Shell, Sub-shell and Orbital Lecture

Shell Subshell and Orbital in Simple words

Atoms consist of subatomic particles called electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons and neutrons can be found in the nucleus. The nucleus is surrounded by a swarm of electrons. There are always moving electrons in this cloud. There’s more evidence suggesting it’s not just a cloud. To a certain extent, electrons can only move between discrete energy levels. Those structures look like potential pathways for electrons to travel. Shells, subshells, and orbitals are terms used to describe these pathways. The electrons in a given shell all have the same primary quantum number, and the electrons in a given subshell all have the same angular momentum quantum number; in contrast, the electrons in a given orbital all have the same energy level but different spins.

• The path that an electron takes around the nucleus of an atom is called its “shell.”
• The path that an electron takes within a shell is called its “subshell.”
• An electron’s wavelike behavior is represented by the orbital function.