Quantum Mechanics and Atomic Theory

In the past 200 years a great deal of experimental evidence has accumulated to support the atomic model. This theory has proved to be both extremely useful and physically reasonable. When atoms were first suggested by the Greek philosophers Democritus and Leucippus about 400 B.c., the concept was based mostly on intuition. In fact, for the following 20 centuries, no convincing experimental evidence was available to support the existence of atoms. The first real scientific data were gathered by Lavoisier and others from quantitative measurements of chemical reactions. The results of these stoichiometric experiments led John Dalton to propose the first systematic atomic theory. Dalton s theory, although crude, has stood the test of time extremely well. 

Once we came to believe in atoms, it was logical to ask What is the nature of an atom Does an atom have parts, and, if so, what are they In Chapter 2 we considered some of the experiments most important for shedding light on the nature of the atom. Now we will see how the atomic theory has evolved to its present state. 

One of the most striking things about the chemistry of the elements is the periodic repetition of properties. There are several groups of elements that show great similarities in chemical behavior. As we saw in Chapter 2, these similarities led to the development of the periodic table of the elements. In this chapter we will see that the modern theory of atomic structure accounts for periodicity in terms of the electron arrangements in atoms. 

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Contents Quantum Mechanics and Atomic Theory. - Simple Molecular Orbital Theory. -Structural Applications of Molecular Orbital Theory. - Electronic Spectra and Magnetic Properties of Inorganic Compounds. - Alternative Methods and Concepts. - Mechanism and Reactivity. - Descriptive Chemistry. - Physical and Spectroscopic Methods. - Appendices. -Subject Index. 

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