Name: Dual Nature of Light and Matter
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 7 min 31 s
Description: Light has a dual nature. It is both a wave and a particle. Explore this video about the wave and particle nature of light and the wavelength corresponding to...

Question

Explain diagrammatically the boundary surfaces for three

2 p

orbitals and five

3 d

orbitals.

Accepted Answer

A boundary surface diagram for an orbital is a region or volume around the nucleus in which the probability of finding the electron is very high, say, $90 %$ .
The boundary surface diagrams for three $2 p$ orbitals ( $l = 1$ ) are shown in the figure below,

In these diagrams, the nucleus is at the origin and unlike $s$ -orbitals, the boundary surface diagrams are not spherical. Instead each $p$ orbital consists of two sections called lobes that are on either side of the plane that passes through the nucleus. The probability density function is zero on the plane where the two lobes touch each other. The size, shape and energy of the three orbitals are identical. They differ however, in the way the lobes are oriented. Since, the lobes may be considered to lie along the $x, z$ or $y$ axis, they are given the designations $2 p_{x}, 2 p_{z}$ , and $2 p_{y}$ .

Similarly, the five $3 d$ -orbitals, designated as $d_{xy}, d_{xz}, d_{yz}, d_{x^{2} - y^{2}}$ and $d_{z^{2}}$ . The shapes of the first four d-orbitals are similar to each other, whereas that of the fifth one, $d_{z^{2}}$ , is different from others, but all five $3 d$ -orbitals are equivalent in energy.

Explain diagrammatically the boundary surfaces for three $2 p$ orbitals and five $3 d$ orbitals.

Important Questions on Atomic Structure

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !

Explain diagrammatically the boundary surfaces for three 2p orbitals and five 3d orbitals.

Important Questions on Atomic Structure

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !

Explain diagrammatically the boundary surfaces for three $2 p$ orbitals and five $3 d$ orbitals.