Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

Orbital: A mathematical equation which defines a volume of space in which there is a specified probability of finding an electron of a specified energy. Shown below are plots of orbital equations.



An s atomic orbital is spherical.
It has no nodes.
  
A p atomic orbital has two orbital lobes
and a node at the nucleus. These px, py,
and pz orbitals are orthogonal.
  
The π1 molecular orbital of
1,3-butadiene has one node.