Kevin writes: << This is entirely weird. When I had Cemistry in HS I didn't get most of the science, especially about electron orbits (still got A's of course). When I had to take it for College, the teacher used the cloud model and everything went SNAP in my head, it seemed so obvious. >>
There are several models. My favorite is the raisins in the pudding model, though the cloud model is the most accurate, and the orbital model works for most macroscopic chemical effects we notice with our naked transparent eyeballs. I use the orbital model for most things, and merely remember the cloud model from s, p, and d levels and quantum numbers, and the chemical chart in high school showing valence. I took a materials science course at SJSU that taught me crystal lattices. Being around silicon teaches you about energy bands. My hypothesis is that the energy of an electron in an orbital or in a metal lattice energy band is linear, but in order to jump to a higher state, or release a photon, or escape a semiconductor energy band, a discrete level of energy is needed, thus the appearance of quanta, or discrete energy levels. Maybe I'm way wrong, but I don't think so.
