bei48482_FM

216 Chapter Six

spherically symmetric: it has the same value at a given rin all directions. Electrons in

other states, however, do have angular preferences, sometimes quite complicated ones.

This can be seen in Fig. 6.12, in which electron probability densities as functions of r

Figure 6.12Photographic representation of the electron probability-density distribution ^2 for several energy states. These

may be regarded as sectional views of the distribution in a plane containing the polar axis, which is vertical and in the plane

of the paper. The scale varies from figure to figure.

bei48482_ch06 1/23/02 8:16 AM Page 216