Models of the Atom

 A shortcoming of the discovery of the nucleus and advancements in an atomic model was that it failed to explain chemical behavior  A model that focused on the electron was needed  Bohr built on Rutherford’s model to include the energy within an atom ◦ He suggested that electrons existed within circular paths, called orbitals, outside the nucleus ◦ Every electron within an orbital possesses a certain amount of energy  They were then called energy levels

 The e- with the lowest energy are found in the first energy level  e- can move from one orbital to another but only if it gains or loses energy  The further an e- is away from the nucleus, the more energy it possesses  The amount of energy an e- must absorb/release to move from one orbital to another is called a quantum ◦ The amount of energy to move from one orbital to the next is not always the same

 The model of the atom was better understood but still failed to explain all the properties of atoms with atomic numbers greater than hydrogen  Information was being gathered by other scientists on waves and energy that did not correspond with Bohr’s model

 Schrodinger used information about electron motion to devise and solve a mathematical equation that described the behavior of the electron  The amount of energy an e- possesses is still considered fixed but the pathway is not  QMM takes into consideration the amount of energy an e- has and how likely it is to be found in a certain location (probability)  e- are most likely to be found close to the nucleus