Atomic orbitals: 4p electron "dot-density"

This page shows representations of electron density using two-dimensional and three-dimensional electron "dot-density" diagrams. High density of dots in a region denotes high electron density. The two-dimensional plot is across a plane of a 4p orbital. The three-dimensional plot allows you interact (zoom, rotate) with a three-dimensional electron "dot-density" models. yellow represents regions for which the wave functions are positive and white represents where values are negative.

The first image shows a two-dimensional electron dot-density plot of a 4p orbital. The second image is an interactive (see below for instructions) represention of 4p orbital electron density in three-dimensions.
Electron dot-density plot of the 4p orbital.

For any atom, there are three 4p orbitals, 4px, 4py, and 4pz. These orbitals have the same shape but are aligned differently in space. The dot density diagrams are valid for all three.

Data for both plots were created using a Monte Carlo computational method. You can interact (zoom, rotate) with the three-dimensional data using JSmol.

Using JSmol

You can use your mouse to manipulate the "orbital" in the "JSmol" image above. How you do this depends upon how you are viewing this page but the following may help.

  • On a mobile device experiment using one or two fingers to rotate and zoom
  • On a computer, to rotate about the x and y directions, drag mouse around the image
  • On a computer, to rotate about the z direction (which comes out of the screen towards you), hold shift and drag mouse horizontally
  • To zoom, hold shift key down and drag mouse vertically
  • To reset the image, hold down shift key and double click ony part of the image not containing dots

The OrbitronTM, a gallery of orbitals on the WWW: https://winter.group.shef.ac.uk/orbitron/
Copyright 2002-2023 Prof. Mark Winter [The University of Sheffield]. All rights reserved.