044
Hydrogen 3d orbital
Two lobes, a torus, and the two cones where the electron is never found.
Field
Detail
Study
044
Chapter
Quantum mechanics
Equation
ψ₃₂₀ ∝ r² e^(−r/3a₀) (3cos²θ − 1), cos²θ = 1/3
What moves
the camera; the state itself is stationary
Structure
Film
Colour means
the sign of ψ
Posted
Nobody can say where the electron in a hydrogen atom is. Where it is likely to be has a shape: two lobes above and below, a ring around the middle. The shape does not move; only the camera does, because a solid can only be read by moving round it. Blue and violet mark where the wavefunction is positive and negative. Between them lie two cones at 54.7°, where the probability is exactly zero.