Chemistry

Explain Pauli’s Exclusion Principle

Pauli’s Exclusion Principle: No two electrons in an atom can have same values for all the four quantum numbers.

Pauli’s exclusion principle also states that an orbital can accommodate maximum two electrons whose spin will be opposite.

From the above discussion it can be concluded that

  • s — subshell can have maximum 2 electrons
  • p — subshell can have maximum 6 electrons
  • d — subshell can have maximum 10 electrons
  • f — subshell can have maximum 14 electrons.

An important conclusion of Pauli’s exclusion principle is an orbital can accommodate maximum two electrons whose spin will be opposite. By following this principle, maximum electron number of different subshell can be determined.