Question:
Given the subshells $\ce{1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p}$ and $\ce{3d}$, identify those that meet the following descriptions:
a) has $l=2$ b) Can contain two electrons with spin $m_{s}=\pm\frac{1}{2}$.
For a): from my understanding $l=n-1$. Therefore $\ce{3s, 3p}$ and $\ce{3d}$ should be correct but according to my solutions manual, the answer is only $\ce{3d}$. Why is this so?
For b) The answer is $\ce{2p, 3p}$ and $\ce{3d}$. Why are these the answers?