CHEM 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Electron Configuration, Wave Function, Atomic Radius
Document Summary
This topic will go into details to discuss the quantum mechanical understanding of motions of electrons in atoms, which determine the reactivity and properties of atoms. The content of this topic is found in chapter 3 and 4 in your current textbook. These properties include: atomic radius, ionization energy and electron affinity. The textbook also introduces a little bit on quantum mechanics and light as electromagnetic radiation. The following text provides a guide on the content discussed in topic 2. The chemical reactivity of an element is determined by the electrons in the atom. In order to understand the reactivity of atoms, we need to know how these electrons move inside an atom. Whenever one tries to study the motion of these subatomic particles, the classical physics is no longer applicable. The motions of electrons are governed by the quantum mechanics. In quantum world, the motion of a particle is described by a wavefunction .
