what is the ground state of the electron
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The ground state of an electron, the energy level it normally occupies, is the state of lowest energy for that electron. There is also a maximum energy that each electron can have and still be part of its atom.
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In short: The electron ground state is the energy state with the lowest energy.
In some more length:
“Ground state” is usually something associated with electrons bound to atoms or molecules, but as long as the electron is bound to anything at all (i.e. not free) there will be a ground state.
It is important to note that electrons aren’t tiny balls – they are better described as fuzzy probability clouds (though this is of course also incomplete). In quantum mechanics, electrons (and other particles/states) are often described using the time-independent Schrödinger equation. This gives the shapes of all probability clouds that are “time-independent”, meaning that they won’t change unless something external interacts with the particle/system. This is particularly useful for electrons bound in atoms/molecules, since these systems are usually static.
The time-independent Schrödinger equation has an infinite number of solutions, each being a stationary probability cloud. (“Orbitals” is a better known word for them.) It turns out each solution has a specific energy, and they are sometimes called energy states or energy eigenstates. (The fact that these energies come in steps – are quantized – is what have given quantum mechanics its name.) The solution with the lowest energy is the ground state.
The image below (from Wikipedia’s article on hydrogen atoms) gives a feeling of what the first solutions look like. It is not unlike the different ways a drum skin can vibrate (though for electrons the solutions are actually three dimensional.) The top-left image is the ground state.
In some more length:
“Ground state” is usually something associated with electrons bound to atoms or molecules, but as long as the electron is bound to anything at all (i.e. not free) there will be a ground state.
It is important to note that electrons aren’t tiny balls – they are better described as fuzzy probability clouds (though this is of course also incomplete). In quantum mechanics, electrons (and other particles/states) are often described using the time-independent Schrödinger equation. This gives the shapes of all probability clouds that are “time-independent”, meaning that they won’t change unless something external interacts with the particle/system. This is particularly useful for electrons bound in atoms/molecules, since these systems are usually static.
The time-independent Schrödinger equation has an infinite number of solutions, each being a stationary probability cloud. (“Orbitals” is a better known word for them.) It turns out each solution has a specific energy, and they are sometimes called energy states or energy eigenstates. (The fact that these energies come in steps – are quantized – is what have given quantum mechanics its name.) The solution with the lowest energy is the ground state.
The image below (from Wikipedia’s article on hydrogen atoms) gives a feeling of what the first solutions look like. It is not unlike the different ways a drum skin can vibrate (though for electrons the solutions are actually three dimensional.) The top-left image is the ground state.
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