Shapes Of Orbitals
The number of nodal planes present in a 3dₓᵧ orbital is:
Select the correct option:
Solution
2
A dₓᵧ orbital has lobes lying between the x and y axes (in the xy-plane). The nodal planes are the planes where the probability of finding the electron is zero. For dₓᵧ, the two nodal planes are the xz-plane and the yz-plane. In general, an orbital with azimuthal quantum number l has l angular (or nodal) planes. Since d-orbitals have l = 2, they possess 2 nodal planes. The total number of nodes (radial + angular) for any orbital is (n − 1), and specifically for 3dₓᵧ: total nodes = 3 − 1 = 2, with 0 radial nodes and 2 angular nodal planes.
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About This Question
- Subject
- chemistry
- Chapter
- atomic structure
- Topic
- shapes of orbitals
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
2
A dₓᵧ orbital has lobes lying between the x and y axes (in the xy-plane). The nodal planes are the planes where the probability of finding the electron is zero. For dₓᵧ, the two nodal planes are the xz-plane and the yz-plane. In general, an orbital with azimuthal quantum number l has l angular (or nodal) planes. Since d-orbitals have l = 2, they possess 2 nodal planes. The total number of nodes (radial + angular) for any orbital is (n − 1), and specifically for 3dₓᵧ: total nodes = 3 − 1 = 2, with 0 radial nodes and 2 angular nodal planes.
This medium difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter atomic structure, covering the topic of shapes of orbitals. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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