Orbital shapes

[Nick Fiorentino 1E]

Is there a trick to remembering what all the orbital shapes look like? As in, is there a method to remembering what dxy, dy2, d2x,dx2y2, etc all look like?

[Brooke Yasuda 2J]

I think in class Dr. Lavelle said that we won't be asked to draw the orbitals on tests, but in general, you can guess the shapes based on the axes that they are on. So just remember which way is the x, y, and z axis.

[Veronica_Lubera_2A]

The p, d, and f orbitals also have a nodal plane where there is zero electron density (and therefore zero electron probability.)

There is a trend to how many 'petals' you draw on the axes as well:

S is just a circle because of its symmetric electron distribution.
P has 2 horizontal petals.
D has 4 petals on the x and y axes.

And if you are given d(xy), d(y^2), d (zx), there is a higher probability to find electrons on the xy/y^2/zx planes

[LReedy_3C]

Also, the number of nodal planes is related to the value of l. As it increases, there are more conical nodes.