Electron orbital designated s, p, d or f.
These sublevels or orbitals have characteristic shapes which can be used to explain and predict the chemical bonds that atoms can form.
s sublevels are spherically shaped. The p, d and f sublevels have more complex shapes.
The sublevel occupied by any electron is determined by the electron's angular momentum quantum number, l. It is found by solving the Schrodinger equation, allowing us to find probability distributions for an electron in an atom. For example, we can say that an electron in a hydrogen atom's 1s sublevel will be found 99 percent of the time somewhere in a sphere with a given radius around the nucleus. Hence the reason we can draw the s sublevel as a sphere.
An s sublevel
The p, d and f sublevels are also drawn on the basis of where an atom's electrons are most likely to be found.
A p sublevel
Examples of the sublevels found in various atoms are shown below. The superscript shows the number of electrons in each sublevel.
Hydrogen: 1s1
Carbon: 1s2 2s2 2p2
Chlorine: 1s2 2s2 2p6 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5
Argon: 1s2 2s2 2p6 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6
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