Question

According to Hund's rule of maximum spin multiplicity, how many singly-occupied orbitals are there in the valence shells of the following elements in their ground states? Enter your answer as the sum of all the orbitals (for example 15).
A) carbon
B) cobalt
C) sulfur
D) fluorine
E) titanium
F) germanium

Answer 1

Answer:

A) carbon  - 2

B) cobalt  - 3

C) sulfur   - 2

D) fluorine   - 1

E) titanium   - 2

F) germanium  - 2

Explanation:

Hund's rule of maximum multiplicity:-

Firstly, every orbital which is present in the sublevel is singly occupied and then the orbital is doubly occupied.  

(A) Carbon.

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^2$

Thus, 2s orbital is fully filled and p orbital can singly filled 3 electrons. Thus, Carbon has 2 singly occupied orbitals.

(B) Cobalt.

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^63d^{7}4s^2$

Thus, 4s orbital is fully filled and d orbital can singly filled 5 electrons. Thus, 4 electrons will be paired in 2 orbitals and 3 orbitals will be singly filled in cobalt.

(C) Sulfur.

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^4$

Thus, 3s orbital is fully filled and p orbital can singly filled 3 electrons. Thus, 2 electrons will be paired in 1 orbital and 2 orbitals will be singly filled in sulfur.

D) fluorine

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^5$

Thus, 2s orbital is fully filled and p orbital can singly filled 3 electrons. Thus, 4 electrons will be paired in 2 orbitals and 1 orbital will be singly filled in fluorine.

E) Titanium

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^63d^{2}4s^2$

Thus, 4s orbital is fully filled and d orbital can singly filled 5 electrons. Thus, 2 orbitals will be singly filled in titanium.

F) Germanium

The electronic configuration is -  

$1s^22s^22p^63s^23p^63d^{10}4s^24p^2$

Thus, 4s, 3d orbitals are fully filled and p orbital can singly filled 3 electrons. Thus, Germanium has 2 singly occupied orbitals.