"We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can only be used as in poetry." —Niels Bohr
Matter
begins to behave very strangely at the subatomic level. Some of this
behavior is so counterintuitive that we can only talk about it with
symbols and metaphors—like in poetry. For example, what does it mean to
say an electron behaves like a particle and a wave? Or that an electron does not exist in any one particular location, but that it is spread out throughout the entire atom?
If
these questions strike you as odd, they should! As it turns out, we are
in good company. The physicist Niels Bohr also said, "Anyone who is not
shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." So if you feel
confused when learning about quantum mechanics, know that the scientists
who originally developed it were just as befuddled.
We will start by briefly reviewing Bohr's model of hydrogen, the first non-classical model of the atom.
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