Concept
Version 13
Created by Boundless
The Building-Up (Aufbau) Principle
Interactive: Energy Levels of a Hydrogen Atom
The likely location of an electron around the nucleus of an atom is called an orbital. The shape of an orbital depends on the energy state of the electron. A neutral hydrogen atom has one electron. Click in the boxes to set the energy of that electron and see the orbital shape describing where you are likely to find that electron around the nucleus.