Question

For radial probability curves, which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?

• A. The number of maxima in 2s orbital are two
• B. The number of radial or spherical nodes $=n-l-1$
• C. The number of angular nodes are $‘l^{\prime }$
• D. $3d_{z^2}$ has three angular nodes

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B), (C)

The correct options are
A The number of maxima in 2s orbital are two
B The number of radial or spherical nodes $=n-l-1$
C The number of angular nodes are $‘l^{\prime }$

There are two types of nodes, angular and radial nodes. Angular nodes are typically flat planes (at fixed angles). The $l$ quantum number determines the number of angular nodes in an orbital. Radial nodes are spheres (at fixed radius) that occur as the principal quantum number increases. The total nodes of an orbital are the sum of angular and radial nodes and are given by the following equation:
$N=n-1$

In radial distribution curve of 2s orbital, we observe two maxima:

Option A is correct as per given above image.
Option B is correct as the number of radial or spherical nodes is given by ${}^{\prime }n-l-1^{\prime }$.
Option C is correct as the number of angular nodes $=l$
Option D is wrong. It has 2 angular nodes.