Electronic Structure: Orbitals, Configurations, and Periodic Trends

Differences Between Atomic Orbitals and Orbits

• Orbits represent a precisely plotted path for an object, requiring knowledge of its exact position and future trajectory.

• Atomic Orbitals describe three-dimensional regions of space around an atom's nucleus where electrons are likely to be found, due to the inherent uncertainty in locating electrons.

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

• States that it is impossible to know with certainty both the exact position and the exact momentum (and thus future trajectory) of an electron simultaneously.

• This principle makes it impossible to plot a definitive