Chemistry question

[nihantokar]

an orbital can contain a maximum of:
4 electrons
1 e
16 e
2 e
8 e

initially, I went with 8 electrons but when I searched online I said 2 electrons which confused me. the reason was that it can contain -1/2 and 1/2 spins in one orbital. can someone explain if 2 is correct?

[Juliette]

Hi!

Yes 2e⁻ is the correct answer, there is a difference between

• shells (that hold 2e⁻ ; 8e⁻ 18e⁻ ; or 32e⁻)
• subshells (s holds 2e⁻ ; p holds 6e⁻ ; d holds 10e⁻ ; f holds 14e⁻)
• orbitals (holds 2e⁻ in opposite spin)

Here is a diagram that sums it all up: