What are valence orbitals?
An atom consists of two basic parts: the nucleus and the electrons. The nucleus is the central core of an atom and is made up of protons and neutrons. Electrons are very light, negatively charged particles that surround the positively charged nucleus. Early models of the atom depicted the electrons circling the nucleus in fixed orbits, much like planets revolving around the sun. Current theory suggests that electrons are housed in orbitals. An orbital is a region of space where there is a high probability of finding an electron. There are four basic types of orbitals: s, p, d, and f. An s orbital has a spherical shape and can hold two electrons. There are three p orbitals, each of which has the same basic dumbbell shape but differ in its orientation in space. The p orbitals can hold up to six electrons. There are five d orbitals, which have more complicated shapes than s and p orbitals. The shape and orientation of the d orbitals, which together can hold up to 10 electrons, are shown t
