Video Transcript
Which of the following atomic orbitals is shown in the image? (A) p, (B) f, (C) d, (d) s, or (E) g.
Atomic orbitals are three-dimensional, mathematical expressions that describe the
most likely location of an electron in an atom. Different orbitals have different shapes. And going from s to p to d to f to g, the number of different orbital shapes
increases and the complexity of the orbital shapes increases. s orbitals are spherical. p orbitals are dumbbell shaped. Most d orbitals are clover shaped, but the f orbitals and g orbitals are considerably
more complex. And no known element has an electron in a ground state g orbital. So g orbitals are not often discussed.
It is evident from the diagrams that the atomic orbital represented by the image is
in fact the s orbital, which has a spherical shape and is the simplest of all the
orbitals. Therefore, the answer to the question “Which of the following atomic orbitals is
shown in the image?” is (D) s.