Sections
Glossary
Glossary
- angular momentum quantum number
- a quantum number associated with the angular momentum of electrons
- atom
- basic unit of matter, which consists of a central, positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons
- atomic de-excitation
- process by which an atom transfers from an excited electronic state back to the ground state electronic configuration; often occurs by emission of a photon
- atomic excitation
- a state in which an atom or ion acquires the necessary energy to promote one or more of its electrons to electronic states higher in energy than their ground state
- atomic number
- the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
- Bohr radius
- the mean radius of the orbit of an electron around the nucleus of a hydrogen atom in its ground state
- Brownian motion
- the continuous random movement of particles of matter suspended in a liquid or gas
- cathode ray tube
- a vacuum tube containing a source of electrons and a screen to view images
- double-slit interference
- an experiment in which waves or particles from a single source impinge upon two slits so that the resulting interference pattern may be observed
- energies of hydrogen-like atoms
- Bohr formula for energies of electron states in hydrogen-like atoms
- energy-level diagram
- a diagram used to analyze the energy level of electrons in the orbits of an atom
- fine structure
- the splitting of spectral lines of the hydrogen spectrum when the spectral lines are examined at very high resolution
- fluorescence
- any process in which an atom or molecule, excited by a photon of a given energy, de-excites by emission of a lower-energy photon
- hologram
- means entire picture—from the Greek word holo, as in holistic—because the image produced is three dimensional
- holography
- the process of producing holograms
- hydrogen spectrum wavelengths
- the wavelengths of visible light from hydrogen; can be calculated by
- hydrogen-like atom
- any atom with only a single electron
- intrinsic magnetic field
- the magnetic field generated due to the intrinsic spin of electrons
- intrinsic spin
- the internal or intrinsic angular momentum of electrons
- laser
- acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
- magnitude of the intrinsic—internal—spin angular momentum
- given by
- metastable
- a state whose lifetime is an order of magnitude longer than the most short-lived states
- orbital angular momentum
- an angular momentum that corresponds to the quantum analog of classical angular momentum
- orbital magnetic field
- the magnetic field generated due to the orbital motion of electrons
- Pauli exclusion principle
- a principle that states that no two electrons can have the same set of quantum numbers; that is, no two electrons can be in the same state
- phosphorescence
- the de-excitation of a metastable state
- planetary model of the atom
- the most familiar model or illustration of the structure of the atom
- population inversion
- the condition in which the majority of atoms in a sample are in a metastable state
- quantum numbers
- the values of quantized entities, such as energy and angular momentum
- Rydberg constant
- a physical constant related to the atomic spectra with an established value of
- shell
- a probability cloud for electrons that has a single principal quantum number
- space quantization
- the fact that the orbital angular momentum can have only certain directions
- spin projection quantum number
- quantum number that can be used to calculate the intrinsic electron angular momentum along the -axis
- spin quantum number
- the quantum number that parameterizes the intrinsic angular momentum—or spin angular momentum, or simply spin—of a given particle
- stimulated emission
- emission by atom or molecule in which an excited state is stimulated to decay, most readily caused by a photon of the same energy that is necessary to excite the state
- subshell
- the probability cloud for electrons that has a single angular momentum quantum number
- X-ray diffraction
- a technique that provides the detailed information about crystallographic structure of natural and manufactured materials
- X-rays
- a form of electromagnetic radiation
- z-component of spin angular momentum
- component of intrinsic electron spin along the -axis
- z-component of the angular momentum
- component of orbital angular momentum of electron along the -axis
- Zeeman effect
- the effect of external magnetic fields on spectral lines