In this chapter, we have considered the structure of many electron atoms. Electronic configuration, electronic charge density and the energy level diagram are the main features of atomic structures. The full wave function for an atom would involve the coordinates of all the electrons and that is difficult to deal with. It cannot be even plotted in a 3 dimensional graph! A convenient option is to use atomic orbitals, which describe the behavior of an electron in the field of the nucleus and the average field due to all the other electrons. The Schrödinger equation for an orbital of He has been given and this can be easily generalized for other atoms. Atomic charge densities show the detailed charge distribution of electrons around the nucleus. The examples of Na and Li have been considered. Since atoms are spherically symmetrical, the radial probability distributions have been shown. |