PARADISE VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
SPRING SEMESTER, 2000
CHEMISTRY 130
SECTION 2230
DR. GERALD A. ROSENTHAL

This web page is intended to help you visualize the orbital dimensions for the p and d subshells.
Remember, one can never know where a given electron is at any instant (the very act of making that determination would affect its location); rather, one can only speak of the probable occurrence of an electron within a given volume of space. The electrons within a given orbital are moving like a "wave" of light.
 


The probable location for the six "p" orbital electrons when all of the p subshell is filled.
Think of these orbitals as being large in volume as you move into higher principal quantum numbers or shells.


The probable location for eight of the ten "d" orbital electrons when all of the d subshell is filled.