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Why is the a term the ground term for a d3 electron configuration for a transition metal
Accepted Answer
The ground term for a d³ electron configuration is ⁴F, not ³A. This is because the term symbol is determined by the total spin angular momentum (S), total orbital angular momentum (L), and the total angular momentum (J).
For d³, the maximum spin multiplicity is 2S+1 = 4 (S = 3/2) because three electrons can have parallel spins. The maximum L value is 3 (F) because the d orbitals can have ml values from -2 to +2, and the sum of the ml values for the three electrons can be up to 3.
The total angular momentum J is determined by the coupling of S and L, and can range from |L-S| to |L+S|. For d³, the possible J values are 3/2, 5/2, 7/2, and 9/2.
Therefore, the ground term for a d³ configuration is ⁴F (S = 3/2, L = 3, J = 9/2), not ³A.
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