Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Hydrogen Atom

Definition: Hydrogen Atom

Hydrogen Atom

Noun

1. An atom of hydrogen.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 


Crosswords: Hydrogen Atom

English words defined with "hydrogen atom": acid hydrogen, acidic hydrogen, aminomethanebicarbonate, BohrEdward Teller, ethyl, ethyl group, ethyl radicalhydrogen bond, hydrogen carbonate, hydrogen ion, hydroxide ion, hydroxyl ionMicrocrith, molecular weight, Monacid, Monatomic, Monobasic, monobasic acidNiels Bohr, Niels Henrik David Bohroxidation number, oxidation statePolyacid, Primary amine, Primary saltreducing, reductionTeller. (references)
Specialty definitions using "hydrogen atom": 21-cm Linealkilating agent, alkylating agent, aromaticsBalmer lines, Bohr model, bridge bondFluorocarbons, fully ionized plasmahydrogen bridgemolecular gas, molecular massnuclear resonance magnetometerProtonsSecosteroids. (references)
Etymologies containing "hydrogen atom": Propargyl. (references)

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Specialty Definition: Hydrogen atom

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The Hydrogen atom is composed of a single negatively charged electron, moving around the positively charged proton which is the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. The electron is bound to the proton by the Coulomb force.

The hydrogen atom has special significance in quantum mechanics as a simple physical system for which an exact solution to the Schrödinger equation exists, from which the experimentally observed frequencies and intensities of the hydrogen spectral lines can be calculated.

In 1913, Niels Bohr had deduced the spectral frequencies of the hydrogen atom making several assumptions (see The Bohr Model). The results of Bohr for the frequencies and underlying energy values are confirmed by the full quantum-mechanical analysis which uses the Schrödinger equation, as was shown in 1925/26. The full analysis goes further, because it also yields the shape of the electron's wave function ("orbital") for the different possible quantum-mechanical states. This allows to determine the intensity of spectral lines (which correspond to transitions between these states), among other things. In addition, the full analysis is applicable also to more complicated atoms with more than one electron, as well as molecules etc. However, in all of these cases approximations have to be made and computer calculations are usually necessary.

Solution of Schrödinger equation: Overview of results

The solution of the Schrödinger equation for the hydrogen atom uses the fact that the Coulomb potential produced by the nucleus is isotropic (it only depends on the distance to the nucleus). Although the resulting energy eigenfunctions (the "orbitals") are not necessarily isotropic themselves, their dependence on the angular coordinates follows completely generally from this isotropy of the underlying potential: The states are not only eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, but also eigenstates of the angular momentum operator. This corresponds to the fact that angular momentum is conserved in the motion of the electron around the nucleus. Therefore, the energy eigenstates may be classified by two angular momentum quantum numbers, l and m (integer numbers). The "angular momentum" quantum number l=0,1,2,... determines the magnitude of the angular momentum. The "magnetic" quantum number m=-l,..,+l determines the projection of the angular momentum on the (arbitrarily chosen) z-axis.

In addition, the radial dependence of the wave functions has to be found. It is only here that the details of the 1/r Coulomb potential enter (leading to Laguerre polynomials in r). This leads to a third quantum number, the "main" quantum number n=1,2,3,... Note that the angular momentum quantum number can run only up to n-1, i.e. l=0,1,...,n-1.

Due to angular momentum conservation, states of the same l but different m have the same energy (this holds for all problems with rotational symmetry). In addition, for the hydrogen atom, the states of the same n are also degenerate (i.e. they have the same energy); but this is a specialty and it is no longer true for more complicated atoms which have an (effective) potential differing from the form 1/r (due to the presence of the inner electrons shielding the nucleus potential).

Taking into account the spin of the electron adds a last quantum number, the projection of the electrons spin along the z axis, which can take on two values. Therefore, any eigenstate of the electron in the hydrogen atom is described fully by four quantum numbers. According to the usual rules of quantum mechanics, the actual state of the electron may be any superposition of these states. This explains also why the choice of z-axis for the quantization of angular momentum is immaterial: An orbital of given l and m' obtained for another preferred axis z' can always be represented as a suitable superposition of the various states of different m (but same l) that have been obtained for z.

Picture of hydrogen orbitals

The picture below shows the first few hydrogen atom orbitals (energy eigenfunctions). These are cross-sections of the probability density that are color-coded (black=zero density, white=highest density). The angular momentum quantum number l is denoted in each column, using the usual spectroscopic letter code ("s" means l=0; "p": l=1; "d": l=2). The main quantum number n (=1,2,3,...) is marked to the right of each row. For all pictures the magnetic quantum number m has been set to 0, and the cross-sectional plane is the x-z plane (z is the vertical axis). The probability density in threedimensional space is obtained by rotating the one shown here around the z-axis.

The "ground state", i.e. the state of lowest energy, in which the electron is usually found, is the first one, the "1s" state (n=1,l=0).

Click here to view an image with more orbitals (up to higher numbers n and l).

Note the number of black lines that occur in each but the first orbital. These are "nodal lines" (which are actually nodal surfaces in three dimensions). Their total number is always equal to n-1.

Features going beyond the Schrödinger solution

There are several important effects that are neglected by the Schrödinger equation and which are responsible for certain small but measurable deviations of the real spectral lines from the predicted ones:

Both of these features (and more) are incorporated in the relativistic Dirac equation, whose predictions come still closer to experiment. It can still be solved exactly for the hydrogen atom. The resulting states now must be classified by the total angular momentum number j (arising through the coupling between electron spin and orbital angular momentum). States of the same j and the same n are still degenerate.

For these developments, it was essential that the solution of the Dirac equation for the hydrogen atom could be worked out exactly, such that any experimentally observed deviation had to be taken serious as a signal of failure of the theory.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hydrogen atom."

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Commercial Usage: Hydrogen Atom

DomainTitle

Books

  • Crop Circles and Quantum Physics: Hydrogen Atom Electron States (reference)

  • Hydrogen Atom (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Hydrogen Atom

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

the hydrogen atom

19
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Hydrogen Atom

Language Translations for "hydrogen atom"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Danish

  

labilt brintatom (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

labiel waterstofatoom (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

labiili vetyatomi (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

French

  

atome labile d'hydrogène (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

German

  

labiles Wasserstoffatom (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

ασταθές άτομο υδρογόνου (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Italian

  

atomo di idrogeno labile (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ydrogenhay atomay

   

Portuguese

  

átomo instável de hidrogénio (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

átomo de hidrógeno lábil (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

labil väteatom (labile hydrogen atom). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Anagrams: Hydrogen Atom

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-d-e-g-h-m-n-o-o-r-t-y"

-3 letters: dynamotor, godmother.

-4 letters: aeronomy, agronomy, anteroom, aroynted, dragomen, dragonet, endogamy, goatherd, headroom, hogmenay, homogeny, hoorayed, hydrogen, marooned, methadon, moderato, monetary, montaged, odometry, ondogram, ratooned, theogony, theonomy, threnody, thronged.

-5 letters: agentry, agoroth, another, anymore, dayroom, donator, doorman, doormat, doormen, dormant, dragnet, dragoon, draymen, gadroon, garment, garoted, goodman, goodmen, gormand, granted, groaned, groomed, gyrated, hagrode.

 Words containing the letters "a-d-e-g-h-m-n-o-o-r-t-y"
 

+5 letters: dihydroergotamine.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Hydrogen Atom


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

48 79 64 72 6F 67 65 6E      41 74 6F 6D

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

    

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01001000 01111001 01100100 01110010 01101111 01100111 01100101 01101110 00100000 01000001 01110100 01101111 01101101

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#72 &#121 &#100 &#114 &#111 &#103 &#101 &#110 &#32 &#65 &#116 &#111 &#109

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0048 0079 0064 0072 006F 0067 0065 006E      0041 0074 006F 006D

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

4291708481737180235868179

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Crosswords
3. Usage: Commercial
4. Expressions: Internet
5. Translations: Modern
6. Anagrams
7. Orthography
8. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

 

 

 

 

Note to the press & webmasters - this dictionary can be linked, indexed, or referred to using the following non-English expressions:
woordeboek, fjalor, ‏معجم, ‏قاموس, diccionariu, речник, diccionari, diksyonario, diksinario, 字典, gérlyver, slovník, ordbog, woordenboek, shimiyuc p'anca, orðabók, orðbók, dictionnaire, wurdboek, wörterbuch, λεξικό, אוצר מילים, szótár, uqausiit tukingit, dizionario, 字引 , じい, じびき, じて", ディクショナリー , じり", じしょ, '"かい, ディクショナリ , 사 , dizionari, recnik, fockleyr, dikshonario, słownik, dicionário, dicţionar, dicziunari, словарь, lolomi fefiloi, foclair, abardair, faclair, briathrachan, pukuntau, leksikon, rečnik, vocabbulariu, diccionario, sí-chazamagâma, ordbok, lexikon, พจนานุกรม, sözlük, ansiklopedik sözlük, словник, довідник, có tính chất sách vở, geirlyfr, geiriadur, for dictionary;
definisie, qartësi, përcaktim, saktësi, ‏الوضوحية في الشيء, ‏حد, ‏تحديد, ‏تعريف, ‏التحديد, ‏الإيضاحية, яснота, сила, очертания, дефиниция, 定義 , 定义, definice, deskriptordefinition, definitie, määritelmä, définition, ορισμός, "'"ר", "'בל", meghatározás, definíció, definizione, 確定 , ディーゼル電気車 , デ'ドロ酢酸 , デフィニション , ディフィニション , ていぎ, かくてい, 의, geyrid, meenaghey, keeayllaght, baght, definishon, definição, definiţie, determinare, definire, определение, definicija, definición, definition, açıklama, belirleme, belirtme, kesinleştirme, tanım, tarif, seçiklik, tanımlama, чіткість, тлумачення, виразність, визначення, дефініція, ясність, чітка чутність, sự định rõ, sự định nghĩa, lời định nghĩa sự định, diffiniad, darnodiad, for definition;
vertaling, transferim, transmetim, ‏ترجمة من لغة أجنبية للغة الأم, ‏ترجمة, ‏إفتتان, транслация, огъване, превод, предаване, поддаване, тълкуване, превеждане, 翻译, překlad, oversættelse, translatie, taajuusmuutos, translaatio, traduction, oersetting, Übersetzung, μετάφραση, תור'מ ות, תר'ום, "עתק", "עתק, fordítás, traduzione, 翻訳 , へい"ういどう, やくしょ, やくしゅつ, "うどく, ほ"やく, トランスレーション , やくじゅつ, ほ"やくしょ, 번역, tradukshon, tradução, translaţie, tãlmãcire, traducere, сдвиг, трансляция, перемещение, перевод, tumačenje, traducción, översättning, tercüme, процес перекладу, переклад, пояснення, переміщення, sự dịch, sự biến th nh sự giải thích, trosiad, for translation;
Deens, danisht, danishte, ‏لغة الدانمركية, ‏نوع كعك, ‏دانماركي, датски език, датски, Daniko, 丹麦语, dánský, dánština, danskur, danskt, tanskalainen, danois, Deensk, dänisch, δανικόσ, δανόσ, עו'ת שמרים, " י, dán, danska, Danmhairgis, danese, 덴마크, Danvargish, Danvargagh, danes, dinamarquês, danez, датский, danski, danski jezik, danés, dansk, danimarkalı, danimarka dili, датський, датська мова, tiếng Đan-mạch, for Danish;
Nederlands, Hollands, holandez, ‏هولندي, ‏اللغة الهولندية, холандски, немски език, холандски език, холандците, немски, Olandes, 菏蘭語 , 荷兰语, holandský, nizozemský, hollandsk, hollendskt, hollantilainen, néerlandais, Nederlânsk, holländisch, ολλανδικόσ, ολλανδόσ, holandisht, "ול "י, holland, hollenskur, Ollainnis, olandese, 네덜란", Belanda, Ollanish, Germaanish, Tatimana, nederlandsk, ulandes, hulandes, holandês, neerlandés, olandez, nemţesc, limba olandezã, german, голландский, holanđanin, u škripcu, holandski, holandés, bakratongo, holländsk, ชาวเนเธอร์แลน"์, เกี่ยวกับเนเธอร์แลน"์, รรยา, alman, eş, flemenkçe, holandaca, hollanda, karı, hollandalı, hollandalılara özgü olan, Hollandali, hollanda'ya ait, голландська мова, голландський, ngôn ngữ khó hiểu, "b xã", for Dutch;
Fins, finlandez, finlandishte, finlandisht, ‏اللغة الفنلندية, ‏فنلندية, ‏فنلندي, фински език, фински, Pinlandino, 芬蘭語 , 芬兰语, finský, finskt, suomi, suomalainen, finnois, Finlandaise, finlandais, finnisch, φινλανδικόσ, פי י, finn, finnskur, finnska, finlandese, 핀란", Fynlannish, Fynlannagh, finlandês, finês, finlandezã, финский, Finisi, finski jezik, finski, finlandés, finés, finsk, fince, finlandiya'ya özgü, фінська мова, фінський, tiếng Phần-lan, for Finnish;
Franse taal, Frans, franceze, francez, frëngjisht, frëng, frëngjishte, ‏فرنسي, ‏اللغة الفرنسية, ‏الشعب الفرنسي, gall, френски език, френски, Pranses, 法國 , 法文 , 法語 , 法语, francouzština, francouzský, franskur, franskt, ranskalainen, français, Frânsk, französisch, γάλλοσ, γαλλικόσ, γαλλική γλώσσα, γαλλίδα, צרפתי, צרפתית, francia, Fraincis, francese, フレコン化 , フランス" , 仏文 , 仏 , ふつぶ", フレンチ , フランセ , ふつ, "랑스, Perancis, Ny Frangee, Mooinjey ny Frank, frances, franses, francês, francezii, francezã, franţuzesc, franţuzeşte, французский, Falani, francuski jezik, francuski, francuzi, francés, sí-Fulentji, fransk, franska, fransızca, Fransiz, fransızca ile ilgili, fransız, fransa ile ilgili, французька мова, французький, Ffrengig, isiFulentshi, for French;
Duits, Duitser, Duitse taal, Germaan, gjerman, ‏ضرب من الرقص, ‏جرماني, ‏المانية, ‏الماني, ‏اللغة الألمانية, роден, германски, немски език, немски, немец, готически, германец, 德語 , 德语, 德文 , 德國 , nìmecký, nìmec, tysker, Duitse, týskur, týskt, týskari, saksalainen, Allemand, Dútsk, Deutsche, Deutsch, "ερμανός, gjermanisht, 'רמ י, 'רמ ית, német, þjóðverji, þýskur, GearmÚnach, GearmÚinis, tedesco, ジプシー音楽 , ジャーマン , 독일, todesch, Germaanagh, Garmane, Germaanish, Carmane, aleman, Niemiec, niemiecki, alemão, alemand, neamţ, немецкий, Siamani, germanski, alemán, Tudesku, Doysri, mjeremani, mdachi, sí-Jalimáne, tysk, เยอรมัน, าษาเยอรมัน, Alman, німкеня, німецький, німець, $sisters german$ chị em ruột, $cousin german$ anh chị em con chú bác ruột, sister, Almaenwr, isiJalimane, iliJalimane, iJalimane, for German;
Grieks, Griek, ‏الإغريقي, ‏يوناني, ‏اللغة اليونانية, Griegu, гръцки език, гръцки, грък, Griyego, 希臘語 , 希腊语, řecký, řeètina, řek, græker, grikst, kreikkalainen, grec, Gryk, Gryksk, Gryks, grieche, ελληνικόσ, 'Ελληνας, יו ית, יו י, görög, Grikki, greco, ギリシア語 , ギリシア", 그리스, Greagish, Greagagh, grego, grèc, greacã, греческий, Eleni, grk, grčki jezik, grčki, griego, grek, Yunanli, yunanlı, yunanca, yunan, Rumca, yunanistan'a ait, rum, грек, гречанка, грецька мова, грецький, kẻ cắp b gi gặp nhau, quân bạc bịp tôi không thể hiểu được điều đó thật l kỳ phùng địch thủ, người Hy-lạp tiếng Hy-lạp kẻ bịp bợm, kẻ lừa đảo, Groegwr, for Greek;
Italianer, Italiaans, Italiaan, ‏شخص إيطالي, ‏اللغة الإيطالية, ‏الإيطالي, ‏إيطالي, Italianu, италиански език, италиански, италианец, Italyano, 意大利 , 意大利語 , 意大利语, italština, italský, ital, italiener, italienskt, italialainen, Italien, Italjaansk, italienisch, Ιταλός, italisht, איטלקי, איטלקית, olasz, Ítali, IodÚilis, italiano, 이탈리아, Iddaalish, Włoch, italianã, italienesc, italieneşte, italian, итальянский язык, итальянский, итальянец, Italia, italijanski, italijanski jezik, italijan, sí-Taliyáne, italienare, italiensk, italienska, เกี่ยวกับอิตาลี, ชาวอิตาลี, าษาอิตาลี, italyanca, italyan, італі"ць, італійська мова, італійський, італійка, for Italian;
Portugees, portugez, portugalisht, ‏اللغة البرتغالية, ‏البرتغالية, ‏البرتغالي, португалски език, португалски, португалец, Potuges, 葡萄牙语, 葡萄牙人 , 葡萄牙語 , portugalský, portugiser, portugisiskt, portugalilainen, portugais, Portugeesk, portugiesisch, πορτογάλοσ, ορτογάλος, portugál, Portaingéilis, portoghese, ポルトガル語 , ポルトガル", 포르투갈, Portiugish, Portiugagh, portugues, Portugalczyk, português, portughez, португальский, portugalski jezik, portugalski, portugalac, portugués, Mreno, si-Putúkezi, portugis, portekiz, Portekízlí, portekizli, portekizce, португальська мова, португальський, португалець, người B"-đ o-nha tiếng B"-đ o-nha, for Portuguese;
Spaans, Spaanse taal, spanjoll, ‏اللغة الأسبانية, ‏الأسبانية, ‏أسباني, испански език, испански, espanyoles, Espanyol, 西班牙语, 西班牙文 , 西班牙語 , španìlský, španìlština, spanskt, espanjalainen, espagnol, Spaansk, spanisch, ισπανικά, ισπανικόσ, ισπανοί, karaiñe'êmegua, ספר"ית, ספר"י, spanyol, SpÚinnis, spagnolo, スペイン語 , スパイ罪 , スペイン", スパニッシュ , 스페인, Spaainagh, Spaainish, spañó, espanhol, espanhòl, spaniolesc, spanioleşte, spaniol, испанский, Sipaniolo, španski jezik, španski, español, spanska språk, spansk, ispanyollar, ispanyolca, ispanyol, іспанська мова, іспанський, for Spanish;
Sweeds, suedez, ‏اللغة السويدية, Suecu, шведски език, шведски, швед, Swedis, 瑞典語 , 瑞典语, švédský, švédština, Zweeds, svenskt, ruotsalainen, suédois, Sweedsk, schwedisch, σουηδικόσ, σουηδικά, svéd, sænskur, Sualainnis, svedese, スウェーデン語 , スウェーデン", 스웨덴, Soolynish, Soolynagh, suèc, шведский, švedski jezik, švedski, sueco, svensk, เกี่ยวกับคน าษาและวั'นธรรมของประเทศสวีเ"น, isveççe, isveç dili, isveç, Ísveçlí, шведська мова, шведський, người Thuỵ điển tiếng Thuỵ điển, for Swedish;