The total number of groups in the periodic table would be 27 if an orbital could contain 3 electrons. Let's break down the reasoning behind this answer.

Explanation:

1. Electron Configuration - The electron configuration of an atom describes the arrangement of electrons in its orbitals. Each orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons.

2. Current Periodic Table - The current periodic table has 7 rows or periods, and 18 columns or groups. The groups are numbered from 1 to 18 based on the number of valence electrons in the elements.

3. Filling of Orbitals - The filling of orbitals in the periodic table follows a specific pattern. The first two rows are filled with elements that have a maximum of 2 electrons in their outermost shell. The third row starts with sodium which has 1 electron in its outermost shell, and it fills up to argon which has a full outermost shell.

4. Maximum Electrons per Group - Based on the above pattern, if an orbital could contain 3 electrons, the maximum number of electrons in each group would be 3. This is because the first two electrons would fill up one orbital and the third electron would go to another orbital.

5. New Periodic Table - Using this logic, the new periodic table would have 9 rows and 27 columns. Each group would have a maximum of 3 electrons, and the elements in each group would have similar chemical properties due to their similar electronic configurations.

Conclusion:

In summary, if an orbital could contain 3 electrons, the total number of groups in the periodic table would be 27. This is because each group would have a maximum of 3 electrons, and the elements in each group would have similar chemical properties.