Do electron orbitals ever change?

[jactor]

1. Do electron orbitals ever change in _shape_? Specifically, does a solid have the same orbital shapes as a liquid?

2. Are there any factors that would change the _size_ of electron orbitals?

 

[sysprog]

Are you asking about the Bohr model, or about a probability cloud model, or about some other model?

 

[jactor]

Probability cloud model (which I understand to be the current accepted model?)

 

[sysprog]

Probability cloud model (which I understand to be the current accepted model?)

The probability cloud outwardly decreases in density. The electron will jump if you force it to do so. Just exactly how much force that will require remains anyone's guess. We know that the numbers are 'more than this' and 'less than that', and the threshholds are well-established and thoroughly published, but we don't know determinately at the quantum level.

 

[jactor]

The probability cloud outwardly decreases in density. The electron will jump if you force it to do so. Just exactly how much force that will require remains anyone's guess. We know that the numbers are 'more than this' and 'less than that', and the threshholds are well-established and thoroughly published, but we don't know determinately at the quantum level.

This doesn't really seem relevant to my original questions?

 

[hutchphd]

I think one must be careful here. The presence of any other atom nearby will start to perturb the "free atom" solution to Schrodinger. As more atoms get closer and closer the changes become profound. The electrons are no longer assignable to one nucleus and the solutions are very complicated. Most of the art of solid state and molecular physics (no surprise here) is to extract the detailed information required without solving the whole N atom problem. The solutions for isolated atoms with electrons are not even approximately eigenstates

 

[Baluncore]

Do “electron orbitals” really have a size or a shape ?

The electrons that are involved with bonding will have different configurations in different states.

The size or shape of a bond is in the model you have in your mind. We do not know how you imagine your model.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_configuration

 

[sysprog]

This doesn't really seem relevant to my original questions?

Then let's please look again at your questions:

1. Do electron orbitals ever change in _shape_?

Electron orbitals are constantly changing in shape, but not by very much, unless something bigger happens.

Specifically, does a solid have the same orbital shapes as a liquid?

A liquid has more freedom than a solid; in the probablistic model, yes, that can change the shape a little, and no, an electron orbital cloud does not have the same shape in the solid state as in the liquid state.

2. Are there any factors that would change the _size_ of electron orbitals?

I'm pretty sure that if at all not by much $-$ as far as I know, heavier elements may have slightly tighter orbitals $-$ the EM force varies as the cube on the distance $-$ obviously, atoms remain tiny $-$ if the energy gets to be big enough, the electron jumps $-$ as far as I know, that doesn't change the orbital size $\dots$

 

[jactor]

an electron orbital cloud does not have the same shape in the solid state as in the liquid state.

This is the thing I most want to dig into. In what way do the shapes change? And is there also a difference between gas/liquid as there is with liquid/solid?

as far as I know, heavier elements may have slightly tighter orbitals

That is intuitive, thanks.

 

[jactor]

I think one must be careful here. The presence of any other atom nearby will start to perturb the "free atom" solution to Schrodinger. As more atoms get closer and closer the changes become profound. The electrons are no longer assignable to one nucleus and the solutions are very complicated. Most of the art of solid state and molecular physics (no surprise here) is to extract the detailed information required without solving the whole N atom problem. The solutions for isolated atoms with electrons are not even approximately eigenstates

So to consider a single atom in a vacuum, would the shape change as the atom is heated?

 

[hutchphd]

For a hydrogen atom the orbitals (allowed energy states and associated eigenfunctions) would be unchanged but the electrons would not be in an eigenstate of energy. Interactions with the temperature "bath" (whatever it may be ) would demand a superposition of higher energy states on average. So the probability "cloud" for the average atom would get bigger because the excited states are "bigger" For multielectron atoms it can be more complicated, but generally this is true also

 

[PeroK]

So to consider a single atom in a vacuum, would the shape change as the atom is heated?

Try reading this:

https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/14510/what-happens-when-we-heat-an-atom

 

[Drakkith]

This is the thing I most want to dig into. In what way do the shapes change? And is there also a difference between gas/liquid as there is with liquid/solid?

That is a very difficult question to answer, as it depends entirely on which atoms you're dealing with and how they end up interacting or binding together when the go into liquid and solid states. For example, atoms which form metallic solids have a very different 'shapes' for their electron orbitals than something like carbon or oxygen.

Note that the atomic orbitals you're used to seeing on something like wikipedia only really exist in an isolated atom with one electron. An atom that's interacting with nearby atoms or one that has multiple electrons may have very different atomic orbital shapes.

So to consider a single atom in a vacuum, would the shape change as the atom is heated?

A single atom can't really be 'heated' like you would think. All it can really do is accelerate or have its electrons excited to higher energy states. I don't think either of these would change the shape of the atomic orbitals though. The electrons would just exist in different orbitals which intrinsically have different shapes than their lower energy counterparts.

 

[Mayhem]

Separate orbitals can sometimes hybridize, which affects their geometry. This is called orbital hybridization, and without it, most of chemistry wouldn't happen - in fact, carbon based life wouldn't exist!

Probably not what you were looking for, though.