Editing Atom (section)

=== The current consensus model ===
[[File:S-p-Orbitals.svg|thumb|right|The modern model of atomic orbitals draws zones where an electron is most likely to be found at any moment.]]
In 1925, [[Werner Heisenberg]] published the first consistent mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics ([[matrix mechanics]]).<ref name="Pais">{{cite book|last=Pais|first=Abraham|year=1986|location=New York|title=Inward Bound: Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-851971-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/inwardboundofmat00pais_0/page/228 228–230]|url=https://archive.org/details/inwardboundofmat00pais_0/page/228}}</ref> One year earlier, [[Louis de Broglie]] had proposed that all particles behave like waves to some extent,<ref>{{cite book |title=Introducing Quantum Theory |author1=McEvoy, J. P. |author2=Zarate, Oscar  |publisher=Totem Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84046-577-8 |pages=110–114}}</ref> and in 1926 [[Erwin Schrödinger]] used this idea to develop the [[Schrödinger equation]], which describes electrons as three-dimensional [[waveform]]s rather than points in space.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kozłowski |first=Miroslaw |year=2019 |title=The Schrödinger equation A History |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332241721}}</ref> A consequence of using waveforms to describe particles is that it is mathematically impossible to obtain precise values for both the [[point (geometry)|position]] and [[momentum]] of a particle at a given point in time. This became known as the [[uncertainty principle]], formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927.<ref name="Pais" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chad Orzel|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4|title=What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?|website=TED-Ed|date=16 September 2014|via=YouTube|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913185956/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4|archive-date=13 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 found.<ref name=brown2007 /><ref name=harrison2000 /> This model was able to explain observations of atomic behavior that previous models could not, such as certain structural and [[Spectral line|spectral]] patterns of atoms larger than hydrogen.