Hobbies And Interests
Classical Physics
Classical physics is the conceptualization of matter defined by the British mathematician Isaac Newton in the 17th century. His ideas were practiced and developed up to the late 19th century when Danish and German scientists development quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. According to classical physics, the structure of the atom resembled the Copernican solar system. Electrons circulate around the nucleus in the manner that planets orbit the sun.
Quantum Mechanics
Danish physicist Nils Bohr postulated in 1913 that electrons do not have an arbitrary amount of energy. The energy of an electron is a multiple of a given unit, or quantum, of energy. The electron also works as a wave as well as a particle. These waves have a specific shape and each shape has a certain amount of energy.
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Named after the German physicist Werner Heisenberg who formulated it in 1927, this states that you cannot know with any certainty where an electron is located and what its path will be. This means it is impossible to plot the path of an electron around a nucleus.
Orbital
An orbital is a three-dimensional space within which an electron may be found. Quantum physics states that these orbitals are associated with specific energy levels.
Energy
Atoms hold kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic energy is the energy of movement and is held by electrons in orbitals. Potential energy is stored energy. If an external source of energy is applied to the atom, the electrons become exited and move to an orbital at a higher energy level. The electron stores the energy as potential energy.
Distance
The higher energy level is at a further distance from the nucleus. Energy in an electron increases with increasing distance from the nucleus. At some stage, the electron will release energy and move back down to a lower energy level closer to the nucleus. This released energy may be in the form of visible light.