Question

1. draw the shapes of the three 2p orbitals in 3-d (these are shown in your textbook, your artistic skills aren’t being graded here, just copy them as best you can):

Explanation:

The three 2p orbitals (2pₓ, 2pᵧ, 2p_z) have a dumbbell (or "figure - 8" in 2 - D, but 3 - D is a dumbbell - like) shape. Each 2p orbital is oriented along a different axis in the 3 - D coordinate system:

• 2pₓ orbital: It is oriented along the x - axis. The electron density is concentrated in two lobes, one on the positive x - side and one on the negative x - side of the nucleus (which is at the origin of the coordinate system), with a nodal plane (a plane where the probability of finding an electron is zero) along the y - z plane.
• 2pᵧ orbital: Oriented along the y - axis. The two lobes of electron density are on the positive y - side and negative y - side of the nucleus, and the nodal plane is the x - z plane.
• 2p_z orbital: Oriented along the z - axis. The two lobes are on the positive z - side and negative z - side of the nucleus, and the nodal plane is the x - y plane.

To draw them:

1. For the 2pₓ orbital, draw two oval - like (or teardrop - like) lobes along the horizontal (x) axis, with the nucleus (a small dot) at the center between them, and a vertical (y - z) plane (you can represent it as a dashed or solid line) passing through the nucleus and perpendicular to the x - axis to show the nodal plane.
2. For the 2pᵧ orbital, draw two lobes along the vertical (y) axis (if we consider the standard orientation where x is horizontal and y is vertical on the page), with the nucleus at the center, and a horizontal (x - z) plane (perpendicular to the y - axis) as the nodal plane.
3. For the 2p_z orbital, if we are drawing in a 2 - D representation of 3 - D, we can draw two lobes along the axis coming out of the page (z - axis) and into the page, with the nucleus at the center, and the x - y plane (the plane of the page) as the nodal plane (we can represent the out - of - page lobe with a circle or an oval with a dot in the center to show it's coming out, and the into - page lobe with a circle or oval with an 'x' in the center, or just two lobes above and below the x - y plane).

Answer:

The three 2p orbitals (2pₓ, 2pᵧ, 2p_z) have dumbbell - shaped electron density distributions, each oriented along one of the three mutually perpendicular axes (x, y, z). The 2pₓ orbital has lobes along the x - axis (nodal plane y - z), 2pᵧ along the y - axis (nodal plane x - z), and 2p_z along the z - axis (nodal plane x - y). When drawing, represent each as two lobes on opposite sides of the nucleus along their respective axes, with the appropriate nodal plane indicated.