I was told the quantum spin(inherent angular momentum) of an electron determines the structure of the atom?

Question

and i was told the spin is independent of the charge. i have not had a physics class so i am trying to understand how the 2 can be independent. simple answer please

Answer 1

Spin and charge are two different properties. The charge is what keeps the electrons close to the nucleus and the shapes of the orbitals, but the spin determines how those orbitals fill with electrons. Because of the Pauli exclusion principle, you can't have two electrons in the same orbital with the same spin. Because of this, each orbital can have at most 2 electrons (one with spin up, the other with spin down). So, it's probably best to say that both charge and spin determine the structure of the atoms.

For your information: protons also have spin-in fact the same spin as electrons, even though they are positively charged. Neutrinos have the same spin as both of those and are electrically neutral.