Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics
All contributors in Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics
Dispersion & Refraction in Optics
When white light passes through a prism it spreads out into all the colors of the rainbow. Physics tells us this results from refraction and dispersion. more...
Optics & Total Internal Reflection
Total internal reflection is the fundamental physics principle behind rainbows, the brilliance of diamonds, fiber optic cables, and other technologies. more...
When light is reflected the incident and reflected angles are equal. Specular reflection is from a smooth surface, and diffuse reflection from a rough surface. more...
In optics, Snell's law of refraction tells us that light is refracted, or bent, when it passes from one medium to another. more...
Early Theories of Atomic Structure
J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford pioneered studies of atomic structure, but their early models of the structure of the atom had serious flaws. more...
The Bohr model of the atom was a major leap forward in our understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, but it was not the final answer. more...
What is the electromagnetic spectrum? It consists of all types of electromagnetic waves, including radio waves, X & gamma rays, & visible, ultraviolet, & infrared light. more...
All feature articles in Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics
Properties of Fermions and Bosons
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
Fermion and Boson classifications are not entirely set in stone. While individual particles are either one or the other, systems of particles can cause the laws to fail. more...
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein published a paper in 1924 which to this day helps to explain the difference between various types of subatomic particles. more...
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
In order for physicists to understand the reasons for beta decay, a new nuclear force had to be developed - a task accomplished by Enrico Fermi in 1934. more...
Radioactivity and Alpha Particles
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
Alpha particles are emitted from a radioactive substance by way of quantum tunneling and is governed by a statistical look at the strong nuclear force. more...
The Beginnings of Nuclear Physics
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
In the final decades of the nineteenth and first few decades of the twentieth centuries, physicists would begin to unlock the mysteries of radioactivity. more...
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
In 1932, James Chadwick proved that the atomic nucleus contained a neutral particle which had been proposed more than a decade earlier by Ernest Rutherford. more...
Rutherford and the Atomic Nucleus
By:
Isaac M. McPhee
New Zealander Ernest Rutherford made waves in the scientific community in the first couple decades of the twentieth century with his work on the atomic structure. more...
All contributing articles in Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics