A wavefunction has a particular energy and is spread over space. For example, an electron in the ground state (n=1) in hydrogen has an energy of -13.6 eV, but its possible that we measure the position of the electron far away from the Bohr radius from the nucleus. What if we found it much further way, like ten times the Bohr radius for example?
- Would it have the potential energy of an electron at the Bohr radius or the potential energy of an electron at ten times that radius?
- What energy would the electron actually have, -13.6 eV or something higher?
- What happens next? Will the new wavefunction just be the n=1 orbital from before?