Question

What are s, p, d, f orbitals?

Answer 1

Hint: An atom consists of various shells and sub – shells, among which the place where electrons are found are known as orbitals. There are various orbitals and the number of electrons accommodated in each orbital is different. An orbital can have a maximum of two electrons.

Complete answer:
Atoms of any element consist of sub atomic species, like electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom. While electrons are found in the sub shells of atoms, that consist of orbitals. Each orbital contains 2 electrons which is denoted by a letter of the sub – shell and a number that represents its energy level.
There are 4 types of sub – shells that consist of a particular number of orbitals in which electrons are placed in pairs. The 4 sub – shells that have orbitals are s, p, d, and f.
s orbital is called as sharp. It has a spherical orientation in space near the nucleus of an atom. s orbitals consist of various numbers like 1s, 2s, 3s, etc. An s orbital can accommodate a maximum of 2 electrons in its orbital.
p orbital is called as principle. After the filling of s orbital the electron goes to the p orbital. There are 3 types of p orbitals, px, py and pz, these 3 accommodates 2 electrons each, hence the maximum electrons that are placed in p orbital is 6.
d orbital is called diffused. It is the higher level orbital. It has 5 types, dxy, dxz, dyz, $d{x}^2-y^2$, and $d{z}^2$, that consist of 2 electrons each and hence they contain a maximum 10 electrons.
f orbital is the fundamental orbital of a higher energy level. There are 7 types of f orbitals that accommodate 2 electrons each, and thus 14 electrons are the maximum number placed in f orbital.
Hence, s, p, d, f orbital in any atom is the place where electrons are placed. The orbitals are of varied energy levels that are denoted by numbers and letters, s, p, d, f.

Note:
The filling of these orbitals is according to the Aufbau principle that has filling from the lower energy level to a higher energy level. The order of energies of these orbitals are, s < p < d < f. the Aufbau diagram is as ,

The arrows denote the filling from lower energy level to a higher one.