Atomic orbitals 6f wave functions

This page contains movies depicting the 6f wave functions and their nodal structures. In all cases the green zones are where the 6f wave function has positive values and the white zones denote negative values. See the 6f electron density page for movies depicting the 6f electron_density and nodal structures.

In each case the graph on the left is a surface plot of ψ6f on a slice drawn through the nucleus. They show the wave function collapsing on to the plane so as to show the nodal struction on the plane. The plot on the right shows values along a single line drawn through the nucleus. The points on the line plot or the surface plot where the colour changes from one to the other represent the points at which the orbital nodal spheres crosses the line or surface.

Each of the 6f orbitals has three planar nodes or conical nodes. The 6f orbitals have two spherical nodes but the higher f-orbitals ( 7f) have more while the lower orbitals ( 4f, 5f, and 6f) have fewer.

6fz3, 6fx3, and 6fy3 orbital wave functions

Movie depicting the 6fz3 wave functions (ψ6fz3)2. The z-axis lies from left to right. The 6fx3 and 6fy3 orbitals are identical in appearance but orientated along the x and y axes respecively. The 6fz3 orbital has one planar and two conical nodes. The 6f orbitals have two spherical nodes but the higher f-orbitals ( 7f) have more while the lower orbitals ( 4f, 5f, and 6f) have fewer.

6fxz2 and 6fyz2 orbital wave functions

The first image shows a two-dimensional wave function plot of the 6fxz2 orbital (across the x=0 plane). The 6fyz2 wave function is identical in appearance but the orbital is related by a rotation by 90° about the y-axis.

6fxyz and 6fz(x2-y2) wave functions

Movie depicting the 6fxyz wave function (ψ6fxyz)2. The left image shows a two-dimensional wave function plot of the 6fxyz orbital (across the x=y plane). The right image is along the x=y, z=0 line. The 6fxyz and 6fz(x2-y2) are related to each other by a 45° rotation about the z-axis.

6fy(3x2-y2) and 6fx(x2-3y2) wave functions

The first image shows a two-dimensional wave function plot of the 6fx(x2-3y2) orbital (across the z=0 plane, x axis pointing right). The 6fy(3x2-y2) orbital is identical in appearance but rotated by 90° about the vertical z-axis.


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.