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The atomic orbitals differ in shape. That is, the electrons they describe have different probability distributions around the nucleus. Indeed, a part of the reason why orbitals differ in energy is that the electrons that occupy them are likely to be found in different regions around the parent nucleus and hence experience the latter’s attraction with different strengths. The fact that all orbitals of a given shell in the hydrogen atom have the same energy despite having different shapes is surprising and is associated with a cancellation of different contributions to the energy. (This so-called degeneracy, the possession of the ...(100 of 27318 words)