Category: THE PRINCIPLE OF QUANTUM PHYSICS

Let’s quickly review the major problems faced by classical physics at the turn of the twentieth century: 1. Classical physics would predict that a blackbody should radiate an infinite amount of UV light. However, hot objects actually produce a limited glow that peaks at a wavelength dependent on temperature and then decays to zero at short…

In spite of its success with explaining the spectral lines produced by the hydrogen atom, Bohr’s atomic model is not perfect. It only works for atoms that have one electron. That is, it only applies to hydrogen, ionized helium (He+), doubly ionized lithium (Li++), and a few other light ions. More importantly, however, it does…

Rydberg had been able to capture the observed periodicity of the hydrogen lines in an elegant formula, but he had no idea what underlying physical process could be responsible for such mathematical regularity. Returning to 1911, we find the world of physics was faced with a major riddle about the atomic structure proposed by Rutherford.…

We will use the kind of hydrogen “spectrum tube” available at any store that sells educational scientific supplies. Although they are all pretty much the same, their price varies quite a bit based on the store’s brand name. The least-expensive spectrum tubes are sold by Information Unlimited (under $20). You can buy these filled with…

The last chapter left us with a planetary model of the atom that takes into account the existence of the nucleus, but which is inherently unstable. To recap, the model proposes that the centrifugal force of the revolving electron just exactly balances the attractive force of the nucleus. However, the issue is that the electrons—being…