how many d orbitials must be occupied by single electrons before the electrons begin to pair up?

Question

answer choices: a 5, b 1,c 7,or d 3

Answer 1

5 d orbitals must be occupied before any electrons can begin to pair. This was someones concept (i forget the name). This is a useful rule when fiddling with quantum numbers, or drawing electron diagrams (molecular, or atomic orbital diagrams)

*EDIT*

There you go, physandchem..... wrote the name.. It is Hund's rule :))

Answer 2

Hund's Rule states that each orbit of the same energy must accept one electron before they begin to pair up in any of the equal-energy orbitals.

Answer 3

The best answer is a, there are 5 d orbitals.