If electrons did not have intrinsic angular momentum (spin) but still obeyed the Pauli exclusion principle the states occupied by electrons in the ground state of helium would be:
A) (n = 1, ); (n = 1, )
B) (n = 1, ); (n = 1, )
C) (n = 1, ); (n = 2, )
D) (n = 2, ); (n = 2, )
E) (n = 2, ); (n = 2, )

Question

If electrons did not have intrinsic angular momentum (spin) but still obeyed the Pauli exclusion principle the states occupied by electrons in the ground state of helium would be:
A) (n = 1, ); (n = 1, ) 
B) (n = 1, ); (n = 1, ) 
C) (n = 1, ); (n = 2, ) 
D) (n = 2, ); (n = 2, ) 
E) (n = 2, ); (n = 2, )

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Pauli exclusion principle states that no two electrons can have the same set of four quantum numbers. Without spin, the only quantum numbers available to differentiate electrons are the principal quantum number (n), the angular momentum quantum number (l), and the magnetic quantum number (m). For the ground state of helium, the two electrons must have the same principal quantum number (n=1) and the same angular momentum quantum number (l=0). However, they must have different magnetic quantum numbers (m=0 and m=1), since two electrons with the same magnetic quantum number would violate the Pauli exclusion principle. Therefore, the only option that satisfies these conditions is choice C, where one electron is in the (n=1, l=0, m=0) state and the other electron is in the (n=2, l=0, m=1) state.

If Electrons Did Not Have Intrinsic Angular Momentum (Spin) but Still