Wednesday, January 25, 2012

What experimental evidence is there to show that electron shells actually exist?

energy levels are quantized.... as are many things in the subatomic world. electrons can't have energy levels that are "in between" shells, because it's simply not allowed. i'm pretty sure they've observed this.... might check wikipedia or something for it.

What experimental evidence is there to show that electron shells actually exist?
The existence of inner shells is shown by x-ray fluorescence.



A high energy electron or gamma photon knocks an electron out of the inner shell.



Then an electron drops into that shell from an outer shell and emits an x-ray photon.
Reply:Flame tests on elements in column 1 and 2. When the energy from the flame is applied, the electrons jump up to a higher energy level and fall back an exact wavelength or color of light that the elements can be identified by.
Reply:They don't actually exist in shells as portrayed at all. It called the Bohr model, and it just helps for analogies and explaining what happens.



The experimental evidence does show that there are strict "energy levels" which electrons may occupy, but this does not mean that there are actual physical shells. The Bohr model is simply a tool to aid in understanding the behavior of electrons (absorbing/emitting photns etc.), at the quantum level, everything becomes fuzzzy, particles can behave like waves and vice-versa.


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