What are orbitals?

[Kushaal Madadi 2F]

I know that orbitals have different shapes and they are able to hold different numbers of electrons. However, what exactly are they? Do electrons actually travel in the shapes of the orbitals?

[Adam_ElSayed_3B]

To my knowledge, orbitals are more representations of where the electron can be found at any given time. For example, with an s orbital, there's a sphere of space where the electron can be found, whereas with the p orbital it's more of a peanut shape.

[Hannah Alltucker 3L]

Orbitals can really be thought of a cloud like areas around a nucleus where you can predictably find electrons at any given time, as it is based off of a mathematical wave function type equation. I think that they do tend to form the general shapes we see in our chemistry textbooks, mainly because in a stable state the electrons do have repulsion and will try to spread out in a manner that is furthest away from any other electrons. The main idea, however, is that orbitals can hold certain numbers of electrons, especially the valence orbitals, and tend to choose orbital patterns that will bring the most stability based on the number of electrons they own.

[Susan Chamling 1F]

It was mentioned in lecture that an orbital is a math function with three quantum numbers (n, l, m. I think orbitals are 3D representations of the space where an electron can be found rather than indicators of an electron's specific position, especially considering the movement of electrons.

[Lillian]

To my knowledge, orbitals are more representations of where the electron can be found at any given time. For example, with an s orbital, there's a sphere of space where the electron can be found, whereas with the p orbital it's more of a peanut shape.

Is that all we need to know conceptually as far as orbitals go? There isn't a way to find the exact location of the electrons, is there?

[Katie Le 3K]

Orbitals are math functions that describe the position of an electron using the quantum numbers.

[AliAsh 1H]

you can think of it as the quantum state of an atom's electrons in a specific area around the atom. hope this helps clear it up for you!

[Jose Miguel Conste 3H]

think of orbitals as an electron cloud where you can spot an electron at a specific place at a specific time, not really much to it

[Cass Cheng 2A]

yeah an orbital is basically a state that electrons are in at a specific time. They're not like "rooms" but rather specific states that electrons can be in.

[Rachel Kho Disc 2G]

It might also be useful to note that in places where there are "blind spots", there is 0 electron density and an electron cannot be located in these areas. These places are called nodes, and there are two types: radial (spherical) and angular (angular). On a coordinate plane, these are where the graph crosses the axes.

[Chenning Yang Dis3l]

An atomic orbital is a mathematical function describing the location and wave-like behavior of an electron in an atom.