Physics: Principles with Applications (7th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32162-592-7
ISBN 13: 978-0-32162-592-2

Chapter 28 - Quantum Mechanics of Atoms - Problems - Page 827: 18

Answer

32 states.

Work Step by Step

For n = 4, the value of $\mathcal{l}$ ranges from 0 to 3. For each $\mathcal{l}$, the value of $m_{\mathcal{l}}$ goes from $-\mathcal{l}$ to $+\mathcal{l}$, for a total of $2\mathcal{l}+1$ values. For each $m_{\mathcal{l}}$ there are two values of spin, $m_{s}$. Thus the number of states for each $\mathcal{l}$ is $2(2\mathcal{l}+1)$. For n = 4, the number of states is $$2(0+1)+2(2+1)+2(4+1)+2(6+1)=32 \;states$$ See the figure for the complete list of states. We start with $\mathcal{l}=0$, and list the quantum numbers in the order $(n, \mathcal{l}, m_{\mathcal{l}}, m_s)$.
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