11/16/22 - The Quantum Mechanical Model Flashcards
What is quantum mechanics?
The branch of physics that examines the wave nature of objects on the atomic scale.
What is the Schrodinger wave equation?
Hψ = Eψ
H = Hamiltonian operator
E = energy
ψ = wave function
What does the Schrodinger equation solve for?
The energy state associated with a given atomic orbital.
What does squaring the wave function (ψ) produce?
Probability density, the measure of the probability of finding an electron in a certain region of an atom.
What is an electron cloud?
An imaginary picture of an electron’s rapidly changing position
In the ground state of an H atom, are electrons more likely to be close to or far from the nucleus?
Close to the nucleus. The farther from the nucleus, the less likely there will be an electron there.
What is a 90% probability contour?
A region where an electron exists 90% of the time.
Why are atoms visualized with a 90% probability contour?
An electron could be in any position, so one cannot assign a definite volume to the atom.
Where in the atom does electron density peak?
Near (but not at) the nucleus
What is the principal quantum number (n)?
A positive integer representing an orbital’s energy and size.
What is the angular momentum quantum number (l)?
An integer that defines an orbital’s shape.
What are the allowed values of the angular momentum quantum number (l)?
Between 0 and n - 1.
What is the magnetic quantum number (ml)?
An integer that defines an orbital’s orientation in space.
What are the allowed values of the magnetic quantum number (ml)?
Integers between -l (angular momentum) and +l
When given an n value, how many ml values are there?
n^2
