CHEM 131A Study Guide - Spherical Coordinate System, Atomic Orbital
Document Summary
Chemical principles: the quest for insight by atkins and jones. Schrodinger"s equation: these expressions tend to be more complicated than the sine function for the particle-in-a-box system. Spherical polar coordinates: r, the distance from the center of the atom, (theta), the angle from the positive z-axis, the latitude ( top to bottom , (phi), the angle around the z-axis, the longitude ( right to left ) In general, each wavefunction (which varies from point to point) can be written as the function of the coordinates (r, , ) All wavefunctions can be written as the product of a function that relies only on r and another that relies only on angles and : (r, , ) = r(r)y( , ) R(r) radial wavefunction, tells us how the wavefunction varies as we move away from the nucleus in any direction. Y( , ) angular wavefunction, tells us how the wavefunction varies as angles and.
