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An orbital is a one-electron wavefunction, usually derived by solving the Schrodinger equation. This tag applies to questions about all forms of orbitals; additionally, questions about the construction and properties of molecular orbitals should be tagged with [molecular-orbital-theory].

3 votes

What are Orbitals?

Elections fit into some distribution about the nucleus defined by the mathematical functions that are the orbitals. …
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14 votes
Accepted

Are all degenerate d-orbitals identical?

One thing that we don't really teach well with orbitals is thinking about the symmetry of the orbital with respect to the name of the orbital. … EDIT: Based on comments, it's also important to point out that the pictures of orbitals with smooth surfaces are not real pictures of orbitals. …
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11 votes
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Is there a sixth type of d-orbitals with index 2z²-x²-y²?

The lobes of the $\mathrm{d}$-orbitals go in between, and the sign of the function tells you how to switch the sign of the wavefunction. … The answer is by choice because you can add orbitals together to get new orbitals. …
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4 votes
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Why do 1s and 2s orbitals intersect?

Orbitals have a lot of spatial overlap. …
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6 votes
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Is the pz orbital wave function three- or four-dimensional?

The wavefunction covers 3-dimensional space. Formally, it maps each point in space to a complex number. That is, it is a function that takes a point in 3-dimensional space as input and returns a compl …
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1 vote

Why is 2s more stable than 2p, if 2p experiences greater effective nuclear charge?

One big issue here is that we generally don't talk about different ionization energies of anything but the outermost orbitals. …
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8 votes

What is the resulting shape all orbitals are added up?

If you take a look at all of the electron density of an isolated atom, it must be spherically symmetric over a time average. Why? Because space is isotropic, that is, it looks identical in any directi …
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7 votes

Why are the radial wavefunction and radial distribution function different?

The radial wave function $R(r)$ is simply the value of the wave function at some radius $r$, and its square is the probability of the finding an electron in some infinitesimal volume element around a …
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4 votes
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Why are s orbitals more “penetrating” than p orbitals?

These are plots of the 2s and 2p orbitals for hydrogen (assuming 1 electron). …
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12 votes
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Precise definition of atomic orbital

The boundary surface is usually how we represent the atomic orbitals that are familiar to us ($s, p, d, f$) but also molecular orbitals. …
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2 votes
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Why do lone pairs of electrons have a higher repulsive force?

I have read that lone pairs have orbitals which are shorter and more round This is technically true in the sense that you'd want to have higher $s$ character in a lone pair orbital. … But you're comparing possible ways to hybridize orbitals for lone pairs, as opposed to comparing lone pair atomic orbitals with bonding orbitals. …
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6 votes

What are similarities and differences among shells, orbitals, subshells, and energy levels?

Different orbitals may be associated with the same shell but still have different energy levels dictated by $l$ (akin to the subshell). …
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2 votes

Why does hyperconjugation help for ring cleavage?

This is a bit late, but my instinct tells me you form the 1,3 diradical. The fusion to a cyclopropane seems pretty reasonable. The alkene is formed from a 1,2-hydrogen atom shift (I admit, this is a s …
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1 vote

MO energy of p-orbitals with different substituents

But if the system is stabilized in the occupied orbitals, then things must be destabilized in terms of the empty orbitals. Alternatively, the third example involves an oxygen in the bond. … Given the increased effective nuclear charge, you'd expect some additional stabilization in the bonding electrons, so again, that might point to additional destabilization of the antibonding orbitals. …
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