Page "Atom" Paragraph 24

In 1924, Louis de Broglie proposed that all particles behave to an extent like waves.

In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger used this idea to develop a mathematical model of the atom that described the electrons as three-dimensional waveforms rather than point particles.

A consequence of using waveforms to describe particles is that it is mathematically impossible to obtain precise values for both the position and momentum of a particle at the same time ; this became known as the uncertainty principle, formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1926.

In this concept, for a given accuracy in measuring a position one could only obtain a range of probable values for momentum, and vice versa.

This model was able to explain observations of atomic behavior that previous models could not, such as certain structural and spectral patterns of atoms larger than hydrogen.

Thus, the planetary model of the atom was discarded in favor of one that described atomic orbital zones around the nucleus where a given electron is most likely to be observed.