the goodman group
university of cambridge  


   atomic orbitals

The Silicon Graphics Teaching Laboratory
has been replaced by the
Chemical Information Laboratory
and this information is for historical interest only

Atomic Orbitals

The following illustrations of orbitals show the surface which includes ninety-five percent of the electron density. These pictures were generated using demo5, which also allows the rotation of these structures. To experiment with creating similar pictures, type: demo5

The central mouse button allows you to rotate the orbitals, the left mouse button to scale them and the right button translates the orbitals. The control window switches between orbitals and representations.

1s orbital
(box to illustrate the scale)

1s

2s orbital sliced in half.
The radial node in the electron density is clear in the cross-section

2s

2p orbital

2p

3s orbital

3s




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department of chemistry University of Cambridge