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The orbital diagram of hydrogen shows that the 1s subshell has 1 electron.
Steps
Here’s how you can draw the orbital diagram of hydrogen step by step.
#1 Find electrons of hydrogen
#2 Write electron configuration of hydrogen
#3 Draw orbital diagram of hydrogen
Let’s break down each step in detail.
Find electrons
The atomic number of hydrogen represents the total number of electrons of hydrogen. Since the atomic number of hydrogen is 1, the total electrons of hydrogen is 1.
Write electron configuration
The electron configuration of hydrogen is 1s1.
Now in the next step, start drawing the orbital diagram for hydrogen.
Draw orbital diagram
Before drawing the orbital diagram, you should know the three general rules.
- Aufbau principle – electrons are first filled in lowest energy orbital and then in higher energy orbital
- Pauli exclusion principle – two electrons with the same spin can not occupy the same orbital
- Hund’s rule – each orbital should be first filled with one electron before being paired with a second electron
Also, you should know the number of orbitals in each subshell.
We can calculate the number of orbitals in each subshell using the formula: 2ℓ + 1
Where, ℓ = azimuthal quantum number of the subshell
For s subshell, ℓ = 0
For p subshell, ℓ = 1
For d subshell, ℓ = 2
For f subshell, ℓ = 3
So each s subshell has one orbital, each p subshell has three orbitals, each d subshell has five orbitals, and each f subshell has seven orbitals.
Now start to draw!
As mentioned above, the electron configuration of hydrogen is 1s1. Hence, draw the blank orbital diagram of hydrogen up to 1s subshell as follows:
In the above orbital diagram, the box represents an orbital. Each orbital has a capacity of two electrons. And the arrows (↑↓) are drawn inside the box to represent electrons.
Now 1s1 indicates that the 1s subshell has 1 electron. So draw one arrow in the 1s box showing one electron as follows:
That’s it! This is the final orbital diagram of hydrogen as we have used all electrons.
Next: Helium orbital diagram
