Electron Orbitals

What are electrons?

Electrons are located around the nucleus of atoms in regions called orbitals

What are orbitals?

Regions of space around the nucleus where an electron is most likely to be found. Orbitals contain two electrons of opposite spin.

Where are orbitals located?

Orbitals are located at different distances from the nucleus

Who was Louis de Broglie?

A physicist who proposed that all matter has an associated wave frequency (1892-1987)

How does mass affect the wave characteristics of a particle?

The larger the mass of an object, the more difficult it is to detect the wave characteristics of a particle

Who was Erwin Schrödinger?

A physicist who developed mathematical equations that treated electrons as waves (1887-1961)

What does ϕ represent in Schrödinger’s equations?

ϕ represents electrons

Why are Schrödinger’s equations important?

They are the earliest form of quantum mechanics

What do Schrödinger’s equations tell us about orbitals?

They define a region of space in which an electron is most likely to be found, giving definite shape to orbitals

What is an electron cloud?

A probability map of where electrons are most likely to be found

What does the density of an electron cloud indicate?

The denser a cloud is, the more likely an electron will be found

Who was Werner Heisenberg?

A physicist who showed that natural physics laws at the macroscopic level don’t work at the atomic level, explained by quantum mechanics (1901-1976)

What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

It is not possible to know the position and momentum of a particle simultaneously

How does firing a photon at an electron affect measurement?

The photon affects the electron’s motion, making measurements of position and momentum uncertain

How does system size relate to measurement uncertainty?

The smaller the system you are trying to observe, the more uncertain any measurements you make on that system