Download the App!

Get 24/7 study help with the Numerade app for iOS and Android! Enter your email for an invite.

Sent to:
Search glass icon
  • Login
  • Textbooks
  • Ask our Educators
  • Study Tools
    Study Groups Bootcamps Quizzes AI Tutor iOS Student App Android Student App StudyParty
  • For Educators
    Become an educator Educator app for iPad Our educators
  • For Schools

Atomic Physics

In physics, atomic physics is a branch of physics that studies the structure and dynamics of atoms—the constituent parts of the smallest particles of matter, and of the largest objects in which these particles are assembled. It is the atomic theory and the study of the structure of matter on a scale smaller than that of the atom. Atomic physics and quantum physics are different theories that both deal with atomic structure. In both fields, subatomic particles are described by quantum mechanics. The Cambridge University physicist J.J. Thomson was the first to prove the existence of a particle discovered in 1897. The electron, described by Thomson, has a negative electric charge. The first atomic particle with an electric charge, the proton, was "discovered" in 1919 by the American physicist Ernest Rutherford, assisted by the British physicist Hans Geiger and the Dutch-Swiss physicist Ernest Marsden. In the early 1920s, Rutherford and his co-workers showed that the atomic nucleus was composed primarily of protons and nucleons, with a small fraction of neutrons. In 1932, the British physicist James Chadwick discovered the neutron, which had been described by the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi in his 1933 publication. In 1932, the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer, a student of Ernest Rutherford, demonstrated that the atomic nucleus contained many more protons than electrons by bombarding gold with alpha particles. In 1935, the British physicist George Gamow published a paper suggesting that the energy levels of the hydrogen atom could be calculated by quantum mechanics. This led to a profound re-examination of atomic structure by many physicists, which in turn led to the development of quantum mechanics. Since the nineteenth century, the study of atomic structure has been aided by the development of increasingly more sophisticated experimental techniques. These techniques have allowed many new and more complex atomic models to be proposed.

Structural Models of the Atom

89 Practice Problems
View More
06:51
Chemistry

If Rutherford and his coworkers had used electrons instead of alpha particles to probe the structure of the nucleus (see Chapter 2), how would the result have changed?

Quantum Theory and the Electronic Structure of Atoms
Ronald Prasad
03:07
Chemistry

What are the hypotheses on which Dalton's atomic theory is based?

Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
00:39
Introductory Chemistry

What are three main ideas in Dalton's atomic theory?

Atoms and Elements
David Collins

Hydrogen Atom

191 Practice Problems
View More
00:21
Inorganic Chemistry

Compounds in which hydrogen is the outer atom can provide challenges to theories of chemical bonding. Consider the following molecules. Using one or more of the approaches described in this chapter, provide a rationale for HOF having the smallest bond angle in this set.

Simple Bonding Theory
04:14
Inorganic Chemistry

What is the least amount of energy that can be emitted by an excited electron in a hydrogen atom falling from an excited state directly to the $n=3$ state? What is the quantum number $n$ for the excited state? Humans cannot visually observe the photons emitted in this process. Why not?

Atomic Structure
Nilma Khan
01:21
Inorganic Chemistry

The transition from the $n=7$ to the $n=2$ level of the hydrogen atom is accompanied by the emission of radiation slightly beyond the range of human perception, in the ultraviolet region. Determine the cnergy and wavelength.

Atomic Structure
Prashant Bana

Wave Functions for Hydrogen

51 Practice Problems
View More
05:46
Chemistry: Introducing Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry

What volume of hydrogen gas (at $298 \mathrm{K}$ and 1 atm) is required for the extraction of $1 \mathrm{kg}$ of copper from a $\mathrm{Cu}^{2+}(\mathrm{aq})$ solution? (1 mol gas occupies $24.5 \mathrm{dm}^{3}$ at this temperature and pressure.) (Section 25.1)

Hydrogen
Pronoy Sinha
05:40
University Physics

Show that when $\Psi_{1}(x, t)$ and $\Psi_{2}(x, t)$ are solutions to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and $A, B$ are numbers, then a function $\Psi(x, t)$ that is a superposition of these functions is also a solution: $\Psi(x, t)=A \Psi_{1}(x, t)+B \Psi_{1}(x, t)$

Quantum Mechanics
Nathan Silvano
15:49
University Physics

A wave function of a particle with mass $m$ is given by $$\psi(x)=\left\{\begin{array}{cl}
A \cos \alpha x, & -\frac{\pi}{2 \alpha} \leq x \leq+\frac{\pi}{2 \alpha} \\
0, & \text { otherwise }
\end{array}\right.$$
where $\alpha=1.00 \times 10^{10} / \mathrm{m} .$ (a) Find the normalization constant. (b) Find the probability that the particle can be found on the interval $0 \leq x \leq 0.5 \times 10^{-10} \mathrm{m}$. (c) Find the particle's average position. (d) Find its average momentum.
(e) Find its average kinetic energy $-0.5 \times 10^{-10} \mathrm{m} \leq x \leq+0.5 \times 10^{-10} \mathrm{m}$

Quantum Mechanics
Nathan Silvano

Quantum Numbers

106 Practice Problems
View More
03:23
Inorganic Chemistry

a. What are the values of quantum numbers $l$ and $n$ for a $5 d$ electron?
b. At most, how many $4 d$ electrons can an atom have? Of these electrons how many, at most, can have $m_{s}=-\frac{1}{2} ?$
c. $A$ sfectron has what value of quantum number $l ?$ What values of $m_{l}$ may it have?
d. What values of the quantum number $m$, are possible for a subshell having $l=4 ?$

Atomic Structure
Cheryl Glor
01:20
Chemistry: Introducing Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry

For the following atomic orbitals, give the values of the quantum numbers $n$ and $L$ In each case indicate what values for $m$, are allowed. (Section 3.5)
(a) $2 s$
(b) $5 f$
(c) $6 p$

Atomic structure and properties
Nicole Smina
10:02
Principles of Physics a Calculus Based Text

(a) Calculate the angular momentum of the Moon due to its orbital motion about the Earth. In your calculation, use $3.84 \times 10^{8} \mathrm{m}$ as the average Earth-Moon distance and $2.36 \times 10^{6} \mathrm{s}$ as the period of the Moon in its orbit. (b) Assume that the Moon's angular momentum is described by Bohr's assumption $m v r=n \hbar .$ Determine the corresponding quantum number. (c) By what fraction would the EarthMoon distance have to be increased to raise the quantum number by 1?

Atomic Physics
Ren Jie Tuieng

Exclusion Principle

8 Practice Problems
View More
03:48
University Physics

What is Pauli's exclusion principle? Explain the importance of this principle for the understanding of atomic structure and molecular bonding.

Atomic Structure
Guilherme Barros
03:34
College Physics

Look up the values of the quantities in $a_{\mathrm{B}}=\frac{h^{2}}{4 \pi^{2} m_{e} k q_{e}^{2}}$

Atomic Physics
Vishal Gupta
02:30
Essential University Physics

How does the exclusion principle explain the diversity of chemical elements?

Atomic Physics
Farhanul Hasan

Get 24/7 study help with our app

 

Available on iOS and Android

About
  • Our Story
  • Careers
  • Our Educators
  • Numerade Blog
Browse
  • Bootcamps
  • Books
  • Notes & Exams NEW
  • Topics
  • Test Prep
  • Ask Directory
  • Online Tutors
  • Tutors Near Me
Support
  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Get started