How can an electron change positions

But the truth is more complicated than this simple picture depicts. There are two things that describe the electron in quantum theory: the electron's quantum wavefunction, and the magnitude squared of the electron's quantum wavefunction. The "magnitude squared" operation just means that you drop phase factors such as negative signs and then take the square.

For instance, the magnitude squared of negative three is nine. Interestingly, experiments can only directly measure the magnitude squared of the electron wavefunction, and yet we need the original wavefunction in order to predict the outcome of many experiments.

For this reason, some people say that the magnitude squared of the wavefunction is the only real entity, whereas the original wavefunction itself is just a mathematical crutch that is needed because our theory is inelegant.

Is the magnitude squared of the electron wavefuntion the real physical entity or is the original wavefunction the real physical entity? This question is really a philosophical one and not a physical one, so I will not pursue the question here. To scientists, the question, "What is actually real? We are more concerned with making the equations match the experiments. So what does all this have to do with an electron in an atom?

The point is that an atomic electron's raw wavefunction does vibrate, but the magnitude squared of the wavefunction does not vibrate. In fact, physicists call stable atomic electron states "stationary states" because the magnitude squared of the wavefunction is constant in time. If you consider the raw wavefunction to be the truly physical entity, then you have to say that an electron in an atom experiences motion in the form of a vibration.

If you consider the magnitude squared of the wavefunction to be the truly physical entity, then you have to say that an electron in an atom experiences no vibration, and therefore no motion. I consider the first choice to make more sense. You can mathematically show that certain atomic electron states contain angular momentum i. It's hard to make sense of the claim that an atomic electron contains angular momentum and at the same claim that the electron is completely motionless in every sense of the word.

For this reason, I prefer to view the raw wavefunction as the truly physical entity, and therefore an electron in an atom experiences motion in the form of vibrations. But, again, the question, "What is actually real? The bottom line is that the raw wavefunction of an electron in a stable atomic state experiences vibrational motion. Whether you consider this motion real or not is up to you. Related questions How do you calculate the energy of an electron in the ground state of a hydrogen atom?

Question d7f How do I generate the electron configuration of iron? How do you find the electronic configuration for ions? What do you mean by the ground state of a system? Question e Can the ground state energy of an electron be negative? Why is the ground state the preferred location for the electron? Electrons in s orbitals have the same probability of being found in any direction and at a given distance from the atomic center.

Electrons in an s orbital may even be found right at the atomic center! In all other types of orbitals occupying electrons have no probability of being found at the center. All p orbitals are shaped somewhat like a dumbbell, with the thin, pinched region of zero probability lying right over the center. No matter what its shape, an orbital can only hold a maximum of two electrons at any time. Energy Levels. Orbitals are grouped in zones at different distances from the atomic center.

Electrons in zones close to the center are lower in energy than electrons in zones at greater distances from the center. According to Bohr, the amount of energy needed to move an electron from one zone to another is a fixed, finite amount.

These zones are known as energy levels or sometimes called electron shells. At the lowest energy level, the one closest to the atomic center, there is a single 1s orbital that can hold 2 electrons. At the next energy level, there are four orbitals; a 2s , 2p1 , 2p2 , and a 2p3. Each of these orbitals can hold 2 electrons, so a total of 8 electrons can be found at this level of energy.