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The Quantum Mechanical Model of the Atom
The quantum mechanical model of an atom is a mathematical description (called Schrodinger’s
equation) of the regions in space around the nucleus in which an atom’s electrons will probably
be found. This region of space is called an atomic orbital and the shape of an atomic orbital
(that is the shape of the electron probability density) changes as energy changes. The shapes
of the three lowest energy orbitals are shown below. Note that an orbital in the quantum
mechanical sense is nothing like Bohr’s orbits.
s-Orbital
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p-Orbitals
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d-Orbitals
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