wave function: Quick Facts

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Diagram showing electron density shapes for atomic orbitals: A spherical s orbital at the top left, and three dumbbell-shaped p orbitals oriented along the x, y, and z axes below, each with labeled axes.

See a demonstration explaining the wave-particle duality of an electron

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Topics

symmetric wave function antisymmetric wave function wave-particle duality wave mechanics uncertainty principle de Broglie wave complementarity principle Schrödinger equation

Key People

Max Born

Max Born

German physicist

Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi at work in the wireless room of his yacht Electra, c. 1920.

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