are not always having the same energy. When they form complexes i.e. come in contact with ligand fields, the d-orbitals lose their degeneracy and the splitting of energy of the d-orbitals occur there.