Part 1. Altered Reality: Suppose the electron were not a “fermion” and instead w
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Question
Part 1. Altered Reality: Suppose the electron were not a “fermion” and instead was completely different particle that we will call the “tri-on”. This tri-on has 3 spin states instead of two – we will call these spin up, spin down, and no-spin. Now imagine in this new world all the other physical principles still seem to hold – that is electronic energy levels and orbitals are still quantized, the angular momentum and magnetic quantum number have the same rules, and the Pauli principle is still valid. Also assume there are still atoms and molecules.
-What would the first two rows of the periodic table look like? To answer this question start by writing the electronic configuration of hydrogen, helium, then lithium. How many electrons can you put in the 1s orbital? Which of these three elements would be in an inert gas?
Explanation / Answer
The first two rows of the periodic table will be completely different because electrons can be arranged in the orbitals in three ways - positive spin , negative spin and no spin but an orbital can have only two electrons.
E.C of H - 1s1 ( no spin)
E.C of He - 1s2 ( one +ve spin and one no spin)
E.C of Li - 1s2 2s1 ( one -ve spin)
We can put only two electrons in the 1s orbital because Pauli exclusion principle states that an orbital can hold maximum of two electrons.
Hydrogen is the inert gas.