CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

I am confused about the concept of orbitals. Are orbitals energy levels of electrons and what makes them significant and different from each other? What is the significance of nodal planes in different orbitals??

To my understanding, orbitals are plots derived from a mathematical equation that show the probability of where electrons can be found. However, I'm not too sure about orbitals being electron energy levels and the significance of nodal planes.

A nodal plane is a plane in which the probability of finding an electron is zero.

It is my understanding that orbital placement is related to the number of electrons, not energy levels. The earlier Bohr model has to do with energy levels.

Orbitals are region of space around the nucleus where we can find electrons with the largest probability.

I agree with the above explanations, but I wanted to add that they show the electron density, which allows us to determine the probability of the electron being in a certain place.

What determines which of the orbitals have or don't have nodal planes?

Solutions to the Schrodinger equation you solve will tell you which orbitals have points of 0 electron probability (a node)

An orbital is a description of the behavior of an electron as it surrounds the atom. The different types of orbitals (s,p,d,f) exhibit different movements each orbital typically has more energy than the one before it (except for the d orbitals in our respect)

Orbitals are a state around the atom where electrons have the highest probability of being found, but they are dynamic and changing.

Like Mr. Lavelle said in class orbital aren't physical spaces that electrons occupy like hotel rooms. They are areas around the nucleus where probability of finding one is high. I'm just not sure how each orbital relate to each other like how s orbitals fit with p d and all the rest.

what would the situation be to find the probability low rather than high?

An orbital corresponds to the wavefunction of each atom, which is measured by a mathematical equation. The schrodinger equation calculates wavefunction and the corresponding energy, which is what ties orbitals to different energy levels.