It is this twilight zone that we will investigate in the next three chapters, because the quantum picture of the atom changed chemistry as much as it did physics.

Erwin Schrodinger began applying quantum ideas to chemistry around 1926. It was soon apparent that the new theory gave a correct explanation for all of the chemical phenomena we have discussed so far, and more: electronic shell structure, chemical properties of atoms, the structure of the periodic table, the chemical bond, the shapes of molecules, and chemical reactivity.

This chapter will lay the foundation for the new theory, Chapter 8 will apply it to atomic structure and the periodic table, and Chapter 9 will give the first satisfactory explanation for molecular structure and bonding.



Right: Erwin Schrodinger (1887 - 1961)