The Magnetic Quantum Number Specifies

Q:- The magnetic quantum number specifies 

Answer:- The magnetic quantum number specifies the orientation of the orbitals. The magnetic quantum number is the set of integers which specify the spatial orientation of an orbital. It illustrates the orbital, and it is unique for every orbital for a given value of the azimuthal quantum number. It is denoted by ml. M stands for magnetic, and l stands for azimuthal. m=…-2,-1,0,1,2. And so on. 

The number, along with all the numbers like the principal quantum number, azimuthal quantum number and the spin quantum number, is used to find the number of electrons in an atom. It was proposed by Arnold Sommerfeld, a German theoretical physicist who also introduced the azimuthal quantum number. 

The Magnetic quantum number does not decide the energy of the orbital, but it affects the energy of the orbital in the existence of an outer static magnetic field. Both the quantum number, the magnetic quantum number and the spin quantum number contribute to the magnetic moment of the electron. The magnetic quantum number mainly determines the number of orbitals in an electron and the orientation of that orbital in a subshell. 

The subshell has only one orientation in space. The subshell has only 1 orbital known as the s orbital.

For l=1 in the p subshell, m has three values which are m= -1,0,+1; the p subshell has 3 orbitals. These 3 orbitals are placed along the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis; hence they are known as ps, py and pz. 

For l=2 in the d subshell, m can have 5 values, m= -2,-1,0,+1,+2; therefore, the d subshell has 5 orbitals. 

For l=3 in the f subshell, m can have 7 values, m= -3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2,+3; there are 7 orbitals in the f subshell, and there are 7 different orientations of the f subshell. 

All the orbitals in the subshell have the same energy according to their respective subshell.