MHB Radial distribution of a 3d orbital

AI Thread Summary
To sketch the radial distribution of a 3d orbital, specifically the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital, resources like Wikipedia's Atomic Orbitals and The Orbitron provide valuable visual representations and explanations. The $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital has no radial nodes, as indicated by the formula $n-l-1$, where $n=3$ and $l=2$. The graph of the radial distribution confirms this, showing no roots. Additionally, there are two angular nodes that are perpendicular to the axis, which do not need to be depicted in the radial distribution graph. Understanding these characteristics is essential for accurately sketching the orbital's distribution.
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How do I sketch the radial distribution of a $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital? :D
 
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Rido12 said:
How do I sketch the radial distribution of a $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital? :D

Hey Rido!

Check out for instance Atomic orbitals on wiki?
It has some nice and different types of representations for the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital. (Mmm)
 
Thanks ILS and jacobi! (Cool)

I was able to find this image, which I'm pretty sure is the radial distribution of the 3D orbital.

View attachment 3854

In general, an orbital has $n-l-1$ radial nodes, and in this case, $n=3$, $l=2$, so there are $0$ radial nodes. This agrees with the image because there are no roots on the graph. There are however, two angular nodes / nodal planes that are perpendicular to the axis, but does not need to be reflected in the graph.
 

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  • Plot Radial Distribution.PNG
    Plot Radial Distribution.PNG
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