Question

Can u explain me about the schodinger's wave equation... I don't know calculus....

Answer 1

The Schrodinger equation is essentially a wave equation, and describes how waves evolve in time and space, and is similar to other forms of wave equations that describe sound, light, or waves on a pond. The only difference is that the Schrodinger equation deals directly with the wave nature of matter, which is a quantum mechanical property. As it stands it plays the same role as Newtonian Laws and the conservation of energy does in classical mechanics, except applied to quantum entities such as electrons in atoms etc.

Basically, the kinetic and potential energy of a quantum particle or system, is described in the forms of a mathematical operator (the Hamiltonian), which then acts upon the wave function of the system and tells us how the system will evolve under certain conditions. The wavefunction is a mathematical description of all the measurable information that a particle or system possesses. If applied to teh wavefunction of electrons bound within the Coulomb potential of an atoms nucleus, it will tell us which discrete energy levels the electrons are permitted to occupy, and therefore which allowed atomic transitions are available, and thus what its atomic spectrum will look like. When applied to two atoms, it permits the calculation of allowed energy states that a molecule can posses, and its stability. It is one of the basis for explaining the fundamentals of chemistry of how and why atoms appear as they do, and why they bond to form specific molecules.