Chemistry & Materials · 1931
The Nature of the Chemical Bond
Linus Pauling
Overview
Pauling applied the new quantum mechanics to chemistry, explaining how atoms share electrons to form bonds. He introduced concepts — orbital hybridisation, resonance, and bond character — that became the language of structural chemistry.
Founded quantum chemistry; contributed to Pauling's 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Key findings
Methods
A theoretical application of quantum-mechanical wave functions to bonding electrons, combining approximate solutions of the Schrödinger equation with empirical data on bond lengths and energies.
Keywords
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