Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
The correct set of 4 quantum numbers for the outermost elsectrons of rubidium (Z=3) is?
I don't understand how to answer this question, please can you tell me how exactly you derived the answers. Thanks!
1 Answer
- iron_compositeLv 41 decade agoFavorite Answer
First, rubidium is not Z=3; Z=37. You have 4 quantum numbers to find: n,l,m, and s.
You need to know the electron configuration for rubidium, which is [Kr] 5s1. This tells us that rubidium is on the 5th row of the periodic table, so n=5. Rubidium is in the s-block of the periodic table (period I), so l=0. l would be 1 if it were in the p-block, 2 in the d-block, and 3 in the f-block. Because l=0, m=0, since m must be an integer between -l and l inclusive. s depends on the orientation of the magnetic moment of the electron in space, but it has values of either +1/2 or -1/2. Convention states that the first half of electrons in a subshell are +.
Your quantum numbers are therefore:
n=5
l=0
m=0
s=1/2