4. Quantum mechanics

4.1 Schrödinger equation

Chemists design, transform and study molecules they can't see. They must therefore continually seek to improve their atomic and molecular models. A decisive turning point in the history of chemistry was undoubtedly the advent of quantum mechanics, adapted to the behavior of elementary particles. In quantum mechanics, the electron is described by a wave function, noted Ψ, whose value depends on the coordinates (x, y, z ) of the point in space under consideration. The square of the modulus of the wave function |Ψ (x, y, z )| ² represents the...