Chapter 3
Quantum Theory and the Electronic Structure of Atoms
3.2 Bohr’s Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• An emission spectrum is the light given off by an object when it is excited thermally.
• An emission spectrum may be continuous, including all wavelengths within a particular
range, or it may be a line spectrum, consisting only of certain discrete wavelengths
• The ground state is the lowest possible energy state for an atom. An exited state is any
energy level higher than the ground state
• Bohr Model of atom
Wave Properties of Matter
• de Broglie proposed that matter might exhibit wavelike behavior
• de Broglie wavelength is the wavelength associated with a particle of very small mass
• Electrons can exhibit diffraction
Quantum Mechanics
• Electrons act like a particle and a wave – scientists needed a new way to describe the action
of subatomic particles
• The Uncertainty Principle – used to describe the problem of trying to locate a subatomic
particle that behaves like a wave
• Heisenberg uncertainty principle: It is impossible to know simultaneously both the
momentum and position of a particle with certainty
• If the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is applied to the hydrogen atom, we find the
electron cannot orbit the nucleus in a well-defined path (Bohr Model is wrong)
• Erwin Schrodinger used Bohr and Heisenberg’s ideas (and very advanced calculus) to
create the Schrodinger equation
• The electron density gives the probability of finding an electron in a particular region of an
atom
• An atomic orbital is the region of three-dimensional space, defined by 2 (the square of the
wavefunction )
• An atomic orbital can hold a maximum of two electrons
Ch. 3 - 1
Atomic Orbitals
• It is useful to think of orbitals as having specific shapes
s orbital
p orbitals
d orbitals
f orbitals
Ch. 3 - 2
Electron Configurations
How are the electrons distributed in the atomic orbitals?
The Pauli Exclusion Principle – no two electrons in the same atom can have the same four
quantum numbers (cannot occupy the same orbital space)
Orbital diagram
The Aufbau Principle – to build the periodic table of the elements and determine their electron
configurations by steps
Hund’s Rule – the most stable arrangement of electrons in orbitals of equal energy is the one in
which the number of electrons with the same spin is maximized
Ch. 3 - 3
Electron Configuration and the Periodic Table
Ch. 3 - 4
Quantum Numbers
In Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom, only one number, n, was necessary to describe the location
of the electron. In quantum mechanics, three quantum numbers are used to describe the
distribution of electron density in an atom. These are derived from Schrodinger’s equation for the
hydrogen atom
Principle Quantum Number (n) – The Shell
Angular Momentum Quantum Number (l) – The Subshell
Magnetic Quantum Number (ml) – The Orbitals
Three quantum numbers describe an atomic orbital, but you need an additional quantum number
to describe an electron that occupies an orbital
Electron Spin Quantum Number (ms) – The Spin
Ch. 3 - 5
What element is represented by these quantum numbers (assume these represent the last
electron added)?
n=4 n=3
l=1 l=2
ml = 0 ml = -1
ms = -1/2 ms = +1/2
• Number of orbitals in a given shell, n, is n2
• Number of electrons in a given shell, n, is 2n2
Suggested Problems: 48, 52,
Ch. 3 - 6
