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How to Figure Out How Many Orbitals Are Needed for Electrons

An atom has three components: protons, neutrons and electrons. The heavier components -- the neutrons and protons -- bunch together in the center or nucleus of the atom, while the lighter electrons circle around the nucleus. The zones in which the electrons circle are known as orbitals. Only a certain number of electrons can fit in each orbital, and the electrons will fill the orbitals nearest the nucleus first before filling the orbitals farther out. The number of orbitals an atom has and the number of electrons in it are crucial in determining its behavior.

Things You'll Need

  • Periodic table of the elements
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate the element under investigation on the periodic table. If your table includes only the chemical symbols, consult the list of the elemental symbols and their abbreviations at the Israel Science and Technology website. For example if the atom you are researching has the symbol Ba, locate it on the list to find that the element is Barium.

    • 2

      Trace along the row of the table that the element is in until you reach the left side of the table, where you will find a number. This number is the period of the element. This defines how many electron rings, shells or orbitals the atom has. Following the example of Barium, tracing along to the left will bring you to the number 6, telling you that the element has six electron orbitals.

    • 3

      Trace vertically upwards from the element's position on the table to find the number at the top to find the element's group number. Use this number to tell you about the number of electrons on the atom's outer shell. This is an important determiner of the element's behavior. Barium, for example, is positioned beneath the number 2, meaning it has two electrons in its outer shell. However, you must be careful with groups 3 and 12, the transition metals, because they will not strictly follow this rule. They will gain additional electrons in their inner shells rather than their outer ones. You must look up element configurations of elements in these groups individually, but the rule for the number of orbitals still applies.


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