Question

What is the physical significance of lines in the following depiction of atomic orbitals ?

Answer 1

A certain energy correlates to an electron in a specific orbital. The difference between the energy levels of the orbitals is the energy of the photon received or released when an electron transitions between them.

The probability density function plays a significant role as well. An s-orbital electron, for example, has a chance of being within the nucleus. Fermi Contact Interaction is the result of this, and it may be seen in NMR and ESR spectroscopy as well as electron capture.

Answer 2

The physical significance of lines in the following depiction of atomic orbitals signifies the classification of the orbitals on the basis of the orientation, size as well as shape.

• Any atom can have several possible numbers of orbitals based on the
•  quantum atomic model.
• These orbitals of an atom can be classified depending on their shape, size or orientation. Smaller will be the size of the orbit of an atom, more will be the probability bringing an electron near the nucleus.
• The coordinates of an electron can be represented with the help of a mathematical function which is termed as the orbital wave function or ϕ. The square of the orbital wave function depicts the chances of finding an electron.

Hence, orbitals can be classified depending upon the orientation, size as well as shape.