Orbitals

    Here are some pictures of atomic orbitals.  Atomic orbitals give a visual representation of where an electron could be at any point in time.  The dark spots and separeations that can be seen in the images below are known as nodes.  Here the wave function is equal to zero and therefore so is the electron denstiy.

















http://fixedreference.org/en/20040424/wikipedia/Hydrogen_atom


  It is important to note the different shapes of the atomic orbitals.  When l is zero, it is the saying that the electron can be found in an s orbital.  These obitals are known for being spherical in shape. When l is one, the electron is in the p orbital and this particular orbital is refered to as a dumb bell shape and has two bulbs and zero electron density at the nucleus.  l is equal to two when the electrons are in the d orbital and have a clover, or double ended pacifier shape and also do not have any electron density at the nucleus.


















http://chemistry.beloit.edu/Stars/pages/orbitals.html

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