Why are teachers now saying electrons are in orbitals? I thought they moved around shells?

Unfortunately, every year in school you are told that something from the previous year was not completely true, and had in fact been simplified...one of the major examples of this is orbitals. While the electrons are in shells, these shells are made up of 'sub shells' known as orbitals, which can each hold 2 electrons. At A Level there are 3 types of orbital you need to know: S, P and D, and you need to try and see these in 3D to understand them fully. Using model kits, good drawings or websites such as chemtube3d.com can be very helpful for this. But there is no need to worry, because the periodic table is split up into 'blocks' which make seeing which electrons are in which orbital much easier.

FM
Answered by Findlay M. Chemistry tutor

2010 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why do ionic compounds like NaCl conduct electricity when dissolved but not when they’re solid, whereas metals conduct electricity when they’re solid?


The following equilibrium is set up in a glass syringe. 2(NO2) (brown gas) ‹-› N2O4 (colourless gas) ∆H = -58 kJmol-1. Using le Chatelier's principle, predict and explain how heating up the mixture would affect it's appearance.


What evidence is there to support the delocalised model of benzene over Kekulé's model?


How does a change in temperature affect the Kc value when the forward reaction is exothermic?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning