highrow

unknownskywalker:

First image of electrons orbiting around a molecule

Pictured above is a single molecule of pentacene (e), made up of five rings of carbon atoms and bordered all the way around by hydrogen atoms, taken by an atomic force microscope (AFM). The images (a) and (b) show the actual electron orbitals: region of probability than an electron will exist in a certain area.

The two different pictures are showing two separate sets of orbitals: the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) which illustrates the full range of the orbiting electrons. On the bottom images are mathematical models of what the orbitals should look like.