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Write Brief Answer · Q11

Q.Justify that the fifth period of the periodic table should have 18 elements on the basis of quantum numbers.

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Step 1. By the Aufbau principle, the 5th period fills, in order: the 5s orbital, then the 4d orbitals, then the 5p orbitals (Table 3.10) -- this specific filling ORDER is itself justified by the (n+l) rule (orbitals with lower n+l fill first; among equal n+l, lower n fills first), which places 4d (n+l=6) ahead of 5p (n+l=6, but higher n) and after 5s (n+l=5).

Step 2. Each orbital type holds a maximum number of electrons set by the quantum numbers: an s subshell has 1 orbital (2 electrons, from ml=0m_l=0, ms=±12m_s=\pm\tfrac12); a d subshell has 5 orbitals (ml=−2,−1,0,1,2m_l = -2,-1,0,1,2, so 10 electrons); a p subshell has 3 orbitals (ml=−1,0,1m_l=-1,0,1, so 6 electrons). …

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