Hi

I was reading that in a many electron atom (eg. Helium), it is assumed that each electron occupies its own orbital..

thus,the overall wavefunction (w) is w(1).w(2)...

how is this possible?? isn't the 1s orbital of helium filled with 2 electrons so what do they mean that each electron occupy its own orbital?

1 answer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Orbital

the term orbital refers to the set of quantum numbers which are in fact related to the solution to the wave equations.