What is the significance of orbital angular momentum in atomic structure?

[Garvit Goel]

What is orbital angular momentum? Is it associated to the revolution of electron around nucleus?

 

[alxm]

Yes. Do you know what classical angular momentum is?

 

[Garvit Goel]

Yes. Do you know what classical angular momentum is?

yes, but never heard of orbital angular momentum before.

 

[alxm]

yes, but never heard of orbital angular momentum before.

Well, quantum angular momentum is like classical angular momentum, only that, as with all quantum properties, it's represented by an operator instead and has discrete states.

The energy states of an electron in an atom are 'orbitals', and 'orbital angular momentum' is the angular momentum that's associated with that particular orbital. The angular momentum state determines the angle-dependent part of the orbital's shape. s orbitals have L=0, zero angular momentum and are spherically symmetric, p orbitals have L=1 and are dumbbell-shaped, and so on. (the radial shape of the orbital, on the other hand, depends on the linear momentum, i.e. the motion towards and away from the nucleus, if you will.)