Atomic Orbitals [ENDORSED]

[hannabarlow1A]

Will we need to know about "spherical polar coordinates," which are mentioned in section 2.2 of the textbook?

[simmoneokamoto3K]

I don't think so, but I think we do need to know the different types of orbitals like s, p, d and f.

[nicknavejas1B]

Could someone elaborate on Spherical polar coordinates?

[Blanca Cervantes]

Well, spherical polar coordinates are needed to write down the form of an atomic orbital and to specify the location of each point around the nucleus. Each point is labeled with three coordinates (r, theta, phi).

[Blanca Cervantes]

This image could help with visualizing the spherical polar coordinates (not from the textbook):

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... mrc&uact=8

[Blanca Cervantes]

To answer the initial question, I think we need to understand how the spherical polar coordinates constitute the form of an atomic orbital.