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A p subshell is made up of how many orbitals?
AThree orbitals
BFive orbitals
CSeven orbitals
DOne orbital
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Three orbitals
1. Each subshell type holds a fixed number of orbitals with a characteristic shape.
2. An s subshell has a single spherical orbital.
3. The p subshells are made up of three dumbbell-shaped orbitals.
4. Subshells d and f have more complex shapes and contain five and seven orbitals respectively.
5. So five and seven belong to d and f, which makes them the traps here.
_Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 'The Chemical Foundation of Life', sections 2.1-2.3_
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