Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Undergraduate General Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: 1loudninja on January 15, 2016, 06:30:47 PM
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Hey,
So this is what I did
1) I set the wave function to 0
2) I was left with the quadratic equation (27 − 18σ + 2σ2)
3) The values for r that I got were 3.75e-10 and 1.006e-10
Are these the values I’m looking for?
pic below
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What is the definition of a node?
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Ok, so the back of my book says a Node is "an area of an orbital having zero electron probability"
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Ok, so the back of my book says a Node is "an area of an orbital having zero electron probability"
Right. And so what does a wavefunction tell you about electron probability?
As far as higher and lower, how many nodes would you expect in an orbital with your given quantum numbers: n=3, [itex]\ell[/itex]=0, m=0?
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2 nodes?
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No wait, wouldn't it be zero?? Ok, I think you just make the equation equal to zero right? And just solve for R?
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I didn't do the math but this is basically the way you would solve the problem. You should be able to tell how many roots (nodes) there are by inspection of the equation.
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No wait, wouldn't it be zero?? Ok, I think you just make the equation equal to zero right? And just solve for R?
When n=3, [itex]\ell[/itex]=0, and m=0 we're describing the 3s orbital which, yes, has two radial nodes. Like you say, a node is where the wave function is zero. As Corribus says, you can fairly easily solve for which values of r the wavefunction is zero.