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Topic: Radii of orbits in an atom  (Read 2587 times)

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Offline Shah

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Radii of orbits in an atom
« on: March 13, 2012, 02:26:18 PM »
r(n)=(n^2)/Z * a0

a0=0.529A   

do these formulas work in all atoms????
Is there any relation between them?
what do we mean here by A?


Offline Jorriss

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Re: Radii of orbits in an atom
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2012, 04:47:49 PM »
A is an angstrom.

And no, it does not apply to all atoms. It only applies to hydrogen-like atoms. It is somewhat obvious with some thought it is unlikely to be valid for all atoms or else you would find many, many combinations of distinct atoms which have the same radii.

Offline Shah

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Re: Radii of orbits in an atom
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2012, 03:32:37 PM »
which radius are we calculating here? i mean s,p,or d .    when we say n = 2, or 3   what do we mean 2s or 2p... (3s or 3p .)

Offline NathanielZhu

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Re: Radii of orbits in an atom
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2012, 11:10:59 PM »
I'm guessing the s types since the guy said it only works on hydrogen-like atoms and s orbitals are the only ones that looks like a simple sphere.

The 2 in front of 2s, 2p, 2d, etc represent the energy level (how many electron shells you have) while s,p,d, etc represents the shape of the atom.

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