Atomic Orbitals

• defined as the wavefunction of an electron in an atom
• square of the AO gives the probability density
• any electron describd by an orbital is said to ocupy that orbital
• atomic orbitals have a well-defined significance only for hydrogenic atoms
• hydrogenic atoms are used in many of the computational approximations
• the orbit is a mathematical expression, describing the probablity of finding an electron at some point near the nucleus
  • the amplitude of an atomic orbital varies with distance from the nucleus in a not quite exponential fashion