Orbitals and Sub-shells

• Atoms contain a nucleus with a positive charge, surrounded by electrons in shells. The size of the nucleus is much smaller than the overall size of the atom
• Sub-shells and orbitals:

  -Electron shells are divided up into subshells, that have slightly different energies.

  -These subshells are labelled S, P, D, F

  -Each subshell is made up of orbitals

  -Orbitals are small areas off space that electrons actually move in, they don't just circle the nucleus in rings.
• S ORBITALS:

  • S orbitals are spherical
  • They each hold 2 electrons
• D ORBITALS:

  • Have various shapes
  • Together a d dub-shell can hold 10 electrons
• Auf bau principle:

  • electrons will fill the orbital with the lowest available energy state.
  • This gives the most stable electron configuration