Electronic Structure 4
Electronic Structure 4
6B Chemistry
Modern atomic Theory
Two types:
● Continuous Spectrum eg. light bulb
1. The atom can emit or absorb radiant energy only in the form of bundles or
bursts called quanta
2. When an atom absorbs energy, it absorbs one or more quanta of energy
3. The energy of a quantum is proportional to frequency of the radiation
Bohr used the quantum theory to predict the electronic structure of Hydrogen
The Bohr Model
Energy Levels and the Bohr Model of the Atom
● Bohr’s hypothesized that the emission line spectrum of an
element tells us that atoms of that element emit photons with
only certain frequencies f and certain specific energies E = hf
● During the emission of a photon, the internal energy of the
atom changes by an amount equal to the energy of the
photon.
● Each atom must be able to exist with only certain specific
values of internal energy.
● Each atom has a set of possible energy levels, but it cannot
have an energy intermediate between two levels.
● All atoms of a given element have the same set of energy
levels, but atoms of different elements have different sets.
● If an atom is raised, or excited, to a high energy level, the
excited atom can make a transition from one energy level to a
lower energy level by emitting a photon with energy equal to the
energy difference between the initial and final levels.
● If Ei is the initial energy of the atom before a transition, Ef is the
final energy after the transition, and the photon’s energy is h·f =
(h·c)/λ, then conservation of energy gives:
● For example: an excited lithium atom emits red light with
wavelength λ = 671 nm. The corresponding photon energy is:
●
● Emission line spectra show that many different
wavelengths are emitted by each atom.
● Each kind of atom must have a number of energy levels,
with different spacing between each energy level.
● Each wavelength in the spectrum corresponds to a
transition between two specific energy levels of the atom.
● Caution: the lines of an emission line spectrum are not all
produced by a single atom. The spectrum from a gas
shows the light emitted from all the different transitions
that occurred in different atoms of the sample.
● The observation that atoms are stable means that each atom
has a lowest energy level, called the ground level.
● Levels with energies greater than the ground level are called
excited levels.
● An atom in the excited level, called an excited atom, can
make a transition into the ground level by emitting a photon.
● Collisions are not the only way that an atom’s energy can be
raised from one level to a higher level.
● If an atom initially in the lower energy level is struck by a
photon with just the right amount of energy, the photon can be
absorbed and the atom will end up in the higher level.
● In a previous example, we mentioned two levels in the lithium
atom with an energy difference of 1.85 eV.
– For a photon to be absorbed and excite the atom from
the lower level to the higher one, the photon must have
an energy of 1.85 eV and a wavelength of 671 nm.
– An atom absorbs the same wavelengths that it emits.
● Bohr postulated that each energy level of a hydrogen
atom corresponds to a specific stable circular orbit of
the electron around the nucleus.
● Bohr postulated that an electron in such an orbit does
not radiate (a break from electromagnetic theory).
● Instead, an atom radiates energy only when an
electron makes a transition from an orbit of energy Ei
to a different orbit with lower energy Ef, emitting a
photon of energy hf = Ei – Ef.
Energy Levels in Hydrogen
Electronic Transitions in Hydrogen
Spectral lines
Hydrogen Spectrum
Emission Spectra of Hydrogen
The Problem with the Bohr Model
Bohr’s theory failed to explain the lines in multi-electron atoms
Experiments proved that the electron does approach the nucleus at various times
Wave-Particle Duality
In 1924, Louis De Broglie suggested that some of the properties of matter could
be only be explained if we assume that electrons in matter had wave-like
properties
Large bodies oscillate like waves but the displacement is inversely proportional to
the mass. Displacement is so small for large bodies that we cannot observe with
the naked eye
The application of the measuring device changes either the energy or position of
the electron
The idea that electrons moved in exact orbits around the nucleus had to be
abandoned
HUP
Only the probability of finding an electron at a given distance from the nucleus can
be determined.
This corresponds to the most probable electron orbit or energy level (shell)
Energy level are visualized as clouds of electrical charge surrounding the nucleus
The Wave-Mechanical Model
Erwin Schrodinger developed a mathematical technique called wave mechanics to
describe the atom by taking into account the HUP and the wave like properties of
particles
Schrodinger’s equation suggested that there are regions of space around the
nucleus where there is a high probability of finding an electron of a given
energy