World 1 · Hydrogen without planetary orbits · 9 minA spherical node
Teaching this? Open projector mode
For 2s, the radial wavefunction changes sign at r = 2a₀, where the probability density is zero. This spherical node separates an inner and an outer region. In general a hydrogen orbital has n−l−1 radial nodes and l angular nodes. The slice colours show sign; brightness shows density relative to that slice’s maximum.
Check yourself
How many radial nodes does 2s have?
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