Explore orbitals you can actually spin.
Pick an orbital type, drag to rotate it in 3D, and zoom in to see its lobes, nodes and shape up close. Hover any part to identify it.
Everything responds to a drag, a click or a hover.
No menus to dig through — the whole 3D model is the interface.
Choose an orbital type
Click s, p, d or f to switch between the fundamental orbital shapes. Each type has a distinct geometry that appears instantly.
Pick an orientation
Use the sublevel buttons to select specific orbitals within a type — like pₓ, pᵧ, p_z or d_xy — and see how their lobes point in space.
Spin and zoom the shape
Click and drag anywhere on the stage to rotate the orbital in 3D, and use the + / − buttons or your scroll wheel to zoom into the nucleus.
Hover to identify lobes
Hover any coloured lobe or region to see what part of the orbital it is and where the nodes and nodal planes sit.
What you're actually looking at.
The model shows real 3D probability clouds — not paths — and makes three key quantum ideas easy to see.
Probability clouds
An orbital is not a path an electron follows. It's a 3D map of where the electron is likely to be found. Denser regions mean higher probability.
Nodes and nodal planes
Where the wavefunction passes through zero, the electron will never be found. p orbitals have one nodal plane; d orbitals have two; f orbitals have more.
Lobes and orientation
The lobes point in specific directions determined by quantum numbers. Their orientation is what lets atoms form directional bonds in molecules.
Questions people actually ask.
The short answers — with the long ones one tap away.
What is an orbital diagram?+
An orbital diagram is a visual representation of where electrons live around an atom. Instead of fixed circular paths, electrons occupy fuzzy 3D regions called orbitals — each with a distinct shape (s, p, d, f) that shows the probability of finding an electron at any point.
What do the s, p, d and f orbitals look like?+
s orbitals are spherical. p orbitals are dumbbell-shaped with two lobes and a node at the nucleus — there are three of them (pₓ, pᵧ, p_z) oriented along the axes. d orbitals are mostly four-lobed clover shapes (five of them), and f orbitals are more complex eight-lobed shapes (seven of them).
How do electrons fill orbitals?+
Electrons fill orbitals in order of increasing energy: 1s → 2s → 2p → 3s → 3p → 4s → 3d → 4p, and so on. Within a sublevel, each orbital gets one electron first (Hund's rule) before any orbital gets a second, and each electron pair must have opposite spins.
Why do orbitals have different shapes?+
Orbital shapes come from the solutions to the Schrödinger equation. The s orbitals have zero angular momentum and are spherical. p orbitals have one unit of angular momentum, giving two lobes. d orbitals have two units, giving four-lobed shapes. The shapes are probability clouds, not paths.
What is a node in an orbital?+
A node is a region where the probability of finding an electron is exactly zero. p orbitals have a nodal plane at the nucleus. d orbitals have two nodal planes. The more nodes, the higher the energy of the orbital.
How does this orbital diagram help me learn?+
It lets you see and manipulate the real 3D shapes of orbitals instead of just looking at 2D sketches. You can rotate them, zoom in, toggle between types, and watch electrons fill the sublevels in order — building intuition for the quantum model.
Is this tool free, and where does my data go?+
It's completely free and runs entirely in your browser — nothing you build or click is uploaded, logged, or sent to any server. No account, no sign-up, no limits.