Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configuration

Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configuration
This page explains what atomic orbitals are in a way that makes
them understandable for introductory courses such as UK A level
and its equivalents. It explores s and p orbitals in some detail,
including their shapes and energies. d orbitals are described only in
terms of their energy, and f orbitals only get a passing mention.
What is an atomic orbital?
Orbitals and orbits
When the a planet moves around the sun, you can plot a definite
path for it which is called an orbit. A simple view of the atom looks
similar and you may have pictured the electrons as orbiting around
the nucleus. The truth is different, and electrons in fact inhabit
regions of space known as orbitals.
Orbits and orbitals sound similar, but they have quite different
meanings. It is essential that you understand the difference
between them.
The impossibility of drawing orbits for electrons
To plot a path for something you need to know exactly where the
object is and be able to work out exactly where it's going to be an
instant later. You can't do this for electrons.
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says - loosely - that you can't

know with certainty both where an electron is and where it's going
next. (What it actually says is that it is impossible to define with
absolute precision, at the same time, both the position and the
momentum of an electron.)
That makes it impossible to plot an orbit for an electron around a

nucleus. Is this a big problem? No. If something is impossible, you
have to accept it and find a way around it.
Hydrogen's electron - the 1s orbital

Note: In this diagram (and the orbital diagrams that follow), the
nucleus is shown very much larger than it really is. This is just for
clarity.
Suppose you had a single hydrogen atom and at a particular instant

plotted the position of the one electron. Soon afterwards, you do
the same thing, and find that it is in a new position. You have no
idea how it got from the first place to the second.
You keep on doing this over and over again, and gradually build up
a sort of 3D map of the places that the electron is likely to be
found.
In the hydrogen case, the electron can be found anywhere within a

spherical space surrounding the nucleus. The diagram shows a
cross-section through this spherical space.
95% of the time (or any other percentage you choose), the electron
will be found within a fairly easily defined region of space quite
close to the nucleus. Such a region of space is called an orbital. You
can think of an orbital as being the region of space in which the
electron lives. If you wanted to be absolutely 100% sure of where
the electron is, you would have to draw an orbital the size of the
Universe!
What is the electron doing in the orbital? We don't know, we can't

know, and so we just ignore the problem! All you can say is that if
an electron is in a particular orbital it will have a particular definable
energy.
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 below 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.
p orbitals
Not 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.
A p orbital is rather like 2 identical balloons tied together at the

nucleus. The diagram below is a cross-section through that 3-
dimensional region of space. Once again, the orbital shows where
there is a 95% chance of finding a particular electron.
If you imagine a horizontal plane through the nucleus, with one

lobe of the orbital above the plane and the other beneath it, there is
a zero probability of finding the electron on that plane. So how does
the electron get from one lobe to the other if it can never pass
through the plane of the nucleus? At this introductory level you just
have to accept that it does! If you want to find out more, read about
the wave nature of electrons.
Unlike an s orbital, a p orbital points in a particular direction - the

one drawn points up and down the page.
At any one energy level it is possible to have three absolutely

equivalent p orbitals pointing mutually at right angles to each
other. These are arbitrarily given the symbols px, py and pz. This is
simply for convenience - what you might think of as the x, y or z
direction changes constantly as the atom tumbles in space.
The p orbitals at the second energy level are called 2px, 2py and
2pz. There are similar orbitals at subsequent levels - 3px, 3py, 3pz,
4px, 4py, 4pz and so on.
All levels except for the first level have p orbitals. At the higher
levels the lobes get more elongated, with the most likely place to
find the electron more distant from the nucleus.
d and f orbitals
In addition to s and p orbitals, there are two other sets of orbitals

which become available for electrons to inhabit at higher energy
levels. At the third level, there is a set of five d orbitals (with
complicated shapes and names) as well as the 3s and 3p orbitals
(3px, 3py, 3pz). At the third level there are a total of nine orbitals
altogether.
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.
Fitting electrons into orbitals
You can think of an atom as a very bizarre house (like an inverted

pyramid!) - with the nucleus living on the ground floor, and then
various rooms (orbitals) on the higher floors occupied by the
electrons. On the first floor there is only 1 room (the 1s orbital); on
the second floor there are 4 rooms (the 2s, 2px, 2py and 2pz
orbitals); on the third floor there are 9 rooms (one 3s orbital, three
3p orbitals and five 3d orbitals); and so on. But the rooms aren't
very big . . . Each orbital can only hold 2 electrons.
A convenient way of showing the orbitals that the electrons live in is

to draw "electrons-in-boxes".
"Electrons-in-boxes"
Orbitals can be represented as boxes with the electrons in them

shown as arrows. Often an up-arrow and a down-arrow are used to
show that the electrons are in some way different.
The need to have all electrons in an atom different comes out of
quantum theory. If they live in different orbitals, that's fine - but if
they are both in the same orbital there has to be some subtle
distinction between them. Quantum theory allocates them a
property known as "spin" - which is what the arrows are intended to
suggest.
A 1s orbital holding 2 electrons would be drawn as shown below

but it can be written even more quickly as 1s2. This is read as "one
s two" - not as "one s squared".
You mustn't confuse the two numbers in this notation:
The order of filling orbitals
Electrons fill low energy orbitals (closer to the nucleus) before they
fill higher energy ones. Where there is a choice between orbitals of
equal energy, they fill the orbitals singly as far as possible.
This filling of orbitals singly where possible is known as Hund's

rule. It only applies where the orbitals have exactly the same
energies (as with p orbitals, for example), and helps to minimise the
repulsions between electrons and so makes the atom more stable.
The diagram (not to scale) summarizes the energies of the orbitals

up to the 4p level.
Notice that the s orbital always has a slightly lower energy than the
p orbitals at the same energy level, so the s orbital always fills with
electrons before the corresponding p orbitals.
The real oddity is the position of the 3d orbitals. They are at a

slightly higher level than the 4s - and so it is the 4s orbital which
will fill first, followed by all the 3d orbitals and then the 4p orbitals.
Similar confusion occurs at higher levels, with so much overlap
between the energy levels that the 4f orbitals don't fill until after
the 6s, for example.
For UK-based exam purposes, you simply have to remember that

the 4s orbital fills before the 3d orbitals. The same thing happens
at the next level as well - the 5s orbital fills before the 4d orbitals.
All the other complications are beyond the scope of this site.
Knowing the order of filling is central to understanding how to write

electronic structures. Follow the link below to find out how to do
this.
© Jim Clark 2000 (modified 2004)

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Atomic Orbitals and Electron Configuration

What is an atomic orbital?

Orbitals and orbits

The impossibility of drawing orbits for electrons

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says - loosely - that you can't

That makes it impossible to plot an orbit for an electron around a

Hydrogen's electron - the 1s orbital

Suppose you had a single hydrogen atom and at a particular instant

In the hydrogen case, the electron can be found anywhere within a

What is the electron doing in the orbital? We don't know, we can't

Each orbital has a name.

The orbital occupied by the hydrogen electron is called a 1s orbital.

The orbital below is a 2s orbital. This is similar to a 1s orbital

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

A p orbital is rather like 2 identical balloons tied together at the

If you imagine a horizontal plane through the nucleus, with one

Unlike an s orbital, a p orbital points in a particular direction - the

At any one energy level it is possible to have three absolutely

In addition to s and p orbitals, there are two other sets of orbitals

Fitting electrons into orbitals

You can think of an atom as a very bizarre house (like an inverted

A convenient way of showing the orbitals that the electrons live in is

Orbitals can be represented as boxes with the electrons in them

A 1s orbital holding 2 electrons would be drawn as shown below

You mustn't confuse the two numbers in this notation:

The order of filling orbitals

This filling of orbitals singly where possible is known as Hund's

The diagram (not to scale) summarizes the energies of the orbitals

The real oddity is the position of the 3d orbitals. They are at a

For UK-based exam purposes, you simply have to remember that

Knowing the order of filling is central to understanding how to write

© Jim Clark 2000 (modified 2004)

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