1045 General Chemistry - Fall 2001, Prof. Gelb
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Chapter 7 Study Guide


Chapter 7 is the beginning of a two-chapter discussion of atomic structure. Our view of atomic structure, in turn, is based very heavily of the interaction of atoms with light (until recently, this was the only way to probe the structure of individual atoms, and so Chapter 7 contains a discussion of the properties of light and how we deal with it in a quantitative way.) The first part of the chapter is a discussion of the historical development of the modern theory of the atom, which material you are responsible for, but was not covered in class. The "quantum" picture of light as composed of photons is then introduced, and used to explain the photoelectric effect, emission and absorption spectra, and the spectral properties of the hydrogen atom, through the Bohr model. Finally, a very sketchy view of quantum mechanics is given, and the shapes and properties of the hydrogen atom orbitals are given.

One lecture on this material was given by Professor Allen; the transparencies that she used in this lecture are downloadable as a PDF file here.

Suggested Problems

The following problems (in the textbook) are illustrative of the important concepts covered in this chapter, and are of comparable (or greater!) difficulty with what you might see on homeworks or exams: Chapter 7, problems: 32, 35, 39, 41, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 55-62, 65, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 79, 80, 82, 84, 89, 93, 96, 97.

You should be able to:

  1. Manipulate and intercovert between the frequency, wavelength, and energy of photons (light) in all the units commonly used in the Chapter and the lectures. You should have the necessary two equations memorized!
  2. Read emission and absorption spectra
  3. Do the wave
  4. Explain the photoelectric effect
  5. Explain Bohr's theory of the atom
  6. Use Bohr's model to interpret and predict spectra - you must know the equation, though we will provide the value of B if necessary.
  7. Manipulate the De Broglie relation, and interpret wavefunctions
  8. Describe and tabulate the quantum numbers and identify acceptable combinations of them.
  9. Identify and draw s, p and d orbitals.
  10. Perform an interpretive dance explaining the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

Important topics and Concepts

  1. Historical developments
    • Cathode Rays and discovery of the electron; importance of mass/charge ratios.
    • Millikan's Oil-Drop Experiment
    • Early models of the Atom (Thompson, Rutherford)
    • Separation of ions by mass spectrometry
  2. Light
    • Frequency, wavelength, and propagation speed
    • The electromagnetic spectrum
    • Monochromatic vs. Polychromatic light sources
    • Absorption and Emission spectra
    • Photons and quanta; Planck's Hypothesis
  3. The photoelectric effect
    • Energy level diagrams
  4. The Bohr model
    • Energy levels and transition energies
    • Ionization
    • Energy level diagrams
  5. Quantum Mechanics
    • De Broglie: everything's a wave (sort of.)
    • Wavefunctions & the Born Interpretation
    • Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
    • The Quantum Mechanical Solution of Hydrogen:
      • The four quantum numbers and their allowed values
      • The shapes of orbitals
      • Form of the 1s orbital
      • Nomenclature: spdf, shells and subshells.






Last modification: Mon Nov 12 22:28:49 2001
gelb@chem.fsu.edu