Abstract
IN a recent paper by one of us (N. H. M.1), a detailed discussion of the electron distributions and potential fields for molecules of high symmetry was given on the basis of the Thomas–Fermi theory. In this work the nuclei of the outer atoms were smeared out over the surface of a sphere and the electrons then regarded as moving in the resulting spherically symmetrical field. A general discussion of the energy was also given, and the existence of a minimum in the energy curves was demonstrated. However, the theoretical bond-lengths were in poor agreement with the experimental values, and it was suggested that this might be due to the neglect of exchange.
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References
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Heath, D. F., Linnett, J. W., and Wheatley, P. J., Trans. Farad. Soc., 46, 137 (1950).
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BALLINGER, R., MARCH, N. Bond-Lengths and Force Constants for Methane, Silane and Germane. Nature 174, 179 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/174179a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/174179a0
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