Spectroscopy, Light, and Electrons ❮ 147❯ Rapid Review
● Know the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
● The frequency, n, is defined as the number of waves that pass a point per second.
● The wavelength, l, is the distance between two identical points on a wave.
● The energy of light is related to the frequency by E = hn.
● The product of the frequency and wavelength of light is the speed of light: c = nl.
● An orbital or wave function is a quantum mechanical, mathematical description of the
electron.
● If all electrons in an atom are in their lowest possible energy level, then the atom is said
to be in its ground state.
● If any electrons in an atom are in a higher energy state, then the atom is said to be in an
excited state.
● The energy of an atom is quantized, existing in only certain distinct energy states.
● Quantum numbers are numbers used in Schrödinger’s equation to describe the orbital
size, shape, and orientation in space, and the spin of an electron.
● The principal quantum number, n, describes the size of the orbital. It must be a positive
integer. It is sometimes referred to as the atom’s shell.
● The angular momentum quantum number, l, defines the shape of the electron cloud.
If l = 0, it is an s orbital; if l = 1, it is a p orbital; if l = 2, it is a d orbital; if l = 3, it is an
f orbital, etc.
● The magnetic quantum number, ml, describes the orientation of the orbital around the
nucleus. It can be integer values ranging from -l through 0 to +l.
● The spin quantum number, ms, describes the spin of the electron and can only have
values of +^1 ⁄ 2 and -^1 ⁄ 2.
● Be able to write the quantum numbers associated with the first 20 electrons.