After showing how a double-minimum potential generates one-dimensional bonding, Professor McBride moves on to multi-dimensional wave functions. Solving Schrödinger's three-dimensional differential equation might have been daunting, but it was not, because the necessary formulas had been worked out more than a century earlier in connection with acoustics. Acoustical "Chladni" figures show how nodal patterns relate to frequencies. The analogy is pursued by studying the form of wave functions for "hydrogen-like" one-electron atoms. Removing normalizing constants from the formulas for familiar orbitals reveals the underlying simplicity of their shapes.

Problem sets/Reading assignment:

Reading assignments, problem sets, PowerPoint presentations, and other resources for this lecture can be accessed from Professor McBride's on-campus course website, which was developed for his Fall 2008 students. Please see Resources section below.

Resources:

Professor McBride's web resources for CHEM 125 (Fall 2008)