Google “Electron Orbitals”. All the spaces there are all the possible highest likely locations for the electrons. Good Introduction to some Quantum Mechanics 👍
No! I will not relive the horrors of that chemistry class again… you can’t make me. I am happily an aerospace engineer now where I don’t need this chemistry nonsense, or quantum mechanics.
Ah let’s see, of the top of my head…
1s² 2s² 2d⁶ 3s² 2p¹⁰ …
Edited (iirc now, the d block is in the middle with the transition metals, p block with metallics, Halogens, Noble Gases…):
1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 2d¹⁰ …
All the spaces there are all the possible locations for the electrons.
Close, but not quite - the spaces are the most likely locations for the electrons at any moment in time. There is always a small chance they’ve fucked off over the street for a nanosecond when you take your measurement.
Except they only look like that if there is an external reference system imposing some structure on the atom! Otherwise all orbitals are basically spherical because they can all just be in a superposition of all possible orbitals and we couldn’t tell a difference…
And then suddenly you have two atoms meeting and need to explain why 1+1=0 for their molecular orbits -.-
I don’t think so. Orbitals give you the spaces of highest probability! Electrons could be outside as well. And since it is based on probability it is definitely a useful model.
Electronic orbitals are regions within the atom in which electrons have the highest probability of being found.
