The solutions
of the Schrodinger equation
describe the electron wave patterns
that give atoms their properties!

wave_plot.gif (3688 bytes)

Waves on a vibrating string


DRUMC4.gif (6158 bytes)   symmetric vibration of a drumhead (1.44 Mb movie)

DRUMC1.gif (5584 bytes) asymmetric vibration of a drumhead (1.44 Mb movie)


stm.gif (107840 bytes)

electron waves of an electron trapped in a corral of iron atoms


3dz2.gif (10239 bytes)

An electron wave pattern (orbital) of hydrogen

 


Cu202med.jpg (33761 bytes)

Images -- not computer simulations -- of dumbbell-shaped clouds of electrons shared between copper and oxygen atoms in cuprite (Cu2O). The nuclei of the copper atoms (not shown) are at the center of the blue and red shaded orbitals.   Superimposed red circles represent the locations of oxygen nuclei.  (Photo courtesy Jian-Min Zuo, Miyoung Kim, Michael O'Keefe and John Spence, Arizona State University.)


If any of the three numbers in the Schrodinger equation ---

Planck's constant:  h (determines size of electron waves)

the electron's mass:  me

the electron's charge:  e

--- were even slightly different,

our physical world would by profoundly changed!

 

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