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Question

State the difference between a shell and a subshell?


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Solution

Difference between Shell and Subshell

Shell

Subshell

A shell is a direction that electrons take through the nucleus of an atom.A subshell is the field of a shell where electrons pass.
The principal quantum number determines the cumulative number of electrons that can be accommodated in a shell (n).The azimuthal quantum number denoted by 'l' determines the subshells into which electrons are distributed.
The shell number is expressed by the term 2n2, where n is the number of shells.The formula 2(2l+1) gives the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated by a subshell.
The total number of electrons that can be accommodated in K, L, M, and N shells are 2, 8, 18, and 32 respectively.The s, p, d and f subshells each have a combined capacity of 2, 6,10 and 14 electrons.

Therefore, the basic difference between a shell and a subshell is one gives the direction of electrons and another gives the field where electrons pass.


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