Probability

[halle young 4A]

Can someone please go over what probability means in terms of each orbital? thanks

[Pegah Nasseri 1K]

An orbital is just the probability of the electron's location. It represents a 3D space in the form of a shape where you could find the electron within the atom and around the nucleus. Orbitals can be referred to as probability maps and the shape of the region of 3D space where you could find the electron corresponds to the shapes of the different orbitals (s,p,d,f).

[Doreen Liu 4D]

The p and d orbitals are not symmetrical and s orbital is symmetrical.

[Michelle N - 2C]

Hi,

I could be wrong here, but I tend to think back to Schrodinger's Equation, where Ψ^2 represents the probability of finding an electron within those areas.

In terms of each orbital, the orbital's shape plays a role in where the electron could potentially be found.

With s-orbitals having no nodal planes, there is a symmetric probability distribution, and so forth.