Theories of Electronic structure

What did the Bohr model propose?

Electrons orbit the nucleus in spherical shells with fixed energy levels.

What did the Bohr model help to explain?

Why atoms only absorb or emit energy at certain frequencies which correspond to the energy difference between 2 of the energy levels.

What doesn't the Bohr model explain?

Some of the finer details of absorption and emission spectra.

Why was the Bohr model later refined?

So that the shells didn't have to be spherical, which caused the idea of sub-shells and orbitals to be developed

What did Werner Heisenberg do in 1927?

Heisenberg came up with the theory that you can't know the speed of an electron and its exact position at the same time

What is Heisenberg's theory known as?

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

What do scientists think of orbitals, as a result of Heisenberg?

As an area where electrons are most likely to be found, rather than where they will be,

What has investigations into electronic structure led to?

The development of an area of science called quantum mechanics.

What does quantum mechanics use and why?

Maths to explain how very small particles, like electrons, behave.

What has quantum mechanics allowed scientists to do?

To develop theories that explain and predict the properties of atoms, like their spectra and the way they bond to other atoms to form molecules.