3.4 - Orbital Diagrams
Atomic Orbitals
Orbital: three dimensional region around the nucleus where an electron is most probably located
- each sub-level contains a different number of orbitals
| sublevel | max # of electrons | # of orbitals |
|---|---|---|
| S | 2 | 1 |
| P | 6 | 3 |
| D | 10 | 5 |
| F | 14 | 7 |
Orbital Diagrams
Aufbau Principle: electrons will occupy the lowest energy orbital available to it
Pauli Exclusion Principle: a maximum of two electrons map occupy a single orbital
- electrons in the same orbital must spin in opposite directions
Hund’s Rule: all orbitals in the same sublevel must hold one electron before electrons will pair up in the same orbital
- an empty line represents an orbital [ --- ]
- an arrow represents an individual electron [ ↑↓ ]