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CHEM 121 Studioby Learn4Less · UBC CHEM 121

CHEM 121 glossary

Atomic orbital

A one-electron wavefunction of an atom, labelled by nn, ll and mlm_l and drawn as the region where ψ2\psi^2 is large. Each orbital holds at most two electrons, with opposite spins. (Molecular orbitals, module 7, are the same idea spread over a whole molecule.)

The three p orbitalsEach p orbital has two lobes of opposite phase on either side of the nucleus, with a nodal plane through the nucleus between them. px, py and pz point along the x, y and z axes.pxpypztwo lobes of opposite phase (+ blue, − orange)nodal plane through the nucleus

The three 2p orbitals: same shape, different orientations.

Example

The 2pz2p_z orbital has n=2n = 2, l=1l = 1 and one of the three mlm_l values; it points along zz and has a nodal plane (the xyxy plane) through the nucleus.