Why can’t electron just reside between two energy shells? What would happen if we grab an electron and forcefully keep it in between two shells?
In: Physics
Think of it like an electron in a hole.
It has a wavelength, because of wave particle duality, but the wave function needs to be at 0 at the edges of the hole.
The n=1 state is when the wavelength is twice the size of the hole (1 peak, half a wave)
n=2 is when the wavelength is the same length at the hole (2 peaks, a whole wave)
n=3 is when the wavelength is 2/3 the size of the hole (3 peaks, 1.5 waves)
And so on. The wavefunction couldn’t resonate in the hole if it doesn’t fit in the hole. The hole is having an effect on the wave function of the electron.
When you put multiple atoms text to each other, the exact energy levels for each orbital change slightly and it all gets blurred, so each energy state is more like a band of several possible energies than one specific one, but for the most part, the electron in a hole analogy works.
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