Chapter 3, Problem 3.136QP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The energy levels, emission spectra and atomic orbitals of an anti-hydrogen atom which is compared with a hydrogen atom and the colliding of an anti-atom with a hydrogen atom should be explained.

Concept Introduction:

For a quantum mechanical system or a particle that is bound can only take on certain discrete values of energy.  This contrasts with classical particles, which can have any energy.  These discrete values are called energy levels.  Electrons in an atom can shift between the different energy levels corresponding to orbitals in different shells.  An energy level is the measurement of discrete energy a subatomic particle, such as an electron, can absorb.  When light or other energy strikes an atom, it can transfer some of that energy to its particles, raising their energy level.  The arrangements of atomic orbitals are based upon energy levels of hydrogen atom.

When electromagnetic radiation interacts with matter, atoms and molecules may absorb energy and reach to a higher energy state.  With higher energy, these are in an unstable state.  For returning to their normal (more stable, lower energy) energy state, the atoms and molecules emit radiations in various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.  The spectrum of radiation emitted by a substance that has absorbed energy is called an emission spectrum.

The word, an atomic orbital is used rather than an orbit to differentiate the quantum mechanical description of an atom from Bohr’s model.  An atomic orbital is the region of three-dimensional space defined by the square of the wave function of an electron in an atom where the probability of finding an electron is high.  Therefore, an atomic orbital has a characteristic energy as well as a characteristic distribution of electron density.  They have different shapes.