Chemistry - A Molecular Science

2.0 Introduction

2.6 Orbital Shapes, Signs, and Sizes

2.1 The Nature of Light

2.7 Electron Configurations

2.2 Quantization

2.8 Quantum Theory and the Periodic Table

2.3 Bohr Model

2.9 Chapter Summary and Objectives

2.4 Quantum Theory

2.10 Exercises

2.5 Quantum Numbers

Chapter 2 Quantum Theory

2.0

INTRODUCTION

Quantum theory, the theory that

explains our world at the atomic and molecular levels, is

one of humanity’s greatest intellectual achieve

ments. A few brilliant scientists, trying to

explain experiments that could not be unders

tood in terms of classical theory, launched a

theory that initially defied but later defined

our understanding of our universe. In this

chapter, some of the key experiments leading

to quantum theory are described. In Chapter

3, we apply the theory to the structure of the atom. THE OBJECTIVES OF CHAPTER 2 ARE TO: •

describe how we learn about the nature of

atoms and molecules by investigating their

interaction with light;

• explain color; •^

discuss the wave nature of matter;

-^

introduce quantum theory and demonstrate how

it accounts for the behavior of electrons;

-^

use quantum numbers to describe the

electronic structure of the atom; and

-^

demonstrate how quantum theory successfully ex

plains the arrangement of the elements in

the periodic table.

Chapter 2 Quantum Theory

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