Download The Shroedinger/Modern Model of the Atom

Schrödinger's/ Modern
model of the atom
Particle-Wave Nature of Matter
Light has a particle nature
(Einstein):

•
photon – quantum of energy that
behaves in some ways like a
particle
Matter has a wave nature (De
Broglie):

•
•
Electrons scatter like X-rays
Electron microscopes use this
property to see very small things.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

The position and
speed of a
moving object
cannot BOTH be
known exactly at
the same time.
Heisenberg, Cont.

Why?
• The act of observing changes an object.
• To see things, we must bounce light off
of them.
• To observe an electron, we have to
bounce light off of it.
• The light would move the electron so
much that we would not be able to tell
where it was, or how fast it was going.
• Think of hot tea and a cold
thermometer.
A new idea!

Orbitals:
• A region around the nucleus of the
atom where an electron of a given
energy is likely to be found.
• We don’t know exactly where electrons
really are, just where they are likely to
be.
• Also called an electron cloud or
probability region.
So, what’s an orbital??
Orbit  Orbital
 ex. Electron is
like a bee
around a
beehive.
