What are the Difference between orbit and orbitals?

Answer 1

Orbitals are 3D while orbits are 2D

Orbitals determine the most probable location where the electron pairs are found

Orbits determine the energy level of the electrons

Orbits can only contain a maximum of 2 electrons

Orbitals can contain 2n^2 electrons

• Orbit is a concept from celestial mechanics and astronomy.
• Orbital is a concept from quantum mechanics, spectrometry, and chemistry.

Answer 2

The difference between orbit and orbitals is that "orbit" is the term used by Neils Bohr while the term "orbital" was used by Werner Heisenberg.

• Orbit is a concept from celestial mechanics and astronomy.
• Orbital is a concept from quantum mechanics, spectrometry, and chemistry.

Answer 3

The orbit of electrons as seen in the Bohr model are in a fixed path around the nucleus of the atom.

Orbitals are where the electron is most likely to be found in the space surrounding the nucleus in the Wave Mechanical Model, the most recent and commonly used model of the atom.

Answer 4

The quantum mechanical model is based on mathematics and is more difficult to understand than the Bohr model, it can be used to explain observations made on complex atoms.

What makes each of these models different is:

Quantum Mechanical Model

· Based on quantum theory, which says matter also has properties associated with waves.

· Uses complex shapes of orbital's (sometimes called electron clouds), volumes of space in which there is likely to be an electron.

· Gives a 3-D view of an atom which shows electrons energy levels and sub-levels and the probability of an electrons location, proven with complex mathematics.

· According to quantum theory, it's impossible to know the exact position and momentum of an electron at the same time. This is known as the Uncertainty Principle.

· Being a more sophisticated model the quantum mechanical model is used much more frequently

Bohr Model

· Shows that the electrons in atoms are in orbits of differing energy around the nucleus.

· Bohr used the term energy levels (or shells) to describe these orbits of differing energy. It was said that the energy of an electron is quantized, meaning electrons can have one energy level or another but nothing in between.

· Bohr found that the closer an electron is to the nucleus, the less energy it needs, but the farther away it is, the more energy it needs. So Bohr numbered the electron's energy levels. The higher the energy-level number, the farther away the electron is from the nucleus - and the higher the energy.

· Bohr also found that the various energy levels can hold differing numbers of electrons: energy level 1 may hold up to 2 electrons; energy level 2 may hold up to 8 electrons, and so on.

· The Bohr model works well for very simple atoms such as hydrogen (which has 1 electron) but not for more complex atoms.

Answer 5

In one sense, an orbit is the path a satellite follows around its primary and a revolution is the process of the satellite moving in that orbit.

When people count how many orbits or revolutions a satellite has taken since a specific time, the meaning changes slightly. Then one orbit is the time it takes for the satellite to return to the same place in its orbit, i.e. to the same position relative to the larger surrounding universe. One revolution is the time a satellite takes to return to the position in its orbit above a particular location on its primary. So one revolution of a satellite about the Earth can be different ( longer or shorter ) than one orbit because the reference point on the Earth's surface moves as the Earth rotates.

Answer 6

• Orbit is a concept from celestial mechanics and astronomy.
• Orbital is a concept from quantum mechanics, spectrometry, and chemistry.

Answer 7

An atomic orbital is a type of orbital.