Wave model - Definition and Overview

The wave model of the atom uses the basic idea of the Bohr model of the atom, where there is a small, dense nucleus surrounded by electrons, but the electrons are represented by a probability distribution, instead of by discrete mathematical points. Thus, they are often described as the "electron cloud", and can be viewed as an aggregation of atomic orbitals. This model is based on quantum mechanics, specifically using the Schrödinger equation to calculate the probability distribution. A common example of applying the Schrödinger equation is visualization of the wave model of the hydrogen atom.

External links

• Atomic Orbitals (http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/studntres/chem111/resources/notes/atomic_orbitals.html)
• The Orbitron (http://www.shef.ac.uk/chemistry/orbitron/) a gallery of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals on the WWW.
• Quote: (http://members.tripod.com/mwolff/see.html) "...Actually, in the H atom both the electron wave-structure and the proton have the same center. The electron's structure can be imagined like an onion - spherical layers of waves around a center. The amplitude of the waves decreases like the blue standing wave in the bottom diagram. There are no point masses - no orbits, just waves..."
• 8 August 2002, Electrons probe single atoms (http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/8/6/1)
• 24 October 2002, First light for attophysics (http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/10/17)
• 20 June 2001, Quantum spin probe able to measure spin states at individual atoms; could have application in quantum computing (http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2001/06/20_physc.html)
• 16 Feb 2000 First-ever images of atom-scale electron clouds in high-temperature superconductors could help in design of new and better materials (http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2000/02/02-16-2000.html), alternate address (http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~davisgrp/stm/papers/ZnImpurity/berk_press_rel/02-16-2000.html)