Orientations of D Orbitals - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems
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1
concept
d Orbital Orientations
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2m
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In this video, we're gonna take a look at the orientation of d orbitals. Now recall that an orbital is the area around nucleus where an electron is most likely to be found, and we're gonna say that there are 5 d orbitals with different orientations. These orientations themselves can be grouped into 2 sets. So we have orientations that lie in between our axis, and those that lie on or along the axes. Your professor might hear them say on the axes, and in another instance you might hear them say along the axes. You're synonymous with one another. They mean the same thing. Now before we talk about these different types of orientations, remember we have our axes. We typically have our x axis oriented this way, our y is oriented this way, and then our z is vertical. For the first three axes, we're gonna say these are the ones that lie in between the axes. And in each of these three, we've highlighted a particular orbital lobe. For the first one, the highlighted lobe is upfront, and it's in between x and y. That's why this orbital is designated as d x y. The next one is in between y and z, so this one is designated d y z. And then finally we have this one that's highlighted in between x and z, and that's why it's called d x z. For the last two, they are on the axes or along the axes. And if you notice, you can see that they that the axes themselves kind of go through 2 of the lobes, and those lobes lie on the x and y axes. That's why this one is d x squared minus y squared. And then finally, this last one here, it's along the y axis and it pierces both all the way through, so that's why this one is d z squared. So these are our 5 different types of orbitals, each with their orientation. The first 3 are in between the axes, and the last 2 are on or along the axes.
2
example
Orientations of d Orbitals Example
Video duration:
46s
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Here it says, an electron in which of the following orbital is the most likely to be found along the x and y axes. So they said along the axes or on the axes, so there's only 2 possibilities, and those are d sub x squared minus y squared or d z squared. We can see from the designations here, we're talking about along the x and y axis. The first one is the one that contains those two variables of x and y. So here that would mean that answer or option d would have to be our correct answer. The first three do not work because they are in between the axes, and then d z squared here, we're talking about the one that's predominantly on x and y, and that have to be option d over option e.
3
Problem
Problem
In which of the following orbitals an electron is the most likely to be found along the z axis?
A
dxy
B
dyz
C
dxz
D
dx2–y2
E
dz2
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