Question

Find out the correct answer from the following and justify

A p-orbital can accommodate up to:

• A. $4$ electrons
• B. $6$ electrons
• C. $2\mathrm{electrons}$
• D. $8\mathrm{electrons}$

Answer 1

The correct option is B

$6$ electrons

The explanation for the correct answer:

Option B: $6\mathrm{electrons}$

1. p-orbital has $3$ sub orbitals i.e. ${\mathrm{p}}_{\mathrm{x}},{\mathrm{p}}_{\mathrm{y}},{\mathrm{p}}_{\mathrm{z}}$
2. each suborbital can accommodate a maximum of $2$ electrons.
3. So, the total electrons that the p-orbital can accommodate are $6$.

The explanation for the incorrect answer:

Option A: $4$ electron

1. p-orbital can accommodate $4$ electrons but it will still have $2$ half-filled suborbitals.

Option C: $2$ electrons

1. s-orbital has only $1$suborbital so it can accommodate a maximum of $2$ electrons.

Option D: $8$ electrons.

1. d-orbital can accommodate a maximum of $10$ electrons because it has $5$ sub-orbitals.

So, Option B is correct. p-orbital can accommodate up to $6$ electrons.