An orbital is a theoretical stable standing waveform shape in which one or two electrons can be found orbiting the nucleus of an atom.
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Total magnetic moment of atom
Whenever I read about coordination compounds in my textbooks, I always find a discussion about spin-only magnetic moment which is given by $\sqrt{n(n+2)}$ BM,
Where $n$ is the number of unpaired ...
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Degeneracy of orbitals?
Why is that in an external magnetic field(uniform) the degeneracy of d,f orbitals is lost but the degeneracy of p orbitals remain intact if the main cause of losing degeneracy is the difference in ...
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2answers
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Bonding and Antibonding
So I understand, electrons exist in orbitals, mainly s, p, d, f and that when they bond with one another it will form sigma and pi bonds and that whether it bonds in a certain orientation a molecular ...
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Can there exist any element which has an 8th principle shell?
I am a high school student . While studying the atomic structure a question raised in my mind. We know that an atom can have the highest limit of 7 bohr energy shells or principle energy shells ; ...
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Why do transition elements make colored compounds?
Why do transition metals element make colored compound both in solid form and in solution? Is it related with their electrons or something else?
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Why does Phosphorous form $\ce{PCl_5}$? [duplicate]
Why does Phosphorous form $\ce{PCl_5}$ ?
The Law of Octet is violated in the formation of $\ce{PCl_5}$
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Energies of atomic orbitals on molecular orbital diagrams
When we plot molecular orbital diagrams we use a linear combination of atomic orbitals.
Where can I find the energies of particular atomic orbitals?
In the picture below, the energies of 2s and 2p ...
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1answer
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Why does Oxygen not like to be doubly Anionized?
The Electron Affinity of a neutral Oxygen atom is -142 KJ (it releases this energy). The Electron Affinity for the now anionized Oxygen is 710 KJ (Work must be done on the atom).
My question is, why ...
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2answers
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Bonding and anti-bonding orbitals in the light of time-dependent Schrödinger equation?
In organic chemistry, people draw 2p orbitals like this:
and then they explain how the orbitals combine to non-bonding (π*) or bonding (π) molecular orbitals, like this:
depending on whether the ...
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A question about Pauli’s exclusion principle and electron orbital
According to Pauli’s exclusion principle, an $s$ orbital contains at most two electrons with the opposite spin (up and down). Why can't an $s$ orbital contain a third electron whose state is the ...
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In sp2 hybrid orbital, why does the p orbitals only have 3 sides instead of 4?
Usually two separate p orbitals would have '4 lobes' while in a sp2 hybrid those 2 p orbitals would only have '3 lobes'. why?
I'm referring to diagrams such as the one shown below:
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In orbital hybridisation, what determines the number of orbitals that hybridise to be at the same energy level?
For example, in phosphorus pentachloride five orbitals hybridize, but why not 6, as in the hydrated Al ion? I have read that the reason six orbitals hybridize is that a maximum of six oxygens can ...
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Why are atoms with eight electrons in the outer shell extremely stable?
Atoms that have eight electrons in their outer shell are extremely stable. It can't be because both the $s$ and the $p$ orbitals are full, because then an atom with 13 or 18 would be extremely stable. ...
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Why is H₂O a dipole?
Water ($\ce{H2O}$) is a dipole. The reason why is simply because it is not symmetrical, and there are more electrons on the oxygen side than on the hydrogen side.. (Also because of the ...
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3answers
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Highest Energy Electron - possible typo in my book?
Sorry for the super simple question... Which of the following possesses the highest energy electron?
A) Br–
B) Ca++
C) Cr+
D) As
Don't Bromine and Arsenic have equally high energy electrons (i.e. in ...
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4answers
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Hierarchy of electronic wavefunctions
The previous question contained too much unnecessary information and was edited.
I am wondering about the "hierarchy" of wavefunctions. If one can combine atomic orbitals (AO) into molecular orbitals ...
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2answers
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Are there any molecules with delta bonds in their ground states?
When looking at excited states of molecules, $\delta$ bonds are relatively common, but I've never come across a molecule with a $\delta$ bond in its ground state.
Are there molecules with $\delta$ ...
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Symmetry lost in orbitals?
I've always thought that orbitals lead to a loss of symmetry, and have never been able to give myself a satisfactory answer to this.
I'll explain via an example:
Let's take an $\ce{N^3+}$ atom. It's ...
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Why is the 2s orbital lower in energy than the 2p orbital when the electrons in 2s are usually farther from the nucleus?
My chemistry book explains that even though electrons in the 2p orbital are closer to the nucleus on average, electrons from the 2s orbital spend a very short time very close to the nucleus ...
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Why do elements in columns 6 and 11 assume 'abnormal' electron configurations?
When I look around for why copper and chromium only have one electron in their outermost s orbital and 5/10 in their outermost d orbital, I'm bombarded with the fact that they are more stable with a ...
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2answers
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How is Vanadium's 3+ ion paramagnetic?
"Both Vanadium and its 3+ ion are paramagnetic. Use electron configuration to explain why this is so"
The electron configuration of Vanadium is [Ar] 4s2 3d3.
If drawn in a box diagram, it would ...
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4answers
461 views
How do orbitals coexist with a nucleus?
Many diagrams of orbitals I've seen involve electrons moving through a center point—where the nucleus is. How can this be? Clearly they don't actually pass through the nucleus, so what does happen?
