JCP321H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Craps, Quantum Superposition, Linear Combination
Document Summary
The schrodinger equation for an atom with more than one electron. Unfortunately, separation of variables craps out for this. Pde, making it incredibly hard to crack analytically (it can be approximated using computers). Fortunately, we can use the wavefunction of the hydrogen atom to approximate the solutions. This lets us write the multi electron wavefunction as a product of single electron wavefunctions. The amount of electrons the valence shell of an atom can hold is equal to double the principal quantum number squared: (so n=1 2 electrons and n=2 8 electrons, etc) Octet rule (more like octet suggestion, but whatever) This model pretty much explains why the stuff in the periodic table works the way it does. The fact that the carrying capacity of the valence shell is related to the principal quantum number leads to the concept of the stable octet.
