Question

The relative extent to which the various orbitals penetrate the electron clouds of other orbitals is:

• A. $s>p>d>f$
• B. $s<p<d<f$
• C. $s<d<p<f$
• D. $d<s<p<f$

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

$s>p>d>f$

Electron in s-orbital is closer to nucleus than electron in p-orbital and electron in p-orbital is closer to nucleus than electron in d-orbital and so on. So,more energy is requried to remove electron from s-orbital than electron in p-orbital in spite of both having same principal quantum number. Similarly, p orbital will require more energy than d-orbital. this is called penetrating effect. it decreases in order $s>p>d>f$