Wave Mechanical Model of Atom

Wave Mechanical Model of atom was proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926. According to this Model, the motion of electron inside the atom could be described in terms of a mathematical function called wave function, ψ (Greek letter, psi).

The wave functions are assumed to contain all the information about the electron and are obtained by solving a differential equation called Schrödinger wave equation (SWE). The square of the wave function ψ2 is a measure of the probability of finding an electron in a three dimensional space around the nucleus.

On solving the SWE for hydrogen atom you get a number of wave functions, which are characterized by three quantum numbers:

  1. Principal quantum number, n
  2. Azimuthal quantum number, l
  3. Magnetic quantum number, m

These quantum numbers arise in the process of logically solving the wave equation. Every electron in an atom has a unique (different) set of quantum numbers which help to describe the three dimensional region where there is maximum probability of finding the electron. This region is called as atomic orbital or simply orbital.