Explore Atomic Orbitals 1

What Are Atomic Orbitals? An atom is made of protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons hang out together in a tight bundle in the centre of an atom called the nucleus. Electrons "fly around" the nucleus and take up most of the "space" of an atom. However, electrons aren't allowed to fly around "just anywhere". Instead, each electron occupies a fixed "path" around the nucleus, called an orbital. Each orbital has certain characteristics which we use to group them into subshells and shells. A Very Simple Model Of The Atom The simplest picture of an atom that captures this idea is the Bohr model (published by Niels Bohr in 1913). His model had electrons traveling in specific orbits around the nucleus, each one circular in shape and at a fixed distance from the nucleus. Specifically, for a hydrogen atom: Shell K L M N O … Number of Electrons Allowed 2 8 18 32 50 … Distance from Nucleus 52.9 pm 221.6 pm 476.1 pm … This model was extended for atoms other than hydrogen, and explained many experimental findings of the time. It also provides a structure for a basic bonding theory for compounds, and the periodic nature of atoms can be explained using this model. A Less Simple Model Of The Atom Since then, a number of more accurate and detailed studies have been done on a range of properties of the atom. The development of quantum mechanics led Erwin Schrödinger to propose a very different picture of the atom in 1926. In this model, he stopped thinking of electrons as little particles (like specks of dust) traveling in a mechanical sense around a nucleus, and instead thought of electrons as wave energy. This ultimately provides a much more accurate (albeit complicated) model. Continue with Explore Atomic Orbitals.

Bohr Atoms