Question

what is difference between the orbit and orbital​

Answer 1

Answer:

Orbit is 2d distance around a nucleus whereas orbital is 3d distance around nucleus where probability of finding an electron is maximum..

Answer 2

Explanation:

In atomic theory, these two similar-sounding terms “orbit” and “orbital” often confuse people. You must have seen in pictures that an atom is a simple, solar-system-like structure in which electrons are like our planets revolving around a nucleus which may be considered as our sun. Actually, the truth is much more complex. Orbits and orbital are different paths of atoms.

Orbit

In our solar system, the paths on which the planets revolve are called orbits. These are strange elliptical paths which are fixed for every single planet, and these planets move on this path with their angular velocities and central acceleration. The same is the case with atoms. Orbits are the fixed paths around which electrons revolve around the nucleus of the atom following the same principle as that of the planets.

An orbit is a planar or two-dimensional circular pathway. The maximum number of electrons in a particular orbit is 2n2 . An orbit follows Newton’s laws of motion. In atomic theory, an orbit is created because of the pull of the negatively charged electron to the positively charged nucleus while having the same angular velocity. But as Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle proves it as uncertain, we cannot easily determine the exact orbit of an electron.