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An orbital can be occupied by a maximum of two electrons, each with its own projection of spin. The simple names s orbital, p orbital, d orbital, and f orbital refer to orbitals with angular momentum quantum number ℓ = 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
In chemistry and atomic physics, an electron shell may be thought of as an orbit that electrons follow around an atom's nucleus.The closest shell to the nucleus is called the "1 shell" (also called the "K shell"), followed by the "2 shell" (or "L shell"), then the "3 shell" (or "M shell"), and so on further and further from the nucleus.
A molecular orbital (MO) can be used to represent the regions in a molecule where an electron occupying that orbital is likely to be found. Molecular orbitals are approximate solutions to the Schrödinger equation for the electrons in the electric field of the molecule's atomic nuclei.
The possible orbital symmetries are listed in the table below. For example, an orbital of B 1 symmetry (called a b 1 orbital with a small b since it is a one-electron function) is multiplied by -1 under the symmetry operations C 2 (rotation about the 2-fold rotation axis) and σ v '(yz) (reflection in the molecular
However there are numerous exceptions; for example the lightest exception is chromium, which would be predicted to have the configuration 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6 3d 4 4s 2, written as [Ar] 3d 4 4s 2, but whose actual configuration given in the table below is [Ar] 3d 5 4s 1.
Chromium and copper have electron configurations [Ar] 3d 5 4s 1 and [Ar] 3d 10 4s 1 respectively, i.e. one electron has passed from the 4s-orbital to a 3d-orbital to generate a half-filled or filled subshell. In this case, the usual explanation is that "half-filled or completely filled subshells are particularly stable arrangements of electrons".
Diagram of the HOMO and LUMO of a molecule. Each circle represents an electron in an orbital; when light of a high enough frequency is absorbed by an electron in the HOMO, it jumps to the LUMO. 3D model of the highest occupied molecular orbital in CO 2 3D model of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in CO 2
When atoms interact to form a chemical bond, the atomic orbitals of each atom are said to combine in a process called orbital hybridisation. The two most common types of bonds are sigma bonds (usually formed by hybrid orbitals) and pi bonds (formed by unhybridized p orbitals for atoms of main group elements).