ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND ATOMIC ORBITALS

A simple view

In any introductory chemistry course you will have come across the electronic structures of hydrogen and carbon drawn as:

Note:  There are many places where you could still make use of this model of the atom at A' level. It is, however, a simplification and can be misleading. It gives the impression that the electrons are circling the nucleus in orbits like planets around the sun. As you will see in a moment, it is impossible to know exactly how they are actually moving.