Question #373da
1 Answer
Dec 8, 2017
One difference is how electron orbitals are viewed
Explanation:
It was first thought that electrons orbited the nucleus much like planets orbit the sun. Further investigation revealed that electrons actually behave more like a cloud and they are at discrete energy levels around the nucleus. That's the basis for quantum mechanics - how much energy must be added to a system to move an electron from one energy level (orbital) to another - or how much energy will be released if an electron 'drops down' from an outer shell to one closer to the nucleus.
