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In quantum physics and chemistry, quantum numbers are quantities that characterize the possible states of the system. To fully specify the state of the electron in a hydrogen atom, four quantum numbers are needed. The traditional set of quantum numbers includes the principal, azimuthal, magnetic, and spin quantum numbers. To describe other ...
The principal quantum number in hydrogen is related to the atom's total energy. Note that the maximum value of the angular momentum quantum number is limited by the principal quantum number: it can run only up to n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} , i.e., ℓ = 0 , 1 , … , n − 1 {\displaystyle \ell =0,1,\ldots ,n-1} .
The rules restricting the values of the quantum numbers, and their energies (see below), explain the electron configuration of the atoms and the periodic table. The stationary states (quantum states) of a hydrogen-like atom are its atomic orbitals. However, in general, an electron's behavior is not fully described by a single orbital.
In the end, the model was replaced by the modern quantum-mechanical treatment of the hydrogen atom, which was first given by Wolfgang Pauli in 1925, using Heisenberg's matrix mechanics. The current picture of the hydrogen atom is based on the atomic orbitals of wave mechanics, which Erwin Schrödinger developed in 1926.
n′ (often written ) is the principal quantum number of the lower energy level, n (or ) is the principal quantum number of the upper energy level, and; is the Rydberg constant. (1.096 77 × 10 7 m −1 for hydrogen and 1.097 37 × 10 7 m −1 for heavy metals). [5] [6]
The multiplicity is often equal to the number of possible orientations of the total spin [3] relative to the total orbital angular momentum L, and therefore to the number of near–degenerate levels that differ only in their spin–orbit interaction energy. For example, the ground state of a carbon atom is 3 P (Term symbol).
For the hydrogen atom, =, =, and = (+ /), where is the elementary charge, is the vacuum permittivity, is the Bohr radius, is the principal quantum number, is the azimuthal quantum number and is the distance of the electron from the nucleus.
This notation is used to specify electron configurations and to create the term symbol for the electron states in a multi-electron atom. When writing a term symbol, the above scheme for a single electron's orbital quantum number is applied to the total orbital angular momentum associated to an electron state.