Chapter 7 Outline

7.1 Schrodinger's Cat

7.2 The Nature of Light

This section talkes about the basic wave properties of light. Light waves have frequency and wavelength. These are related by the equation c = [lambda] [nu]. Where c is the speed of light, [lambda] is the wavelength of light, and [nu] is the frequency of light.

7.3 Atomic Spectroscopy and the Bohr Model

The big breakthrough in understanding the electronic structure came from spectroscopy. Elements can give of light with specific wavelengths (or energies). This means that electrons can only have specific energies (or locations). This observation is the basis of quantum theory. A key part of this chapter is understanding how the line spectrum relates to the electronic structure of the atom. The Rydberg equation is an emperical equation that is used to calculate the energies (or wavelengths) for transitions in a hydrogen atom. Work through the algebra of enough problems to consistently get the right answer.

7.4 The Wave Nature of Matter: the de Broglie Wavelength, the Uncertainty Principle, and Indeterminancy

Just like light is described by both wave and particle properties, electrons also exhibit properties of both particles and waves. This results in some very interesting behavior. Keep in mind that electrons are not just little dots. The wave model is critical for understanding the behavior of electrons in atoms.

7.5 Quantum Mechanics and the Atom

Putting this all together, now we need to think of the electrons in an atom as waves, not as little particles going around in circles. This section very briefly introduces the way these waves are described or labeled (their quantum numbers)

7.6 The Shapes of Atomic Orbitals

This section begins to connect the theoretical construct of electrons that we have developed to chemistry. The connection is that the shapes of the electron wave functions determines how atoms interact. Understanding the electrons lets us understand the chemistry.
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Last Updated Friday, May 25, 2001 2:11:17 PM