Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics

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Paul Heckert, Susan Heckert

Feature Writer Paul A. Heckert

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Paul A. Heckert

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...

Reflection of Light in Optics

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...

Refraction of Light

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...

Bohr's Model of the Atom

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...

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

What is the electromagnetic spectrum? It consists of all types of electromagnetic waves, including radio waves, X & gamma rays, & visible, ultraviolet, & infrared light. more...

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Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics

Properties of Fermions and Bosons

By: Feature Writer 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...

Bose-Einstein Statistics

By: Feature Writer 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...

Beta Decay and the Weak Force

By: Feature Writer 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: Feature Writer 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: Feature Writer 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...

The Discovery of the Neutron

By: Feature Writer 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: Feature Writer 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...

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