Question

Explain the term subshells.

Answer 1

Shells:

• Shells are a group of sub-shells with the same principal quantum number, represented by ‘n’.
• The larger the ‘ n ’ is, the farther the shell is from the centre, as a result, electrons in the same shell are at a similar distance from the nucleus.

Sub-shells:

• A sub-shell is defined as a collection of orbitals within a shell.
• Sub-shells share the same principal quantum numbers.
• They share the same angular momentum quantum number, represented as ‘l’.
• Different sub-shells are represented as s, p, d and f and so on.
• Different sub-shells are known to have different orbital shapes.
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