The information on this page is ✔ fact-checked.
In the helium orbital diagram, the 1s subshell accommodates two electrons.
To illustrate the helium orbital diagram, first, determine the number of electrons from the periodic table. Then, note the electron configuration for reference, and follow the three essential rules: Aufbau principle, Pauli exclusion principle, and Hund’s rule. This systematic approach ensures an accurate representation of helium’s orbital arrangement.
Steps
Find electrons
The atomic number of helium represents the total number of electrons of helium. Since the atomic number of helium is 2, the total electrons of helium are 2.
Write electron configuration
The electron configuration of helium is 1s2.
Now in the next step, start drawing the orbital diagram for helium.
Draw orbital diagram
Before drawing the orbital diagram, you should know the three general rules.
- Aufbau principle – electrons are first filled in lowest energy orbital and then in higher energy orbital
- Pauli exclusion principle – two electrons with the same spin can not occupy the same orbital
- Hund’s rule – each orbital should be first filled with one electron before being paired with a second electron
Also, you should know the number of orbitals in each subshell.
We can calculate the number of orbitals in each subshell using the formula: 2ℓ + 1
Where, ℓ = azimuthal quantum number of the subshell
For s subshell, ℓ = 0
For p subshell, ℓ = 1
For d subshell, ℓ = 2
For f subshell, ℓ = 3
So each s subshell has one orbital, each p subshell has three orbitals, each d subshell has five orbitals, and each f subshell has seven orbitals.
Now start to draw!
As mentioned above, the electron configuration of helium is 1s2. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of helium up to 1s subshell as follows:
In the above orbital diagram, the box represents an orbital. Each orbital has a capacity of two electrons. And the arrows (↑↓) are drawn inside the box to represent electrons.
Now 1s2 indicates that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons. So draw two arrows in the 1s box showing two electrons as follows:
That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of helium as we have used all 2 electrons.
Next: Lithium orbital diagram
📝 Your feedback matters. Visit our contact page.
Related
More topics
External links
Deep
Learnool.com was founded by Deep Rana, who is a mechanical engineer by profession and a blogger by passion. He has a good conceptual knowledge on different educational topics and he provides the same on this website. He loves to learn something new everyday and believes that the best utilization of free time is developing a new skill.
