- #1
LogicX
- 181
- 1
So we've all seen the pictures of orbitals in chemistry textbooks. You know, the sphere for an s orbital, the two balloons for a p orbital, etc. But they always present these models as independent systems. No one has ever told me what the orbitals look like (and yes I know that an orbital is just a an area probabilistic chance of finding an electron) when you have an s and a p orbital. Because from what I can remember, in a p orbital you don't get a node until the nucleus. So does it penetrate into the sphere of the s shell?
What about when you have multiple p orbitals in elements with higher principle quantum numbers? Do all the s orbitals stack on top of each other like concurrent spheres?
Or maybe the hydrogen atom model is not what is actually happening in polyelectronic atoms? But we still use these shapes to describe their orbitals so it must have some relation to how the electrons exist in these atoms.
I'm just a little puzzled and curious as to why no one ever taught me this, for all the time that we have spent on orbitals.
What about when you have multiple p orbitals in elements with higher principle quantum numbers? Do all the s orbitals stack on top of each other like concurrent spheres?
Or maybe the hydrogen atom model is not what is actually happening in polyelectronic atoms? But we still use these shapes to describe their orbitals so it must have some relation to how the electrons exist in these atoms.
I'm just a little puzzled and curious as to why no one ever taught me this, for all the time that we have spent on orbitals.