Number of possible orbital diagrams for the configurate `1s^(2) 2s^(2) 2p^(1)` is

Options

A. One
B. Two
C. Four
D. Six

Explanation

To determine the number of possible orbital diagrams for the electron configuration \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^1\), we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the Electron Configuration
The given electron configuration is \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^1\). This means:
- The \(1s\) orbital is fully filled with 2 electrons.
- The \(2s\) orbital is also fully filled with 2 electrons.
- The \(2p\) orbital has 1 electron.

### Step 2: Analyze the \(s\) Orbitals
Both \(1s\) and \(2s\) orbitals can only hold a maximum of 2 electrons and are fully filled. Therefore, there is only one way to represent the \(1s^2\) and \(2s^2\) orbitals:
- \(1s\) can be represented as ↑↓ (two electrons with opposite spins).
- \(2s\) can be represented as ↑↓ (two electrons with opposite spins).

### Step 3: Analyze the \(p\) Orbital
The \(2p\) subshell consists of three orbitals: \(2p_x\), \(2p_y\), and \(2p_z\). Since there is only 1 electron in the \(2p\) subshell, it can occupy any one of the three \(p\) orbitals.

### Step 4: Determine Possible Configurations for \(2p^1\)
The single electron can be placed in any of the three \(p\) orbitals:
1. \(2p_x\)
2. \(2p_y\)
3. \(2p_z\)

For each of these placements, the electron can have two possible spins:
- Spin up (↑)
- Spin down (↓)

### Step 5: Calculate the Total Number of Orbital Diagrams
For each of the three \(p\) orbitals, we have 2 possible spin states. Therefore, the total number of possible orbital diagrams can be calculated as follows:
- Number of orbitals = 3 (for \(2p_x\), \(2p_y\), \(2p_z\))
- Number of spin states per orbital = 2 (↑ or ↓)

Thus, the total number of configurations is:
\[ \text{Total configurations} = \text{Number of orbitals} \times \text{Number of spin states} = 3 \times 2 = 6 \]

### Final Answer
The number of possible orbital diagrams for the configuration \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^1\) is **6**.

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