What is the x, y, z?

[Darren Nguyen 1F]

In there configuration for Carbon there was a 2px and 2py. What does that mean and do we have to write those?

[Jessica Castellanos]

The x and y in 2px and 2py refer to the specific orbitals in the 2p subshell that the electrons that are being discussed are in. The professor does seem to prefer this notation but I'm not sure if it's required. Hope this helps!

[anjali41]

The x, y, and z refer to different orbitals in the p subshell. The x, y, and z are just three variables used to represent the three different subshells.

[AChoudhry_1L]

Because the p subshell has 3 different orbitals, the x, y, and z help differentiate between those three.

[Ying Yan 1F]

The xyz helps to identify what position the subshell that the electron are located are in. (i.e. 2px the subshell is horizontal, 2py diagonal, and 2pz vertical) Hope that sort of helped!