Quantum numbers

Video summary

Quantum numbers describe values of conserved quantities in the dynamics of a quantum system. In the case of electrons, the quantum numbers can be defined as "the sets of numerical values which give acceptable solutions to the Schrödinger wave equation for the hydrogen atom". In more general cases, quantum numbers correspond to eigenvalues of operators that commute with the Hamiltonian—quantities that can be known with precision at the same time as the system's energy—and their corresponding eigenspaces. Together, a specification of all of the quantum numbers of a quantum system fully characterize a basis state of the system, and can in principle be measured together.
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Revisores de contenido

William Gilpin,Rishi Desai, MD, MPH

Quantum numbers can be used to understand the electronic structure of atoms.

Quantum numbers come from Quantum Mechanics which was the successor to the Bohr Model.

The Bohr model traces to the early 20th century physicist Niels Bohr, who realized that he could use ideas from classical mechanics to formulate a simple picture of an atom.

His main idea was that an electron orbits around the nucleus at a specific radius in the same way that planets orbit around the Sun.

Unfortunately, the Bohr model does not remain accurate when dealing with atoms with more electrons than hydrogen.

For many electron atoms, more sophisticated theories based on quantum mechanics have been developed.

A main point of these theories is that, rather than imagining an atom as a collection of electrons orbiting the nucleus, it is better to think of the electrons as a diffuse cloud around the nucleus -- corresponding to a probability of electrons existing in various locations.

Therefore, rather than stating that an electron lies at a given, fixed distance from the nucleus like the Bohr model, these more sophisticated models provide the probability of finding electrons in various locations.

These clouds of likely electron locations have a name -- they are called orbitals.

Looking at a picture of an electron density model, we can see that all these dots indicate the probability of finding an electron.

We don't know exactly where the electron is, but it is somewhere in this cloud around the nucleus.

If we think about this orbital as being a three-dimensional sphere, we would say there is a 90% probability that the electron is somewhere in that sphere around the nucleus.

Electrons in orbitals are described by four quantum numbers.

The first quantum number is called the principal quantum number, and it is symbolized by N.

N is a whole number, like 1, 2, 3, or higher. In a diagram of an atom, electrons with higher values of N -- and thus higher principal quantum numbers -- are found further away from the nucleus.

We can think of electrons that are further away from the nucleus as having higher energy, because they have a higher potential energy relative to the nucleus.

And so the principal quantum number N tells us the energy level of an electron.

Also, an electron’s principal quantum number is sometimes referred to as a shell.

The second quantum number is called the angular momentum quantum number.

It is symbolized by “L”, and it refers to the shape of the orbital.

“L” can be any whole number between 0 and N -1 -- so the energy level, or first quantum number, determines the possible values of the angular momentum quantum number.

So for the case of the first energy level, N = 1, we know that L can be at most equal to L-1.

So that means that when N = 1, L always equals 0.

An orbital with L = 0 corresponds to a spherically shaped orbital called an S orbital.