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Grade 12th PassInorganic Chemistry

Why we call s,p,d,f orbitals as s,p,d,f respectively why not other letters or by names

Profile image of vishu  sn
15 Years agoGrade 12th Pass
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2 Answers

Profile image of Godfrey Classic Prince
15 Years ago

Dear vishnu sn,

The orbital names s, p, d, and f stand for names given to groups of lines in the spectra of the alkali metals. These line groups are called sharp, principal, diffuse, and fundamental.

The orbital letters are associated with the angular momentum quantum number, which is assigned an integer value from 0 to 3. s correlates to 0, p = 1, d = 2, and f = 3.The angular momentum quantum number can be used to give the shapes of the electronic orbitals. s orbitals are spherical; p orbitals are polar. It may be simpler to think of these two letters in terms of orbital shapes (d and f aren't described as readily).

These are the shapes of the first five atomic orbitals, 1s, 2s, 2px, 2py, and 2pz.

These are the shapes of the first five atomic orbitals, 1s, 2s, 2px, 2py, and 2pz. The colors indicate the wavefunction phase.

The electron configuration of an atom denotes the distribution of electrons among available shells. The standard notation lists the subshell symbols, one after another. The number of electrons contained in each subshell is stated explicitly. For example, the electron configuration of beryllium, with an atomic (and electron) number of 4, is 1s22s2 or [He]2s2.

 

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Profile image of sanjay vyas
14 Years ago

sharp,principle,diffuse,fundemental are the words used for describing orbitals and the first letters r taken in it.s,p,d,f