Divisions of Orbitals

[Bailey Herbert 2L]

Hi!

I'm just wondering if someone can break down for me the different levels of the orbitals. For example, there's S, and then within that what are the levels? Is that when there are X, Y, and Z?

Thanks!

[Jonathan Shyu 3L]

So there is S, P, D, and F blocks. If you google "Electron Configuration Periodic Table," it's a good source of visuals corresponding to each element. It starts with S which can hold one pair or two electrons, then P which can hold 3 pairs or 6 electrons, and then D block which can hold 5 pairs or 10 electrons total. For example, to write out the electron configuration for Nitrogen, it would be 1s^2 2s^2 2p^3. As for the X,Y,Z, that corresponds to the P block. Normally you don't write out Px, Py, Pz. It was just a way for Professor Lavelle to help explain the p block. Px,Py,Pz are just the 3 pairs of electrons that can be held in the P block.