Nodal Plane Clarification [ENDORSED]

[Claire_Sabol_2G]

If you have an element like Nitrogen (1s2, 2s2, 2p3), where the p shell has a nodal plane, will there not be any electrons in the nodal plane, or just those confined to the p shell?

[Chem_Mod]

For the metioned orbitals, only p orbitals have a nodal plane. P_x orbital has nodal plane along the y-z axis, P_y orbital has nodal plane along the x-z axis and P_z orbital has nodal plane along the x-y axis. Electrons(p electrons) occupy p_x, p_y and p_z orbitals and probability of finding an electron on the nodal planes is zero.

[KyleNagasawaDisc3C_Chem 14B2022W_]

Hi Claire,

The formal definition of an electron orbit is a region of space with a nonzero probability density. Think of every point in space having the potential of housing an electron--each coordinate having a specific probability. While orbitals could be arguably infinite in size because the probability density tends towards zero as the distance from the nucleus increases, we draw orbitals in class as enclosed 3D solids because we only care about areas with statistically significant probabilities. Nodes are defined as regions with zero probability. We classify the node associated with p orbitals because, for each orbital, there is an infinite plane where there can be no electrons.

I hope this helps!