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Interactive 3D
Orbitals in three dimensions
Textbooks draw s, p and d orbitals flat — here they are in the round, computed from the real hydrogen wavefunctions. Drag to rotate. Orange and blue mark the two phases of ψ; the gaps between them are the nodes.
ψ > 0 ψ < 0
2p
Two lobes along one axis (here z) with a nodal plane between them — the dumbbell shape of p orbitals.
Home of: B, C, N, O, F, Ne
Reading what you see
Each dot is a place the electron is likely to be found — dense regions mean high probability, empty gaps are the nodes where the wavefunction is exactly zero. The s sphere, the p dumbbell and the d cloverleaf are not artistic choices: they are what the Schrödinger equation demands, and they are the shapes every bond in the periodic table is built from.