Quantum Numbers

Quantum numbers are a set of values that describes the state of an electron including its distance from
the nucleus, the orientation and type of orbital where it is likely to be found, and its spin. The Pauli
exclusion principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of quantum numbers.
The principle quantum number (n) is the number of the electron's shell. The angular momentum quantum
number (l) is the type of orbital (s=0, p=1, etc). The magnetic quantum number (ml) is the orientation of
the orbital (integers from –l to l, for p = -1, 0, 1). The spin projection quantum number (ms) is the spin of
the electron (either -½ or ½).

Terms

 angular momentum :The vector product that describes the rotary inertia of a system about an axis.
 Quantum : The smallest possible, and therefore indivisible, unit of a given quantity or quantifiable
phenomenon.
 quantum number :One of certain integers or half-integers that specify the state of a quantum
mechanical system (such as an electron in an atom).

While the work of Bohr and de Broglie clearly established that electrons take on different discrete energy
levels that are related to the atomic radius, their model was a relatively simplistic spherical view. There
was an appreciation that the energy level of an electron was related to the principal quantum number n,
however there was no numerical means of classifying additional aspects of an electron’s motion in space,
such as its orientation or direction. In three dimensions, the solutions of the Schrödinger equation
provided a set of three additional quantum numbers that could be used to describe electron behavior
even in more complicated many-electron atoms. This was in contrast to previous work that focused on
one-electron atoms such as hydrogen.

The most prominent system of nomenclature spawned from the molecular orbital theory of Friedrich Hund
and Robert S. Mulliken, which incorporates Bohr energy levels as well as observations about electron
spin. This model describes electrons using four quantum numbers: energy (n), angular momentum (ℓ),
magnetic moment (mℓ), and spin (m s). It is also the common nomenclature in the classical description of
nuclear particle states (e.g. protons and neutrons).

Quantum numbersThese four quantum numbers are used to describe the probable location of an electron in an
atom.

The Principal Quantum Number

The first quantum number describes the electron shell, or energy level, of an atom. The value of n ranges
from 1 to the shell containing the outermost electron of that atom.
The Azimuthal Quantum Number

The second quantum number, known as the angular or orbital quantum number, describes the subshell
and gives the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum through the relation. In chemistry and
spectroscopy, ℓ = 0 is called an s orbital, ℓ = 1 a p orbital, ℓ = 2 a d orbital, and ℓ = 3 an f orbital. The value
of ℓ ranges from 0 to n − 1 because the first p orbital (ℓ = 1) appears in the second electron shell (n = 2),
the first d orbital (ℓ = 2) appears in the third shell (n = 3), and so on. In chemistry, this quantum number is
very important since it specifies the shape of an atomic orbital and strongly influences chemical bonds
and bond angles.

The Magnetic Quantum Number

The magnetic quantum number describes the energy levels available within a subshell and yields the
projection of the orbital angular momentum along a specified axis. The values of mℓ range from − to ℓ,
with integer steps between them. The s subshell (ℓ = 0) contains one orbital, and therefore the mℓ of an
electron in an s subshell will always be 0. The p subshell (ℓ = 1) contains three orbitals (in some systems
depicted as three “dumbbell-shaped” clouds), so the mℓ of an electron in a p subshell will be −1, 0, or 1.
The d subshell (ℓ = 2) contains five orbitals, with m ℓ values of −2, −1, 0, 1, and 2. The value of the
mℓ quantum number is associated with the orbital orientation.

The Spin Projection Quantum Number

The fourth quantum number describes the spin (intrinsic angular momentum) of the electron within that
orbital and gives the projection of the spin angular momentum (s) along the specified axis. Analogously,
the values of ms range from −s to s, where s is the spin quantum number, an intrinsic property of
particles. An electron has spin s = ½, consequently m s will be ±, corresponding with spin and opposite
spin. Each electron in any individual orbital must have different spins because of the Pauli exclusion
principle, therefore an orbital never contains more than two electrons.

The angular quantum number (l) describes the shape of the orbital. Orbitals have shapes that are best described as
spherical (l = 0), polar (l = 1), or cloverleaf (l = 2). They can even take on more complex shapes as the value of the
angular quantum number becomes larger.