So I understand than the lanthanide contraction is due to poor shielding of the 4f electrons which decreases the radius. However, if Im not mistaken the relativistic effects lead to a contraction of the core orbitals (s,p) while the f and d orbitals expand. So what I do not understand how do they match, one of them decreases the radius and the other one should expand it as the f orbitals expand right?They usually say relativistic effects are one of the reasons for the lanthanide contractionThanks
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