What is difference between orbital and sub-orbital?

Answer 1

well when something is orbiting a planet that means an object is basically circling the planet due to its gravitational pull.

Rotation is the planets rotation not the object surrounding circling it.

Answer 2

In every atom there are principle energy levels, sub-levels and atomic orbitals. The principle energy levels are often those first taught when studying chemistry. They correspond to how close the electrons are to the nucleus. The first principle energy level is closest to the nucleus and can hold a mxaimum of two electrons. The second principle energy level is slightly further away from the nucleus and can hold a maximum of eight electrons. The third energy level is even further away and can hold a maximum of ten electrons.

Each principle energy level is comprised of different sub-levels: s, p, d and f. The s sub-level can hold a maximum of two electrons; , p a maximum of 6; d, a maximum of 10 and f, a maximum of 14 (although the f sub-level is only present in the lanthanide and actanide series). Sub-levels all have different energies and electrons fill sub-levels in order of lowest energy to highest. The first principle energy level has one sub-level, the 1s sub-level. The second principle energy level has two sub-levels, 2s and 2p. The third principle energy level has three sub-levels, 3s 3p and 3d. (However, the 4s sub-level is filled before the 3d sub-level, which is a different matter which cannot be explained quite so simply.)

Now, each sub-level is comprised of atomic orbitals which define the approximate boundaries of the electron orbit. Each orbital can hold up to two electrons, so a s sub-level has one orbital; a p sub-level has three orbitals; a d sub-level has five orbitals and a f sub-level has seven. This explanation is really quite brief as there is so much more information concerned with principle energy levels, sub-levels and atomic orbitals, which I suggest you look up elsewhere. =)

Answer 3

An orbital path in reference to space travel means that the trajectory and speed allow the object to stay in this exact path for as long as you desire. A sub-orbital means you got past the limit of space, but not enough speed to reach orbit.

Answer 4

The only thing they have in common is the first five letters.

An orbit is, basically, something going around something else in a well-defined and predictable path (usually a circle or ellipse).

An orbital is not really like anything you have everyday experience with. In practice it's best to just consider them mathematically as a way of describing the probability of finding an electron in any given region. They're complex functions (in the mathematical sense, and to some extent in the colloquial sense as well) involving something called a spherical harmonic (the angular portion of a solution to Laplace's equation).

The names are similar mainly because around a century ago when we were just starting to find out about atoms, we thought the electrons really did orbit the nucleus; we now know that's not true, but the name has stuck.