Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics
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Molecular Light Absorbance and Fluorescence
Electrons can emit or absorb only specific amounts of energy to change orbitals and this energy change usually takes place via photons of light.
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Invisibility - To Bend or Break from the Ether
People throughout history have romanticized about being invisible. Now scientists are synthesizing new materials that could turn this fantasy into a reality.
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How Scanning Electron Microscopy Works
Many people have a general idea of what electron microscopy is but why would someone ever choose to use a scanning electron microscope?
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Is Cold Fusion Possible?
Twenty years ago two scientists said they had produced cold nuclear fusion, but nobody could repeat their work; now there is renewed interest in the science.
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Operating A Nuclear Power Station
The central nucleus of an atom, is composed of tiny particles called protons and neutrons, held together by forces of enormous magnitude.
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Properties of Fermions and Bosons
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.
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Bose-Einstein Statistics
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.
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Beta Decay and the Weak Force
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.
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Radioactivity and Alpha Particles
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.
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The Beginnings of Nuclear Physics
In the final decades of the nineteenth and first few decades of the twentieth centuries, physicists would begin to unlock the mysteries of radioactivity.
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The Discovery of the Neutron
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.
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Rutherford and the Atomic Nucleus
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.
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The Discovery of the Electron
The first discovery of a subatomic particle would come in 1897, when J.J. Thompson first discovered evidence for the existence of the electron.
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The Scale of Atoms
Much of the difficulty scientists had in discovering, and then proving the existence of, atoms, is their size. Something so small had never before been defined.
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Brownian Motion and Atomic Theory
Following up on the work of John Dalton, Robert Brown and, later, Albert Einstein, would finally help to convince the world of the existence of atoms.
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John Dalton and Atomic Theory
After having sat dormant for more than two thousand years, atomic theory was finally brought into the modern age with the work of John Dalton.
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Ancient Theories of Atoms
Atoms, of course, have existed since the beginning of time. Man's study of them, however, did not begin until considerably after that.
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Defining Quantum Mechanics
Quantum physics is recognized by many as one of the most difficult concepts in science. While this is surely true, it is not entirely beyond the grasp of the layman.
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The Basics of Nanotechnology
The word "nanotechnology" in itself can be intimidating to people who do not understand it. A brief explanation of this science helps to sort out some of these issues.
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What is Nanotechnology?
The term nanotechnology has been bandied about for years, but what is it, and more importantly, where is it going?
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Reflection vs. Refraction
Even though reflection and refraction of light are important concepts in optics, they are often confused. The two concepts are unraveled here.
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What is Osmosis?
Osmosis is an essential physical process for cellular biology.
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Alternative Energy
As carbon-based energy supplies are dwindling, other sources of energy are being explored
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What does LASER stand for?
LASER has become a common household word, but what does it mean?
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Why Do Power Lines Buzz?
The crackling sound you hear under high-voltage power lines is caused by corona discharge.
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