g-, h-, ... orbitals

[Sebastian2I]

I understand that we won't need to use orbitals with l values higher than 3 for this class but the textbook said that these were the only values that chemists needed in practice so is there some continuity in the nature of higher-level orbitals? Does the pattern of sub-orbital shapes repeated itself or are there increasingly complicated shapes? If it is the latter case, why is it not necessary for chemists to know more about them?

[Margia Adriano 2A]

Hi there! It isn't necessary for chemists to know about them or study these higher orbitals because there are currently no observable elements that we know of that would have electrons that would land in these orbitals. I believe there is some continuity for these higher orbitals in theory and that they probably do have different shapes, but because we don't have any element to observe for that, we don't know for sure. Please correct me if I'm wrong and I hope this helps!

[OwenSumter_2F]

Yes, these are primarily theoretical and if new elements were discovered with these higher orbitals we would know how to handle them!