I am a scientist and a seamstress. This is a cotton crochet necklace. Each bead is crocheted in the shape of an atomic orbital. Electrons sit at discrete energy levels in the atom. Each level has one or more atomic orbital, which are represented by a volume in which the electron move around for that particular level and orbital. The necklace shows the levels from 1 to 3, each on one string. On level 1, there is only one orbital, a spherical orbital (also called “s”). On level 2, there are four atomic orbitals, one spherical and three with a “8” shape (“p”). On level 3, there is one s, three “p” and five “d” orbitals.
