SECTION 2:

QUANTUM THEORY
AND THE ATOM
ELECTRONS IN ATOMS AND THE
PERIODIC TABLE
Learning Goals
• Compare the Bohr and quantum
mechanical models of the atom.
• Identify the relationships among a
hydrogen atom’s energy levels,
sublevels, and atomic orbitals.
• Determine the number of orbitals,
number of electrons in the different
energy levels.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Einstein’s theory of light’s dual nature
accounted for several unexplainable
phenomena, but it did not explain why
atomic emission spectra of elements
were discontinuous.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• In 1913, Niels Bohr, a Danish
physicist working in Rutherford’s
laboratory, proposed a quantum
model for the hydrogen atom that
seemed to answer this question.
• This model correctly predicted the
frequency lines in hydrogen’s atomic
emission spectrum.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• The lowest allowable energy state of
an atom is called its ground state.
• When an atom gains energy, it is in
an excited state.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Bohr suggested that an electron
moves around the nucleus only in
certain allowed circular orbits.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Each orbit was given a
number, called the
quantum number.
• Bohr orbits are like steps of
a ladder, each at a specific
distance from the nucleus
and each at a specific
energy.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Hydrogen’s single electron is in the n = 1
orbit when it is in the ground state.
• When energy is added, the electron moves
to the n = 2 orbit.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• The electron releases energy as it
falls back towards the ground state.
Bohr’s Model of the Atom
• Bohr’s model explained the
hydrogen’s spectral lines, but failed
to explain any other element’s lines.
• For this and other reasons, the Bohr
model was replaced with a more
sophisticated model called the
quantum-mechanical or wave-
mechanical model.  
Quantum Mechanical Model
• Louis de Broglie (1892–1987)
hypothesized that particles, including
electrons, could also have wavelike
behaviors.
• Electrons do not behave like particles
flying through space.
• We cannot, in general, describe their
exact paths.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• Heisenberg showed it is impossible to
take any measurement of an object
without disturbing it.
• The Heisenberg uncertainty
principle states that it is
fundamentally impossible to know
precisely both the velocity and position
of a particle at the same time.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• The only quantity that can be known
is the probability for an electron to
occupy a certain region around the
nucleus.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• Schrödinger treated electrons as
waves in a model called the
quantum mechanical model of the
atom.
• Schrödinger’s equation applied equally
well to elements other than hydrogen
(unlike Bohr’s model).
Quantum Mechanical Model
• The quantum mechanical model
makes no attempt to predict the path
of an electron around the nucleus.
• Bohr orbits were replaced with
quantum-mechanical orbitals.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• Orbitals are different from orbits in that
they represent probability maps that
show a statistical distribution of where
the electron is likely to be found.
Quantum Mechanical Model
• In the quantum-mechanical model, a
number and a letter specify an
orbital.
• The lowest-energy orbital is called the
1s orbital.
• It is specified by the number 1 and the
letter s.
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• The number is called the Principal
quantum number (n) and it
indicates the relative size and
energy of atomic orbitals.
• n specifies the atom’s major energy
levels, called the principal energy
levels.
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• Energy sublevels are contained
within the principal energy levels.
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• Each energy sublevel relates to
orbitals of different shape.

s, p, d, f

s, p, d
s, p
s
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• s sublevel:
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• p sublevel:
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• d sublevel:
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• f sublevel:
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• Orbitals are sometimes represented by
dots, where the dot density is proportional
to the probability of finding the electron.
• The dot density for the 1s orbital is
greatest near the nucleus and decreases
farther away from the nucleus.
• The electron is more likely to be found
close to the nucleus than far away from it.
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
Principal Quantum Sublevels(Type Number of Total Number of Maximum
Number s of orbitals) Orbitals Related orbitals Related to number of
(n) Present to sublevels Principal Energy electrons
Level(n2) (2n2 )

n=1 (K) s 1 1 2

n=2 (L) s 1 4 8
p 3

n=3 ( M) s 1 9 18
p 3
d 5
n=4 (N) s 1 16 32
p 3
d 5
f 7
n=5 (O)

n=6 (P)

n=7 (Q)
Hydrogen’s Atomic Orbitals
• At any given time, hydrogen’s
electron can occupy just one orbital.
• When hydrogen is in the ground state,
the electron occupies the 1s orbital.
• When the atom gains a quantum of
energy, the electron is excited to one of
the unoccupied orbitals.