Step 1: For part (a), understand that in an octahedral crystal field, the d-orbitals split into two sets: the lower energy t_{2g} set (d_{xy}, d_{xz}, d_{yz}) and the higher energy e_g set (d_{x^2-y^2}, d_{z^2}). Sketch a diagram showing these orbitals with the energy levels, and label the energy difference between them as the crystal-field splitting energy (∆).