Round, Round We Go

Is the Quantum World Spherical or Not?

It recently occurred to me that every image I saw of individual atoms and molecules were round, in fact circular, in shape so I wondered if that was accurate or just a useful approximation. And how does quantum mechanics influence that view? So let’s explore.

Image source: Brian Lenahan/Midjourney

Before I get started, lets take a quick poll:

I’m looking f…