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In quantum mechanics, an atomic orbital (/ ˈ ɔːr b ɪ t ə l / ⓘ) is a function describing the location and wave-like behavior of an electron in an atom. [1] This function describes an electron's charge distribution around the atom's nucleus, and can be used to calculate the probability of finding an electron in a specific region around ...
The orbital wave functions are positive in the red regions and negative in the blue. The right column shows virtual MO's which are empty in the ground state, but may be occupied in excited states. In chemistry, a molecular orbital (/ ɒr b ə d l /) is a mathematical function describing the location and wave-like behavior of an electron in a ...
In theoretical and computational chemistry, a basis set is a set of functions (called basis functions) that is used to represent the electronic wave function in the Hartree–Fock method or density-functional theory in order to turn the partial differential equations of the model into algebraic equations suitable for efficient implementation on a computer.
A planar node can be described in an electromagnetic wave as the midpoint between crest and trough, which has zero magnitudes. In an s orbital, no nodes go through the nucleus, therefore the corresponding azimuthal quantum number ℓ takes the value of 0. In a p orbital, one node traverses the nucleus and therefore ℓ has the value of 1.
In chemistry, this quantum number is very important, since it specifies the shape of an atomic orbital and strongly influences chemical bonds and bond angles. The azimuthal quantum number can also denote the number of angular nodes present in an orbital. For example, for p orbitals, ℓ = 1 and thus the amount of angular nodes in a p orbital is 1.
Molecular orbital theory revolutionized the study of chemical bonding by approximating the states of bonded electrons – the molecular orbitals – as linear combinations of atomic orbitals (LCAO). These approximations are made by applying the density functional theory (DFT) or Hartree–Fock (HF) models to the Schrödinger equation .
The orbital magnetic quantum number (m l or m [a]) distinguishes the orbitals available within a given subshell of an atom. It specifies the component of the orbital angular momentum that lies along a given axis, conventionally called the z -axis, so it describes the orientation of the orbital in space.
Some quantum chemistry software uses sets of Slater-type functions (STF) analogous to Slater type orbitals, but with variable exponents chosen to minimize the total molecular energy (rather than by Slater's rules as above). The fact that products of two STOs on distinct atoms are more difficult to express than those of Gaussian functions (which ...