Lou FCD
Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006
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Quote (stevestory @ Sep. 24 2008,16:51) | Quote (Lou FCD @ Sep. 24 2008,15:01) | Midwife, it seems the only route to go, if one wants to understand the sentences.
Thanks for the enumeration, Henry. But what makes an s orbital different from a p orbital? Why is it different?
Is this what you were touching on, Steve? Shape? If so, why is the shape of one orbital different from the shape of another in the same orbital (or even in different orbitals, for that matter)? Why does the second shell have one s and three p orbitals? Why not two and two or all of one or the other, for instance?
And what makes a d or f orbital different from s or p orbitals?
Does the p stand for pi and the s for sigma, as in Louis' previous explanation, or is that a whole 'nuther thing?
I think I'd have to get all that before I could even begin to understand resonance and continue with his explanation. |
Somebody's exclusion rules say only one electron can be in a given quantum state. Since s is spherically symmetrical, you can only put two electrons in that state--one with spin up, one with spin down. the next electrons, in p, have an x y or z orientation, so you can fix 6 more there p<sub>x</sub> spin up, p<sub>x</sub> spin down, p<sub>y</sub> spin up, p<sub>y</sub> spin down, p<sub>z</sub> spin up, p<sub>z</sub> spin down, a sigma bond is like two dumbbells--two p bonds--with one side of the weights touching. a pi bond is like two dumbbells with both the weight parts touching, so there's more overlap, lower energy, and therefore stronger. The hybrids are some weirder shapes that result from mathematically mixing several bonds and there's also some more stuff about symmetry and anti-symmetry and I haven't thought about this stuff for about 4 years and so I've probably done more harm here than good and it won't make any sense without diagrams and factier facts than I can recall. Also, electrons can effect the energy states of other electrons by repulsing them and shielding the positive charge from the nucleus. Like Louis said, I would go get the wikipedia articles until he returns. |
Ok, by "spin", are we talking about a physical spin, a rotation of the electron about a given spatial axis? Or is "spin" something more esoteric?
If the former, is that spacial axis relative to the nucleus, or is it more absolute, or neither?
Edited by Lou FCD on Sep. 24 2008,20:51
-------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?
Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend
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