Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Electron cloud

Electron cloud representation of an orbital.
An Orbital may be defined as a region in space around the nucleus where the probability of finding the electron is maximum. It represents the 3-D motion of an electron around the nucleus. However it does not specify any definite path and the electron may be anywhere in this region. Orbitals have definite shape and except the s-orbital other orbitals have directional characteristics. An orbital can accommodate maximum two electrons.
An Orbit is a well defined circular path around the nucleus in which an electron revolves. It represents the planar motion of an electron. They are circular and do not have any directional characteristics.

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