9.2 Quantum Theory and The Atom

Section 2: Quantum
Theory and the Atom

Chapter 9: Electrons in Atoms and the Periodic Table
Learning Goals
• Compare the Bohr and quantum mechanical
models of the atom.
• Explain the impact of de Broglie’s wave particle
duality and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle
on the current view of electrons in atoms.
• Identify the relationships among a hydrogen
atom’s energy levels, sublevels, and atomic
orbitals.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Einstein’s theory of light’s dual nature
accounted for several unexplainable
phenomena, but it did not explain why
atomic emission spectra of elements
were discontinuous.
• In 1913, Niels Bohr, a Danish physicist
working in Rutherford’s laboratory,
proposed a quantum model for the
hydrogen atom that seemed to answer this
question.
– This model correctly predicted the frequency
lines in hydrogen’s atomic emission spectrum.
• The lowest allowable energy state of an
atom is called its ground state.
• When an atom gains energy, it is in an
excited state.
• Bohr suggested that an electron moves
around the nucleus only in certain allowed
circular orbits.
• Each orbit was given a number,
called the quantum number.
– Bohr orbits are like steps of a
ladder, each at a specific distance
from the nucleus and each at a
specific energy.
• Hydrogen’s single electron is in the n
= 1 orbit when it is in the ground
state.
– When energy is added, the electron
moves to the n = 2 orbit.
• The electron releases energy as it falls
back towards the ground state.
• Bohr’s model explained the hydrogen’s
spectral lines, but failed to explain any
other element’s lines.
• For this and other reasons, the Bohr
model was replaced with a more
sophisticated model called the quantum-
mechanical or wave-mechanical model.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• Louis de Broglie (1892–1987)
hypothesized that particles, including
electrons, could also have wavelike
behaviors.
– Electrons do not behave like particles flying
through space.
• We cannot, in general, describe their exact paths.
• Heisenberg showed it is impossible to take
any measurement of an object without
disturbing it.
• The Heisenberg uncertainty principle
states that it is fundamentally impossible to
know precisely both the velocity and position
of a particle at the same time.
• The only quantity that can be known is the
probability for an electron to occupy a
certain region around the nucleus.
• Schrödinger treated electrons as waves in
a model called the quantum mechanical
model of the atom.
– Schrödinger’s equation applied equally well to
elements other than hydrogen (unlike Bohr’s
model).
• The quantum mechanical model makes no
attempt to predict the path of an electron
around the nucleus.
– Bohr orbits were replaced with quantum-
mechanical orbitals.
• Orbitals are different from orbits in
that they represent probability maps
that show a statistical distribution of
where the electron is likely to be
found.
• In the quantum-mechanical model, a
number and a letter specify an orbital.
– The lowest-energy orbital is called the 1s
orbital.
• It is specified by the number 1 and the letter s.
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• The number is called the Principal
quantum number (n) and it indicates the
relative size and energy of atomic orbitals.
– n specifies the atom’s major energy levels,
called the principal energy levels.
• Energy sublevels are contained within
the principal energy levels.
• Each energy sublevel relates to orbitals of
different shape.
s, p, d, f
s, p, d
s, p
s
• s sublevel:
• p sublevel:
• d sublevel:
• f sublevel:
• Orbitals are sometimes represented by dots,
where the dot density is proportional to the
probability of finding the electron.
• The dot density for the 1s orbital is greatest near
the nucleus and decreases farther away from the
nucleus.
• The electron is more likely to be found close to the
nucleus than far away from it.
• At any given time, hydrogen’s electron can
occupy just one orbital.
– When hydrogen is in the ground state, the
electron occupies the 1s orbital.
– When the atom gains a quantum of energy,
the electron is excited to one of the
unoccupied orbitals.

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Section 2: Quantum

Theory and the Atom

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