Electron Spin deals with the rotational spin (up or down) of an electron inside an orbital.
Electronic Structure:Electron Spin
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concept
Electronic Structure: Electron Spin Concept 1
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Now an orbital can hold a maximum of two electrons that have opposite spins according to the poly exclusion principle. Now it says that no two electrons found within an orbital could have the same electron spin. Okay, so one has to spin up and one has to spin down. Now, when we talk about this electron spin, it deals with the rotational spin of an electron inside an atomic orbital. We're gonna say we start out filling an orbital with an electron that points up, Followed by the next one, pointing down. So if we were to fill out this orbital, we use arrows to depict the electrons within it, one would point up and one would point down. They have opposite spins inside the same orbital. Now realize here that the electron that points up has an electron spin value of plus 1/2. I would say that is pointing up, it's spinning clockwise and an electron that points down has an electron spin value of -1 have pointing down also means that it has a counter clockwise spin. So just remember plus a half is synonymous with clockwise negative a half synonymous with counterclockwise in relation to an electron spin.
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example
Electronic Structure: Electron Spin Example 1
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here. It says to provide the end value sub shell letter and electron spin for the highlighted electron in a third Principal level. All right. So here we were talking about third principal level. We're talking about energy level or shell number. So here this means that N equals three. Because remember energy level shell number principal level all referring to the end value. That means the answer is either B or D. Next we have an image here of three orbital's. You have to think about which sub shall letter has three orbital's. Remember S only has one. P is the one that has three. De has five. All right. So, we're dealing with P. So the sub shell letter is P. So, so far it's still beardy. Now we look at the electron within that particular orbital. Which way is it pointing? Is it pointing up or is it pointing down? We can see that the electron that's highlighted is pointing down. That means that its electron spin would be -1 half. So, that would mean that option D would be a correct answer.
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Problem
Which of the following can represent the highlighted electron in a set of 5d orbitals.
A
n = 5, subshell = f, electron spin = –1/2
B
n = 4, subshell = s, electron spin = –1/2
C
n = 5, subshell = d, electron spin = +1/2
D
n = 5, subshell = p, electron spin = –1/2
E
n = 5, subshell = s, electron spin = +1/2