When ms liang first explained to the class about the orbital theory, it was met with much confusement. However, in this post, i would try my best to help explain what is the orbital theory. I admit, after looking through various websites, i was bombarded by words such as wavelengths, pattern,etc. I have no idea what they mean. The explanations weren't exactly helpful. Still, this is what i came up with
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ere's a video to kickstart this post:





Ok, so now we know what the s,d and p orbitals are.

Each orbital has a name. The orbital occupied by the hydrogen electron is called a 1s orbital. The "1" represents the fact that the orbital is in the energy level closest to the nucleus. The "s" tells you about the shape of the orbital. s orbitals are spherically symmetric around the nucleus - in each case, like a hollow ball made of rather chunky material with the nucleus at its centre.



The orbital above is a 2s orbital. This is similar to a 1s orbital except that the region where there is the greatest chance of finding the electron is further from the nucleus - this is an orbital at the second energy level.

If you look carefully, you will notice that there is another region of slightly higher electron density (where the dots are thicker) nearer the nucleus. ("Electron density" is another way of talking about how likely you are to find an electron at a particular place.)

2s (and 3s, 4s, etc) electrons spend some of their time closer to the nucleus than you might expect. The effect of this is to slightly reduce the energy of electrons in s orbitals. The nearer the nucleus the electrons get, the lower their energy.

3s, 4s (etc) orbitals get progressively further from the nucleus.

\ot all electrons inhabit s orbitals (in fact, very few electrons live in s orbitals). At the first energy level, the only orbital available to electrons is the 1s orbital, but at the second level, as well as a 2s orbital, there are also orbitals called 2p orbitals.

At the fourth level, as well the 4s and 4p and 4d orbitals there are an additional seven f orbitals - 16 orbitals in all. s, p, d and f orbitals are then available at all higher energy levels as well.




For the moment, you need to be aware that there are sets of five d orbitals at levels from the third level upwards, but you probably won't be expected to draw them or name them. Apart from a passing reference, you won't come across f orbitals at all.





Reference from this website