Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-3-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-2a/section-a/15/a/solution
Past exam of the chemistry course of the year 3 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Paper 2A Section A 15 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
The terms are , and . Closed molecular orbital shells contribute no net spin angular momentum or axial orbital projection, so only the two equivalent electrons need be coupled. Their individual projections are .
Putting both electrons in the same projection gives and forces opposite spins by the Pauli exclusion principle, yielding . With one electron in each projection, the spin-adapted symmetric and antisymmetric spatial combinations give a singlet and a triplet . Their reflection parities are and , respectively. Both open-shell electrons are gerade, so their product is gerade. The dimensions exhaust the microstates. By Hund's rules, the triplet is the lowest term, and is the lower singlet.
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