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In quantum mechanics, an atomic orbital (/ ˈɔːrbɪtəl /) 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 nucleus.
Electron configuration. In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. [1] For example, the electron configuration of the neon atom is 1s2 2s2 2p6, meaning that the 1s, 2s, and 2p subshells are occupied by ...
Electron shell. 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 ...
This page shows the electron configurations of the neutral gaseous atoms in their ground states. For each atom the subshells are given first in concise form, then with all subshells written out, followed by the number of electrons per shell. For phosphorus (element 15) as an example, the concise form is [Ne] 3s 2 3p 3.
The s subshell (ℓ = 0) contains only one orbital, and therefore the m ℓ of an electron in an s orbital will always be 0. The p subshell (ℓ = 1) contains three orbitals, so the m ℓ of an electron in a p orbital will be −1, 0, or 1. The d subshell (ℓ = 2) contains five orbitals, with m ℓ values of −2, −1, 0, 1, and 2.
For example, the 1s subshell is filled before the 2s subshell is occupied. In this way, the electrons of an atom or ion form the most stable electron configuration possible. An example is the configuration 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 3 for the phosphorus atom, meaning that the 1s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2s subshell has 2 electrons, the 2p ...
Grayed out electron numbers indicate subshells filled to their maximum. Bracketed noble gas symbols on the left represent inner configurations that are the same in each period. Written out, these are: He, 2, helium : 1s 2. Ne, 10, neon : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6. Ar, 18, argon : 1s 2 2s 2 2p 6 3s 2 3p 6.
Term symbol. In atomic physics, a term symbol is an abbreviated description of the total spin and orbital angular momentum quantum numbers of the electrons in a multi-electron atom. So while the word symbol suggests otherwise, it represents an actual value of a physical quantity. For a given electron configuration of an atom, its state depends ...