# Could observer effect cause electrons in one orbital to be found in another?

The observer effect states [1] that

when unobserved, absolutely small particles like electrons can simultaneously be in two different states at the same time.

If we look at an atom of any element, all of its electrons are subject to the observer effect. As the electrons are known for wave-particle duality, the Schrödinger equation can be solved to yield a wave function for each electron in the atom. An orbital is a probability distribution map of a wave function squared, and each orbital can accommodate up to two electrons.

For a single electron, it is not hard to imagine that the observer effect operates upon it to the extent of the probability distribution map specified by its orbital. That is, the electron can simultaneously have two positions if unobserved, and these two positions will not go beyond the space occupied by its orbital.

However, I'm wondering if an electron can have two positions when unobserved, where these positions are in different orbitals. For example, an electron falls under both the $$\mathrm{2s}$$ orbital and the $$\mathrm{2p}_x$$ orbital, if unobserved, and observation forces it to collapse into either $$\mathrm{2s}$$ or $$\mathrm{2p}_x.$$

### Reference

1. Tro, N. J. (2015). Principles of Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, Global Edition. United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.