32
QuizMultiple Choice

N/A — Exam

Question 32 • Chemistry

Which diagram shows electrons violating the Pauli exclusion principle?

Answer
A
Image with description Three adjacent boxes, each containing a single arrow pointing up.
B
Image with description Three adjacent boxes. The first two boxes each contain two arrows, one pointing up and one pointing down. The third box contains one arrow pointing up.
C
Image with description Three adjacent boxes, the first box containing two arrows, one pointing up and one pointing down, the second two boxes contain two arrows pointing upward.
D
Image with description Three adjacent boxes, each containing one arrow pointing up and one arrow pointing down.

Explanation

The Pauli exclusion principle says that two electrons in the same orbital must have opposite spins, shown as one up arrow and one down arrow. In C, the second and third boxes each show two up arrows, so the electrons in each of those orbitals have identical spins. That violates the principle; the other diagrams do not show two same-spin electrons in one box.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

Previous
Next