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The Early Atomic Theory

Carlos I. Calle

Published Apr 23, 2020• 0 citations

Abstract

The major problem that physicists were trying to solve was that of the wave nature of the electron. In 1926, the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger presented an equation that described the wave behavior of the electron in the hydrogen atom. The physicist Max Born suggested instead that these waves were waves of probability; that is, they represented the probability of finding the electron in some region of space. In fact, an electron has a well-defined position only when it is being observed. Position is not an intrinsic property of an electron. The wave nature of electrons is the basis for the electron microscope, invented in 1932 by Ernst Ruska in Germany. Electron wavelengths are much shorter than those of visible light.

DOI: 10.1201/9780429431029-28

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