Orbital describes anything related to an orbit, which is the curved path one object takes as it travels around another object in space. The Moon follows an orbital path around Earth, and Earth follows an orbital path around the Sun. Scientists talk about orbital mechanics when they study how gravity keeps planets, moons, and satellites moving in these paths.

When engineers launch a satellite, they calculate the orbital velocity it needs: too slow and it falls back to Earth, too fast and it escapes into space. The International Space Station travels in a low orbital path about 250 miles above Earth's surface, circling our planet about every 90 minutes.

In chemistry, an orbital is something different but related by the same idea of circling. Electrons don't orbit the nucleus of an atom the way planets orbit the Sun. Instead, they occupy orbitals, which are regions of space where you're most likely to find an electron. Think of it like the electron's neighborhood rather than its exact address.