Atomic Orbital - Orbital Names

Orbital Names

Orbitals are given names in the form:

where X is the energy level corresponding to the principal quantum number n, type is a lower-case letter denoting the shape or subshell of the orbital and it corresponds to the angular quantum number l, and y is the number of electrons in that orbital.

For example, the orbital 1s2 (pronounced "one ess two") has two electrons and is the lowest energy level (n = 1) and has an angular quantum number of l = 0. In X-ray notation, the principal quantum number is given a letter associated with it. For n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ..., the letters associated with those numbers are K, L, M, N, O, ..., respectively.

Read more about this topic:  Atomic Orbital

Famous quotes containing the word names:

    I come to this land to ride my horse,
    to try my own guitar, to copy out
    their two separate names like sunflowers, to conjure
    up my daily bread, to endure,
    somehow to endure.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)