Aufbau comes from the German word “Aufbauen” which means “to build”. In essence when writing electron configurations we are building up electron orbitals as we proceed from atom to atom. As we write the electron configuration for an atom, we will fill the orbitals in order of increasing atomic number. The Aufbau principle originates from […]
The Aufbau Principle: Its Utility and its Fundamental Flaw Read More »
The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that, in an atom or molecule, no two electrons can have the same four electronic quantum numbers. We are aware that in one orbital a maximum of two electrons can be found and the two electrons must have opposing spins. That means one would spin up ( +1/2) and the
Pauli’s Exclusion Principle: Why Every Electron Needs a Unique Quantum ID Read More »
Classical physics was on loose footing with problems of wave/particle duality, but was caught completely off-guard with the discovery of the uncertainty principle. The uncertainty principle also called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, or Indeterminacy Principle, articulated (1927) by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, that the position and the velocity of an object cannot both be
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: Why You Can’t Know Everything at Once Read More »
Q uantom numbers are the address of electrons. These are numbers which are used to specify the position and energy of electrons in an atom. Four quantum numbers are usually used to designed the electrons present in an orbital. Principal Quantum Number (‘n’) T his represents the main shells in an atom. This number gives
The Bohr Model has an atom consisting of a small, positively-charged nucleus orbited by negatively-charged electrons. Here’s a closer look at the Bohr Model, which is sometimes called the Rutherford-Bohr Model Niels Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in 1915. Because the Bohr Model is a modification of the earlier Rutherford Model, some
Bohr’s Atomic Model: The Bridge to Modern Physics Read More »