The no. of spherical nodes in a 4s orbital is

Options

A. Zero
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3

Answer

To determine the number of spherical nodes in a 4s orbital, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the principal quantum number (n) and azimuthal quantum number (l)
- For a 4s orbital, the principal quantum number \( n \) is 4.
- The azimuthal quantum number \( l \) for an s orbital is always 0.

### Step 2: Use the formula to calculate the number of spherical (radial) nodes
- The number of spherical nodes (or radial nodes) is calculated using the formula:
\[ \text{Number of spherical nodes} = n - l - 1 \]

### Step 3: Substitute the values into the formula
- Substituting the values we identified:
\[ \text{Number of spherical nodes} = 4 - 0 - 1 \]
- Simplifying this gives:
\[ \text{Number of spherical nodes} = 4 - 1 = 3 \]

### Conclusion
- Therefore, the number of spherical nodes in a 4s orbital is **3**.