atomic orbitals and probability
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atomic orbitals and probability
The midterm outline has a bullet point that reads "describe the interpretation of atomic orbitals in terms of probability." Could someone explain how to do this?
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Re: atomic orbitals and probability
I think that this bullet point mainly refers to the probability of finding the electrons at a certain location in an atom. For example, the s orbital is spherical and has no places where it goes through (0,0) or has a node. However, the p orbital exists on each of the axes and has a node at (0,0). Therefore, there is a point in the p orbitals where the probability of finding electrons is zero---there will never be electrons there. D and f orbitals are similar to p orbitals in this regard because they both have nodes and, thus, have regions of zero probability of finding electrons. To sum up, this point refers to the idea that some orbitals have nodes with zero probability of finding electrons while some do not.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
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Re: atomic orbitals and probability
Hi! So this refers to Schrodinger's equation. The energy that we get out of Schrodinger's equation matches the energy of a specific orbital and can be compared to spectroscopic data. The higher the energy, the larger the orbital (meaning s,p,d,f). Also, Schrodinger's equation squared represents the probability of finding an electron or the electron density. For example, the s orbital has symmetric electron density while the p orbital has a nodal plane with zero probability of electron density. You can find all this information in lecture 9.
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