Orbitals and their energy

[Jordan Kaplan 2E]

I'm looking for clarification on the energies of orbitals. I was just reading through topic 1E and it said that s- orbitals have lower energy than p- orbitals, and d-oribtals have an even higher energy than p-orbitals. That is only regarding the orbitals in the same shell (energy level) correct. So 3p does not have higher energy than 4s, because the 4s w=is in a different shell?

[Josephine B 3L]

Hi!

I think you're correct in saying that the energies of electrons in orbitals is pretty much only dependent on their shells when it comes to comparing their energies with electrons from other shells, and that 4s would have a lower energy than 3p because it is in a shell that's further away from the nucleus, and therefore further from nucleus's hold on the electron. I do know that once you get to higher energy levels though, there becomes confusion between which electrons are closer to the nucleus and therefore which have more energy, but I think that for the simple orbitals closer to the nucleus, you're correct.

Hope this helps!