Particle physics

Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

PARTICLE PHYSICS

LL ATOMS consist of even smaller particles, called subatomic particles. Particle physics is

the study of subatomic particles and the ways that they interact. More than 300 types of subatomic particle are known to exist. Most are unstable they decay naturally, releasing energy and forming other subatomic particles. However, 28 of them seem to be stable and indivisible. These particles, known as fundamental particles, are thought to be the basic building blocks of all forces and matter in the Universe. The Big Bang Most physicists think that the first particles to exist in the Universe were formed during the Big Bang an event that created all time and space.
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Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

FUNDAMENTAL FORCES

HE FORCES we encounter, such as friction and tension, are all created by one or more of four

key forces. These forces gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces are the fundamental forces of the Universe. They are carried by fundamental particles called gauge bosons. Gravity and electromagnetic force act over long distances, but the strong and weak nuclear forces act only within the nuclei of atoms. Scientists are currently trying to unify these forces, which many assert are all types of a single force that affects all matter.
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FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES
The smallest particles of matter, out of which all larger particles and atoms are formed. Fundamental particles form two groups the quarks (which make up the protons and neutrons in the centre of atoms), and the leptons (which include the electrons that orbit around an atoms nucleus). Fundamental Particles

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FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES

ARTICLE PHYSICISTS group fundamental particles into three categories: quarks, leptons,

and gauge bosons. Quarks combine to make heavy particles such as protons and neutrons. Leptons are lightweight particles such as electrons and positrons. Gauge bosons are particles with no mass that transmit all forces in the Universe. The gluon, for example, is a gauge boson that binds together quarks within atomic nuclei. The force carried by gluons is strong enough to prevent protons, which are made of quarks but are all positively charged, from repelling each other. Subatomic particles Electrons are fundamental particles, but protons and neutrons consist of quarks that are bound together by gluons.
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Gauge Bosons

Gauge bosons are a family of fundamental particles that act as messenger particles, carrying the fundamental forces of nature. The most common example is the photon, which acts as a carrier for the electromagnetic force. Gauge bosons exist for the other fundamental forces, too: Photons for the electromagnetic force W+, W and Z0 particles for the weak nuclear force. Gluons for the strong nuclear force Gravitons (theoretical) for the gravitational force (gravity).

Gauge Theories
Gauge bosons are so called because they are used in gauge theories of the fundamental forces, which rely on the transmission of forces by messenger particles. These theories have proved extremely successful in modeling the electromagnetic force, resulting in the quantum electrodynamics (QED) theory. This states that an electromagnetic field does not have its energy spread out continuously in space; instead, energy and momentum are transmitted by the exchange of photons.

The Theory of Everything

Using the same model for each force opens the exciting possibility of ultimately combining all four forces in a Theory of Everything (TOE). Following the success of quantum electrodynamics, gauge theories have been applied to the weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force, and the basics have also been worked out for gravitation. By definition, all bosons have an internal spin (or angular momentum) that can be measured in a whole number of units. The photon, W particle, Z particle, and gluons all have a spin of 1; this enables them to be combined with some success, into an overall electronuclear(or electroweak) model of forces. However, the theoretical graviton has a spin of 2, presenting problems in both its detection and the unification of gravity with the other forces.
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QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
The most popular theory for explaining how electromagnetic interactions occur between particles. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a gauge theory, in which the electromagnetic force is carried between charged particles by photons. It has been used to produce accurate calculations of electromagnetic interactions.
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Photons
According to quantum theory, electromagnetic radiation, including light, consists of indivisible packets (quanta) of energy called photons. The photon is one of the fundamental particles. It is classed as a gauge boson, and it carries the electromagnetic force. Describing light as photons allows us to explain both its wavelike and particle-like properties the phenomenon of waveparticle duality. In most everyday cases (for example, light passing through lenses), we can describe light with classical, nonquantum theory. But when we consider the effect of light, X-rays, or other electromagnetic radiation on matter in terms of the effect on atoms or nuclei, it is often essential to use the photon description.

The Energy of a Photon

Quantum theory says that the energy E of a photon is given by E = hc/P = hf, where h is Plancks constant (h = 6.63 1034 J s or 4.14 1015 electron volts), c is the speed of light, P is the wavelength of the radiation, and f is its frequency.
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W and Z Particles
The gauge theory explaining the weak nuclear force requires carrier particles that transmit the force between interacting matter particles. In fact, the weak force uses three such particles the positively and negatively charged W particles and the neutral Z particle, which transmit the weak force in the same way that photons transmit the electromagnetic force.

W Particles
W particles come in two varieties, W + and W. Unlike the other gauge bosons, which all have very small or zero mass, the weak-force carriers are relatively massive the W particles have a rest mass of nearly 100 times the mass of a proton. Expressed as an energy in units of gigaelectron volts (one thousand million electron volts), this mass is 83 GeV. The W particles that transmit the weak force are virtual particles. These are particles that can come into existence only for a very brief period of time, and then must vanish again. The uncertainty principle allows virtual particles to be created for brief periods in violation of the law of conservation of energy, but also implies that the more massive a virtual particle is, the shorter its lifetime. This explains why the weak force acts only over extremely small distances (around 1018 m) the W particles cannot travel any further in the short time before they decay.

How W Particles Interact

W particles carry the weak nuclear force between particles only when the interacting particles are actually changed by the process. For example, in beta particle emission, a neutron (made up of an up quark and two down quarks), decays into a proton (two up quarks and a down quark) when one of the down quarks spontaneously changes into an up quark. The quark changes its state by emitting a W particle, which almost instantly decays to the electron and antineutrino that are observed.

Z Particles
Like the W particle, but unlike the other gauge bosons, the Z particle has a considerable mass (with an energy equivalent of 93 GeV). The Z particles large mass means that virtual particles

can be produced only for very short periods of time (around 1025 s). This means weak interactions operate only on the smallest scales, the distances that virtual Z particles can travel in their extremely brief lifetimes. The Z particle governs a class of weak nuclear interactions, called neutral-current interactions, that do not change the other particles involved. This aspect of the weak force was only discovered in 1973 before then, it was thought that all weak interactions changed the nature of the particles involved. Typical neutral-current interactions are the scattering (deflection at close range) of neutrinos from electrons, protons, and neutrons, where the weak force is carried between the neutrino and electron at very close range by the exchange of a virtual Z particle.
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Supersymmetry
In recent years, the search for underlying principles behind the different forces and particles found in nature has intensified. One of the most significant developments has been the creation of supersymmetry theories, which attempt to unite all the different types of particle. Ultimately, these theories may lead to a complete Theory of Everything. This would explain not only the pattern of particles that exist, but also how all the fundamental forces of nature arise from a single unified force.

Patterns in Nature
One of the clearest patterns found in fundamental particles is that all the matter particles (the quarks and leptons) have an internal spin (angular momentum) that is equal to half an odd number of units, while all the messenger particles, responsible for the transmission of the fundamental forces, have spin equal to a whole number of units. (The matter particles are called fermions, while the messenger particles are gauge bosons.) This can either be considered a fundamental difference between the two types of particle, or, as supersymmetry suggests, the starting point for a broader picture of the subatomic world.

Supersymmetry of Particles
The basic idea of supersymmetry is that each boson has a corresponding fermion, and vice versa. The new theoretical fermions, or gauge fermions, created by this idea are named after the corresponding boson with an -ino ending attached (photino, gluino, wino), and the new bosons are named after the fermions, with an s- prefix (selectron, squark, smuon, and so on). The theory goes on to predict the existence of supermatter made up of the new boson particles corresponding to the matter particles, and superforces transmitted by the new gauge fermions. Although as yet none of these supersymmetry particles have been discovered, the importance of supersymmetry ideas has been demonstrated by other applications in nuclear physics.

Supersymmetry and Gravity

The ideas of supersymmetry, and specifically superforces, may have important implications in the search for a unified theory of the fundamental forces. The concept of a supergravity force, of which gravitation is only one aspect, predicts a gravitino particle, which might be detectable in high-energy particle accelerators. Models of gravity extended into ten-dimensional spacetime, with the other six dimensions curled up on themselves, suggest that all the forces we see today could be the result of different aspects of this superforce leaking out of the other dimensions. Although these models still present many mathematical and conceptual difficulties, they may well offer the best hope of an ultimate unified theory.
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Gravitons
The graviton is a theoretical messenger particle responsible for transmitting the force of gravity between objects. Great advances have been made in the study of the four fundamental forces of nature by treating them all as forms of radiation, and applying a gauge theory to them, in which each force is carried by its characteristic gauge boson. This type of theory was first developed to understand electromagnetism (in which the carrier is the photon), and has since been successful in modeling the weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force as well. Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity predicts some form of gravitational radiation in the Universe, and the graviton is thought to be the particle that transmits it. However, although some properties of the graviton can be deduced theoretically, the graviton has not yet been detected.

How Gravity is Transmitted

Gravity is the hardest of the four fundamental forces to understand and to combine with the other three. It has negligible effects at atomic levels, coming into effect only when dealing with large quantities of matter. Isaac Newtons theory of gravitation describes gravity extremely well in normal conditions, but certain problems particularly irregularities in the orbit of the planet Mercury show that it is not perfect for every case. Einstein developed his general theory of relativity to explain the problem of Mercurys orbit, and the idea that gravity travels instantaneously, rather than at the speed of light. Einstein suggested that large masses actually distort spacetime (space and time considered together), and planetary orbits are stable paths around the Sun, similar to electron orbits around the nucleus of an atom. The theory also required that an accelerating mass must generate gravitational radiation, in the same way that an accelerated charge creates electromagnetic waves.

Searching for Gravitons

If the gravitational force is transmitted through the Universe by radiation, there should be a gauge boson to carry it between objects. This quantum (tiny packet) of gravity, called the graviton, should bear some similarity to the photon, such as the ability to travel near-infinite distances. Physicists have calculated that if the graviton exists, it has an internal spin (angular momentum) of 2, and a minimal or zero rest mass. However, because the gravitational force is so weak except on the largest scales, it seems impossible to detect gravitons in nature. So if gravity does have a quantum nature like the other three fundamental forces it may only be significant in extreme conditions such as the direct aftermath of the Big Bang. The detection of gravitational waves in space would be the best indirect evidence for the existence of gravitons. Astronomers continue to search for evidence of these waves in the aftermath of supernovae and the collision of galaxies.

Unifying Gravity with Other Forces

Attempts are being made to incorporate gravity with the other three forces in a Theory of Everything. But if the four fundamental forces were ever unified, gravity must have been the first to freeze out after the Big Bang, since its properties are so different. The best chances for introducing gravity into a unified model lie in supersymmetry theories.
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Gluons

Gluons are fundamental particles that carry the strong nuclear force. They bind together quarks, the fundamental particles that form subatomic particles such as protons and neutrons. Gluons, photons (which carry the electromagnetic force), and other particles that transmit the fundamental forces of nature are collectively called gauge bosons.

Properties of Gluons
While photons can travel over infinite distances, gluons have a very short lifetime before they decay, and so can travel only very short distances around 10 15 m from a quark which is why the strong force only acts on very small scales. According to current theories about the strong nuclear force, gluons transmit a property called colour charge, similar to the electric charge carried by photons in electromagnetism. The colour charge determines how quarks can bind together, and in what combinations. Gluons are very tightly bound within protons and neutrons, and they can only be detected using particle accelerators, when a suitably powerful collision separates two quarks, and may throw off a gluon as a side-effect a so-called three-jet event. These free gluons have extremely short life spans, and decay rapidly into a shower of other elementary particles (quarkantiquark pairs).

Gluons and Pions

Although gluons transmit the strong nuclear force between quarks, pions are responsible for binding neutrons and protons together. Pions are not themselves fundamental particles, since they are in turn composed of two quarks, bound by gluons.
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Quarks
Atoms are composed of three types of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Of these, only electrons are truly fundamental (not composed of smaller particles). Protons and neutrons are both made up of smaller building blocks of the subatomic universe, known as quarks. There are six different types of quarks, and each has a corresponding antiparticle called an antiquark. Combinations of two or three quarks and/or antiquarks make up larger particles, called hadrons. There are two main categories of hadrons: baryons and mesons. Baryons include protons and neutrons, and are made up of three component quarks. Mesons are short-lived particles, comprising a quark and an antiquark.

Flavours of Quarks
There are six different types (flavours) of quarks, and each is characterised by its electric charge and its mass, and may posess a further quality called strangeness. Up, Down, and Strange The first three flavours of quark suggested by particle theories were the up, down, and strange quarks. Indirect evidence for all three was detected in particle accelerators by the early 1970s. The up quark has a positive charge and spin; the down quark has negative charge and spin; and the strange quark has positive spin, negative charge, and in addition has the quality of strangeness. Combinations of these three quarks give rise to the properties of larger particles. Top, Bottom, and Charm Later developments of the theory added three more flavours of quark top, bottom, and charm which can exist only at very high energies, and so would have vanished from the

Universe shortly after the Big Bang itself. Indirect evidence for the charm and bottom quarks was found in 1974 and 1977, but the top quark was not detected until 1995, when two teams using the Tevatron accelerator at Batavia, Illinois, USA, independently found evidence for a particle with an enormous energy of 176 GeV (1.76 x 1011 electron volts).

Quarks and Larger Particles

Understanding the fundamental quarks helps to explain the different properties of the larger particles they form the baryons and mesons. The short-lived mesons are each made up of a quark and an antiquark, while the baryons (including the proton and neutron) have three component quarks. The joining together of quarks to form larger particles is governed by the strong nuclear force.

How Quarks were Discovered

The existence of quarks was first suggested by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in 1964, when they independently discovered that the symmetry of the properties of the baryon and meson particle families could be explained if they were made of smaller subunits. By plotting the electric charge of a hadron (+1, 0, or 1), against its strangeness property (also +1, 0, or 1), a remarkable symmetry was discovered for both the baryons and the mesons, with particles lying in regular geometrical figures. These patterns could be best explained if the baryons and mesons were composed of two or three smaller particles called quarks.
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Leptons
Leptons are fundamental particles of very low mass that are not affected by the strong nuclear force interactions in the nucleus. They do respond to the weak force and, if they are charged, to the electromagnetic force.

The Six Leptons

There are six leptons and all of these are believed to be truly fundamental, pointlike particles. There are three massive leptons (electrons, muons, and taus), each of which has a neutrino associated with it. Electrons are the lightest leptons; muons have 200 times as much mass; and taus are about 3,700 times more massive than electrons. These leptons each carry one unit of negative charge and have a distinct mass; the neutrinos carry no charge and are believed to have zero mass. There is one neutrino associated with each of the three leptons. There are electron-neutrinos, muon-neutrinos, and tau-neutrinos. The neutrinos are stable, they effectively have zero mass, and they carry no charge. There are probably more neutrinos in the universe than any other particle; it has been estimated that they outnumber electrons and protons by a factor of 109 (a billion). All leptons and their neutrinos also have antiparticles (constituents of antimatter). So for the electron, there is an anti-electron (called a positron), an electron-neutrino, and an anti-electronneutrino.

Conservation of Lepton Number

In any physical process, the number of leptons is conserved. If each lepton is given a lepton number of +1, and each antilepton a number of 1, the total number of leptons is the same before and after the process. For example, if an electron (lepton number of +1) collides with a positron (lepton number of -1), both particles are annihilated and a photon is produced (lepton number of 0).

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Properties of Fundamental Particles

The term subatomic particle refers to any type of particle that is smaller than an atom. Several hundred different types of subatomic particle have now been identified, but many of these particles are unstable, that is, they can only exist for fractions of a second before they decay into other particles. The most familiar stable particles are the proton and electron, which together with neutrons, form atoms (neutrons are stable only when they are bound within the nucleus of an atom). Two other types of stable particle are photons and neutrinos.

Fundamental Particles
Of the various types of subatomic particle, only a small number are truly fundamental particles that is, they are indivisible and have no internal structure. The three categories of fundamental particles are Leptons (which include electrons, muons, the Tau particle, and neutrinos). Gauge bosons (messenger particles that transmit the fundamental forces of nature). These include photons, gluons, the W and Z particles, and the graviton (a theoretical particle). Quarks, of which there are six different types or flavours.

Hadrons
All other subatomic particles are called hadrons. All hadrons are composed of quarks and they fall into two groups: Baryons are composed of three quarks and are of relatively high mass (greater or equal to that of a proton). They include the proton, neutron, and several unstable particles such as the sigma particle and lambda particle. Mesons have a smaller mass than protons and are composed of two quarks. They include pions and kaons.

Properties of Subatomic Particles

Each type of subatomic particle can be described in terms of a number of properties, such as mass, charge, and spin. Mass Mass is a property of a particle that determines the rate at which the particle accelerates when subjected to a force. Photons, gluons, and neutrinos have negligible or no mass. The mass of other particles varies from that of electrons, which have a mass of about 1/2000 that of a proton, to W and Z particles, which have a mass of about 100 times that of a proton. Charge Charge is a property of some subatomic particles that causes them to be attracted to, or repelled by, other charged particles by the electromagnetic force. A proton has a positive charge. Electrons, muons, and Tau particles have a negative charge. Like charges (positive-positive or negative-negative) repel each other, while unlike charges (positive-negative) attract. Quarks have a charge that is either plus two thirds or minus one third that of an electron. Some particles, such as neutrons, neutrinos, and photons, have no charge. Spin Spin is a property of subatomic particles that can be thought of as the particles internal angular momentum (however, the concept of subatomic particles actually spinning on their axes should not be taken too literally). All subatomic particles can be divided into two groups according to their spin: Bosons are particles that have spins that are either equal to 0 or to an integer value (1, 2, 3). These include gauge bosons and mesons.

Fermions are particles that have spins with half-integer values (, 1, and so on). All leptons, baryons, and quarks are fermions. Susceptibility to the Fundamental Forces of Nature Subatomic particles can also be classified according to the way they are affected by the four fundamental forces of nature. Any particle that has a mass is affected by the force of gravity. Any charged particle is susceptible to the electromagnetic force. Hadrons, but not leptons, are subject to the strong nuclear force. Leptons respond to the weak nuclear force (and, if charged, to the electromagnetic force). Gauge bosons are the messenger particles that transmit the four fundamental forces.

Antiparticles
All subatomic particles have mirror images called antiparticles. Together, these antiparticles make up what is known as antimatter.
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BUBBLE CHAMBER

HE BUBBLE CHAMBER is a device used to detect charged particles leaving particle

accelerators, allowing the paths of these particles to be made visible. It consists of a pressurized chamber filled with liquid hydrogen. The pressure is suddenly released and the hydrogen tries to boil. For a critical few milliseconds the hydrogen is said to be sensitive,

and tiny bubbles form around any charged particles passing through. These bubbles form trails, which can be photographed. In modern particle accelerators, bubble chambers have been replaced by drift chambers, which enable computers to generate three-dimensional representations of the collisions between particles.
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Particle Accelerator
A particle accelerator is a device for accelerating elementary particles, such as electrons and protons, or atomic nuclei. It is used in the study of nuclear and particle physics.

What Happens in an Accelerator

In a particle accelerator, a magnetic field or electric field causes the particles to accelerate. Having reached a high velocity, the particles strike a target or another beam of particles. Depending on the target material, and on the velocity and type of the accelerated particle, the collision can have a variety of outcomes. A particle from an accelerator can cause nuclear reactions. It might excite (increase the energy of) the nucleus of a target atom into an unstable state of excited internal motion. Alternatively it might be absorbed by a target nucleus to form a different nucleus, which can be an unstable nonnaturally occurring radioisotope. Such a nucleus might decay radioactively, split up into two or more different nuclei (nuclear fission), or radiate away excess energy by emitting gamma rays. By observing the collision products and the way energy changes in collisions, physicists have been able to deduce the detailed structure of the atomic nucleus.

Making New Particles

If the particle from the accelerator has sufficient kinetic energy (energy of motion), a quite different outcome is possible, in which a new particle, not present in the projectile or target particles, is formed. This happens through the transformation of a quantity of energy E into new matter of mass m, given by Einsteins massenergy equation E = mc2, where c is the speed of light. For example, the reaction p+ + p+ p p + + p+ + T describes an incident proton striking a target proton (hydrogen nucleus), and yielding two protons plus a pion or T-meson created out of the energy brought in by the incident proton. The pion is an unstable particle existing for an average lifetime of only 1.78 1016 seconds before decaying into two gamma rays (T p K + K), or into a gamma ray, an electron, and a positron (antielectron) (T p K + e + e+). It is one of a large number of new, mostly short-lived, elementary particles that can be created using high-energy accelerators.

Energies of Accelerators
Since particle accelerators were first invented, the search for elementary particles of increasingly large masses has required accelerators of correspondingly increased energy. Early accelerators produced energies of around 700,000 electron volts (7 105 eV); the most powerful modern accelerator, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (known as Fermilab), in Illinois, USA, can command energies of around 2,000 GeV (2 1012 eV). Cosmic rays reaching the Earth from outer space are an alternative source of fast particles, with energies up to 10 20 eV, but of low intensity. Muons and pions (Q- and T-mesons) were first discovered in cosmic-ray studies.

Detecting Particles

Particles produced in accelerators can be fired into separate detectors, in which the visible tracks they leave can be used to work out their identity. The detectors most commonly used are the drift chamber, cloud chamber, and spark chamber.

Types of Accelerator
There are two types of accelerators: linear accelerators, in which the particles travel in a straight line; and circular accelerators, such as the cyclotron and synchrotron, where strong magnetic fields force the particles to follow a circular path. The first accelerator, used by the British physicist Sir John Cockcroft and the Irish physicist Ernest Walton in 1932 to split the atomic nucleus, was a linear accelerator, and used a voltage of 600,000 V to accelerate protons directly and cause the disintegration of lithium into helium: 1p + 7Li p 4He + 4He (The superscripts indicate the relative atomic masses.) Except for Van de Graaff linear accelerators and the betatron, modern accelerators (such as the synchrotron) achieve their final velocity and energy by repeated bursts of acceleration.

Using Accelerators
Apart from studying atomic nuclei and elementary particles, accelerators are used in medical therapy to produce particle and X-ray beams for irradiation treatment. They are also used to generate radioisotopes not easily produced in nuclear reactors. The semiconductor industry uses accelerators for low-energy ion bombardment, as a means of accurately introducing essential impurity ions into the chips of semiconducting material used in producing integrated circuits. Accelerators are also used in the treatment of plastics.
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Radioactivity

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RADIOACTIVITY

ADIOACTIVE substances are composed of atoms that have unstable nuclei. These nuclei

break down spontaneously and release matter and energy. The three most common types of radiation are alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays. Alpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons. They have a positive charge and cannot penetrate far through materials. Beta particles are more penetrating. They consist of electrons, which have a negative charge. Gamma rays, a type of electromagnetic radiation, penetrate further than alpha and beta particles but have no charge. RADIOACTIVE POWER Alpha particles can be blocked by paper and beta particles by aluminium, but gamma rays can be blocked only by thick lead.
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Isotopes

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ISOTOPES

SOTOPES are different forms of the same element. The isotopes of an element have a different

number of neutrons in their nucleus. This gives them different atomic masses. However, as they have the same number of electrons and protons, they have identical chemical properties. Many isotopes exist naturally on Earth. Deuterium, for example, is a naturally occuring isotope of hydrogen. However, isotopes can also be created artificially. For example, sulphur-35, an isotope of sulphur with an atomic mass of 35, can be created from common sulphur-34. Isotopic forms An atoms nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. The neutrons vary in number between isotopes.
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Spectrometers
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Mass Spectrometer

The mass spectrometer is an instrument that can detect isotopes by comparing the masses of different atoms. When substances are passed through a mass spectrometer, their atoms (or fragments containing groups of atoms) are separated according to the relative atomic mass of their nuclei that is, the number of protons and neutrons inside them.

How Mass Spectrometers Work

Mass spectrometry works by ionizing the substance under analysis, then separating the various ions in order to produce a spectrum. The sample, which is maintained in the gaseous state under very low pressure, is bombarded with electrons from a heated tungsten filament. The energy transferred to the sample by these electrons is far in excess of the ionization energy of its constituent atoms, as a result of which many of these are ionised. These ions, which are positively charged, are accelerated to high speeds by a positively charged electrode that expels them from the ionization chamber. A stream of such high-speed ions can be allowed to escape through suitably placed slits into another vessel in which the pressure is so low that collisions between the gaseous atoms become quite rare, allowing them to form a well-defined beam. This beam can be deflected using electric and magnetic fields; the amount of the deflections is determined not just by the strength of the fields, but also by the charges, masses, and velocities of the gaseous particles. The fields can be set up so that particles with the same ratio of mass to charge arrive along a particular line on a photographic plate, while particles with other ratios are concentrated along other lines. In this way, a spectrum consisting of a series of lines forms on the plate, each line corresponding to a different set of particles. The separation of the lines can be used to compare the masses of the particles.

Using Mass Spectrometers

Mass spectrometers have been used to determine the presence of isotopes and to measure their masses. As an alternative to photographic measurement, spectrometers can use electrical detectors called electron multipliers, or photomultipliers. These instruments can detect individual atoms, a fact which allows sensitive analysis and detection of small amounts of impurities. Mass spectrometers can also be used to separate small quantities of isotopes, and are particularly useful for analysing mixtures, because each component compound gives a characteristic mass spectrum. Mass spectrometers may be used to determine the molecular formula of a compound. When a spectrum of lines is generated, representing the different ions into which a compound fragments, the ion with the highest mass-to-charge ratio is the molecular ion, and has the same mass as the compound itself. By looking at the smaller fragments, it may be possible to identify groups within the molecule, thus providing information as to its overall structure. Mass spectrometers are often used in conjunction with gas chromatography (GC), which separates complex mixtures into their constituent compounds for spectrophotometric analysis. In the analysis of organic compounds, the combination of mass spectrometry and other techniques such as infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) provides sufficient information for the structural formulas of compounds to be elucidated.
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Radio isotopes
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Radioisotopes
The different isotopes of an element each have a different number of neutrons in their nucleus, but as they all have the same number of electrons and protons, they all have identical chemical properties. Some stable elements also have unstable, radioactive isotopes, or radioisotopes. They can be created artificially and they have very important industrial, agricultural, and medical applications.

Producing Radioisotopes
Some naturally occurring isotopes, such as potassium-40, are radioactive. Elements with an even atomic number usually have several stable isotopes, but those of odd atomic number often exist as only one stable isotope. Isotopes are usually unstable because of the particular ratio of protons to neutrons in their nucleus. As a result, they usually emit negative beta particles when they have too many neutrons, and positive beta particle (called positrons) when they have too few. More than 1,000 isotopes not occurring in nature have been artificially synthesised by nuclear processes. Useful quantities of both stable and radioactive isotopes can be obtained by bombarding materials with streams of neutrons.
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Units of Radioactivity
The SI unit of radioactive decay rate is the becquerel, which is defined as one disintegration per second. This is a measure of the intensity of the emissions from a radioactive sample. It is named after the French physicist Henri Becquerel, who discovered, in 1896, that certain substances give out penetrating radiation. The standard unit of radioactivity used to be the curie, named after Marie Curie, who named Becquerels discovery radioactivity. One curie, symbol Ci, is equal to 3.7 1010 becquerels. The curie was initially defined, in 1910, as the quantity of radon found in equilibrium with 1 g of radium. Careful measurements indicated that this was 0.66 mm3 at normal temperature and pressure, and was associated with 3.7 1010 disintegrations per second. This number is a more

convenient unit, and the curie was later defined as that quantity of any radioactive nuclide that undergoes 3.7 1010 disintegrations per second. Absorbed dose (the energy deposited by radiation in biological tissue) is measured in grays; one grey is equal to one joule of energy per kilogram of tissue.
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Radioactivity Counters
Radioactivity can be measured with a variety of different devices. Geiger-Mller counters (Geiger counters) are perhaps the most familiar, crackling when radioactive particles are detected. Radioactivity is also measured with Cerenkov counters, scintillation counters, and solid-state detectors (semiconductor nuclear detectors).

GeigerMller Counters
When radiation enters a Geiger-Mller counter (often just called a Geiger counter), gas atoms inside it become ionised (electrically charged). An electric circuit within the counter generates an electric pulse every time a gas particle is ionised. The pulse is used to make a click on a loudspeaker or a reading on a metre. The first version of the device was invented in 1908 by Hans Geiger, and in 1928 Geiger and Walther Mller produced an improved design. How a Geiger Counter Works The simplest form of GeigerMller counter consists of a hollow metal cylinder commonly about 2.5 cm in diameter and 5 cm long containing a gas such as argon at a pressure of a few hundred pascals (roughly 1 per cent of atmospheric pressure). One end of the tube is closed by a thin aluminium or mica window through which the particles to be detected enter. A wire along the axis of the cylinder passes out through an insulating seal in the other end and a voltage of 800 to 1500 V is applied between the wire anode (positive electrode) and the cylinder cathode (negative electrode). The passage of a charged particle produces ions (atoms from which electrons have been removed) and electrons in the gas, and the high electric field near the wire anode accelerates these primary ions until they produce secondary ions by collision with other gas molecules. The electrons (which move faster than the ions) go to the wire anode, and a pulse of electric current is detected in the anode circuit. There are two types of GeigerMller counter. Proportional counters amplify the process, giving a large output signal from a small level of ionization; they are particularly useful for identifying particles. Ionization counters are similar to proportional counters, but operate at much lower voltages, so the size of each pulse produced is not affected by small variations of the applied voltage.

Cerenkov Counters
Cerenkov counters are used to detect charged particles that are travelling at very high speeds. The particles can be detected because they produce visible light, called Cerenkov radiation. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum, but the speed of light in a transparent medium such as glass or air is very much less than in a vacuum. A charged particle such as an electron can move faster than light through such a medium. When this happens, light is given off. This is called Cerenkov radiation after the Russian physicist Pavel Alekseyevich Cerenkov, who discovered it in 1934. The flashes of light are very short and are detected by a photomultiplier. Some cosmic rays travel more quickly than light through air, creating Cerenkov radiation in the atmosphere.

Scintillation Counters

Scintillation counters are used to detect and count high-energy particles and radiation. They use scintillation, the emission of flashes of light by certain substances. Scintillation counters are used to detect charged particles, such as protons and cosmic rays, and ionizing radiations, such as gamma rays. (Ionizing radiation is radiation capable of removing electrons from atoms to leave ions). Passage of the particle or radiation through certain substances, called scintillators, causes them to emit a brief flash of light, which is detected by a photomultiplier. A variety of scintillators have been investigated, the more important ones now in use being sodium iodide activated with thallium, various plastics, and certain organic liquids. The great advantage of scintillation counters over some other particle detectors (such as bubble chambers, GeigerMller counters, spark chambers, and Wilson cloud chambers) is that they can count at a rate of the order of a million particles per second. They are very useful for counting and measuring the energy of gamma rays, protons, alpha particles, and other particles. The brightness of the light flash, and hence the strength of the pulse from the photomultiplier, depends on the energy of the charged particle or gamma-ray photon.
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Half-life
The half-life of a radioisotope is the time taken for half its atoms to go through at least one radioactive decay. For example, the half-life of carbon-14 (a radioisotope of the element carbon) is 5,730 years. This means that it will take 5,730 years for half the carbon-14 atoms in a substance to decay into carbon-12 atoms. It will take an additional 5,730 years for half of the remaining carbon-14 atoms to decay into carbon-12, and so on. The half-lives of radioactive elements differ, from millionths of a second to millions of years. Potentially harmful nuclear waste from nuclear power stations often has a half-life of millions of years. The difficulties in disposing of this waste safely have caused many people to question the wisdom of nuclear power as one of the principal methods of satisfying the worlds energy needs.
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Sources of Radioactivity
There are two sources of radioactivity natural sources and those that are the result of human activity. The main natural sources of radioactivity are certain types of ore that occur in the Earths crust, for example uranium-containing ores. Wherever you are on Earth, you will always be exposed to a certain amount of radiation from radioactive substances in the rocks underneath your feet or from radioactive gases such as radon released by granitic rocks. The level of radiation varies from place to place but is generally very low and is thought to be harmless. Various human activities have contributed additional sources of radioactivity, in particular the concentration of radioactive materials from ores to make nuclear weapons or fuel for nuclear power stations, and the production of radioisotopes for use in medicine and industry. Although the handling of such materials is controlled to the extent that they are generally not a danger to the worlds population, the explosion of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere at the end of World War II and in the intervening years, and accidents at nuclear power stations and in the disposal

of nuclear waste have all contributed to contamination of the environment with radioactive materials.

Types of Radioactive Emission

The radiation emitted from radioactive materials falls into three different types alpha and beta emissions and gamma rays. Of these, alpha and beta emissions consist of streams of particles (alpha and beta particles), whereas gamma rays are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Radioactive emissions are not the only types of radiation to which people are exposed during their lives. Other sources of radiation include cosmic rays (energetic particle radiation reaching the Earth from space), ultraviolet radiation in sunlight, and the X-rays used in some types of medical imaging.

Effects of Exposure to Radioactivity

The effects of radioactive emissions and other forms of radiation on living tissue depend on the energy of the radiation and its ability to ionise tissue, and the intensity and length of exposure. Ionizing radiation damages the cells of living tissue, ranging from a temporary disorganization of their function to complete destruction. It can also change the genetic properties of cells, which can lead to cancers or to genetic disorders in the offspring of exposed individuals. Exposure to a particularly high dose of radiation may lead to an illness called radiation sickness. In 1986, 33 people died from radiation sickness when the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded in the Ukraine, spreading a cloud of fallout across much of Europe. This accident, the worst in the history of nuclear power, is expected to produce a significant increase in deaths from cancer in the areas affected. The nuclear bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II led to many deaths from radiation sickness. Those who survived have a higher than normal incidence of leukaemia and cancers of the lung, thyroid, and breast. The long-lasting effects of radioactive contamination of the environment are of particular concern, because they can lead to abnormal births. Some radioisotopes persist in the body for many years, considerably increasing the risk they pose. For example, strontium-90 (Sr90) has chemical properties similar to calcium and therefore accumulates in bone. With a half-life of 28 years, it is eliminated very slowly from the body and can lead to various forms of cancer. Although it is generally accepted that only high doses of radiation lead to cancers, some scientists have argued that even very low doses of radiation can be extremely dangerous. One controversial theory suggests that low-level radiation can lead to genetic mutations, which may not be spotted for one, two, or three generations. Given the long delay between the cause (the exposure to radiation) and the effect (the eventual development of an illness in a child or grandchild), such a theory is very hard to prove.
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Alpha, beta, gamma particles

Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

Alpha Particles
Alpha particles are positively charged particles emitted by the radioactive isotopes of certain elements. They are helium nuclei (two protons and two neutrons joined together), and they are usually denoted 4He 2+. The nuclei of the radioactive isotopes are themselves composed of protons and neutrons. So after emission of an alpha particle, each nucleus has lost two protons and two neutrons, and has become the nucleus of a different element. Alpha particles travel with

velocities around one-tenth that of light, but because of their size, they have a range in air of only a few centimetres, and they can be stopped by a sheet of paper.

How Alpha Particles were Discovered

Alpha particles were discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel, soon after he discovered radioactivity. He noticed that a crystal of a uranium salt blackened a photographic plate even in darkness, and realised this was due to rays given off by the uranium compound. In 1897 Ernest Rutherford found that the rays contained two components, which differed in their ability to penetrate matter. He called the less penetrating component alpha rays, and the more penetrating one beta rays (now called beta particles). While alpha rays can penetrate up to 0.02 mm of aluminium, beta rays can penetrate up to 100 times further. In 1899, beta rays were shown to be deflected by electric or magnetic fields (indicating that they are charged particles) and to be identical to electrons, which J.J. Thomson had discovered two years before. In 1903, Rutherford showed that alpha rays were positively charged particles (so they became known as alpha particles) with twice the charge of the electron, but they were much more massive and difficult to deflect. He showed that alpha particles were helium nuclei by allowing them to penetrate the walls of a thin glass tube, and then observing a build-up of minute quantities of helium gas in the tube. He knew the gas was helium when he passed an electric discharge through it and saw helium spectral lines using a spectroscope.

How Alpha Particles are Detected

The earliest detectors for alpha particles were zinc-sulphide screens, which produce minute scintillations (flashes of light) when the particles bombard them. Because photographic plates are blackened by alpha particles, they were also used. Rutherford and Hans Geiger developed an electrical device for counting alpha particles; an improved form of this is the GeigerMller counter, which is based on the ionization (formation of ions) produced in a gas by moving charged particles. Other, more sophisticated detectors now exist.

The Alpha Decay Process

The alpha decay process is the spontaneous emission of an alpha particle from a radionuclide a radioactively unstable form of the nucleus of an atom. For example, uranium-238 spontaneously disintegrates to thorium-234 with the emission of an alpha particle: 238U p 234Th + 4He 2+ Every atom in the radionuclide has an equal chance of decaying, so the number of decays is directly proportional to the amount of radioactive material. This results in an exponential decay: if a graph is plotted of the number of radioactive decays of an element against time, the radioactivity of the element does not decrease in a straight line, but instead keeps on halving again and again (as the number of radionuclides halves) over a certain time period. This time period, in which half the original atoms decay to other nuclides is called the half-life. Uranium238 has a half-life of nearly 4.5 billion years. Other radionuclides may have half-lives measured in weeks, days, or hours, or even minutes or seconds.

The Energy of Alpha Particles

All atoms of a given radioactive isotope emit alpha particles with the same energy, unlike beta particles, which are emitted with a spread of energies. Geiger and John Nuttall (18901958) showed that the half-life of radioactive isotopes emitting alpha particles is related to the energy of the particles: the higher-energy particles are emitted by the shorter-lived elements, according to the law: 1/t = A lnE + B, where t is the half-life, lnE is the natural logarithm of the energy (measured in electron volts, eV), and A and B are constants. Energies and lifetimes of alpha particles vary from 8.8 million electron volts (MeV) and 3.0 107 s for polonium-212 to 4.01 MeV and 1.4 1010 years (14 billion years) for thorium-232.

How Alpha Particles Interact with Matter

When alpha particles pass through matter, they cause ionization of atoms in the substance, lose energy, and slow down in the process. As a positively charged alpha particle passes close to an atom, it attracts the atoms negatively charged electrons. The outer electrons are stripped off and the atom becomes an ion. In general, the faster, high-energy alpha particles cause less

ionization per unit distance travelled than the slower, low-energy particles, because they spend less time in the substance. They are more penetrating and travel mostly in straight lines. The ionization produced by alpha particles is used in nuclear medicine. However, alpha particles can also produce harmful effects in living tissue; they can cause bone cancer if exposure is intense. In later experiments, Rutherford discovered that an unexpectedly large number of alpha particles were scattered through angles greater than 90 by very thin films of gold; this led to his famous theory of the nuclear atom.
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Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

Beta Particles
Beta particles are high-speed electrons emitted by certain radioactive isotopes. They are emitted from the nucleus, along with an uncharged particle known as the antineutrino, in a process called beta decay. In the process, the atomic number (number of protons) of the element is increased by one, as a result of the decay of a neutron into a proton and an electron. Beta particles are often accompanied by gamma rays.

Discovery of Beta Particles

In 1899, Ernest Rutherford found that the radiation emitted by a uranium compound was of two types, which he called alpha particles and beta particles. Whereas the alpha particles were unable to penetrate more than about 0.02 mm of aluminium, the beta particles required about 2 mm of aluminium to stop them completely. In 1900, Pierre and Marie Curie confirmed that the beta particles were negatively charged. In the same year, Henri Becquerel showed that they had the same ratio of charge to mass as cathode rays or electrons, and had a velocity about half the velocity of light.

Energy Spectrum of Beta Particles

After beta particles had been identified as electrons, it was found that any given beta-particle emitter produced a continuous spectrum of electrons. In other words, the electrons had a whole range of energies up to a maximum value that depended on the emitter. But other evidence suggested each electron was associated with a definite amount of released energy. In order to explain the range of energy, Wolfgang Pauli suggested in 1931 that each emitted electron is accompanied by a particle, which shares the energy released. The particle was later known as the antineutrino.

Emission of Beta Particles

Beta emission involves the conversion of a neutron into a proton within the nucleus, and increases the positive charge of the nucleus by one unit. This means the resulting nucleus is that of a different chemical element; the atomic number is increased by one. For instance, strontium90 decays into yttrium-90 with the emission of a beta particle and a neutrino: 90Sr p 90Y + F + R If the resulting nucleus is formed with more energy than it normally possesses (if it is in an excited state), the excess energy is radiated almost immediately with the emission of a gammaray photon.

Internal Conversion
There is a small (but finite) probability that a photon emitted in this way during beta decay will interact with the atomic electrons surrounding the nucleus and cause one of them to be ejected. This is known as internal conversion, and it is essentially a photoelectric effect: the photon itself is prematurely absorbed when it ejects one of the atomic electrons. The energy of the photon is

characteristic of the excited nucleus, and as a result the ejected electron has a definite energy, which is often of the same order as that of the continuous spectrum of beta particles. So a line spectrum due to internal conversion is often superimposed on the continuous beta-particle spectrum.

Beta Particles from Nonradioactive Sources

The term beta particle can be applied to all fast electrons, whether they come from radioactive sources or not. Particle accelerators are used to produce beams of high-energy electrons. The betatron was an early example of a machine designed to produce electrons with energies greater than those found in radioactivity. The LEP (Large Electron Positron collider) produces colliding beams of high-energy electrons and positrons for investigating elementary-particle physics. High-energy electrons are also found in the interactions of cosmic rays.

Positive Beta Particles

Positrons, which are positively charged electrons, are sometimes called positive beta particles. When a positron is emitted from a nucleus, it is accompanied by a neutrino. Some artificially produced radioactive nuclei emit positive beta particles, whereas all naturally radioactive nuclei that undergo beta decay emit negative beta particles. Positive beta particles are also formed in cosmic-ray interactions. Electrical charge is always conserved in particle interactions, so whether an electron or a positron is emitted depends on the charge of the other particles involved, before and after the interaction.
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Gamma Rays
Gamma rays are electromagnetic waves of very short wavelengths (less than 1011 m), shorter even than those of X-rays. They are the most penetrating form of radiation: for example gamma rays of energy 1 MeV (one million electron volts) require about 1 cm of lead to reduce their intensity by a factor of two. Gamma rays are produced by atomic nuclei in radioactive decay or through the interaction with high-energy electrons. They are extremely harmful to living things because they can penetrate deep into body tissues. Gamma rays were first isolated in 1900 by the French physicist Paul Villard (18601934), as a third component of the radiation from some radioactive materials, the other two being alpha particles and beta particles. He showed that they are not deflected by a magnetic field, and are therefore not charged particles.

Production of Gamma Rays

Gamma rays are emitted by excited atomic nuclei (unstable nuclei with more than their usual amount of energy) as they return to their normal stable state. They are radiated as photons individual packets or quanta of energy. The spectrum (or spread of wavelengths) of gamma rays produced is made up of a series of individual lines, showing that the rays have only a few discrete energies, and hence that the nucleus can be excited only by certain exact quantities of energy. There are many ways in which nuclei can be excited, for example by being bombarded with protons or neutrons, or by themselves absorbing gamma-rays. After a radioactive transformation, the nucleus produced may be in an excited state; it loses this extra energy by emitting gamma rays. This type of radiation is also produced when electrons of very high energy are rapidly slowed down in the neighbourhood of a nucleus an example of bremsstrahlung (braking radiation).

Sources of Gamma Rays

Cosmic rays (very fast moving fundamental particles from outer space) produce gamma rays in all the ways described above. There are other much more distant sources of this form of radiation, the study of which has become a whole branch of astronomy. Detectors, such as a series of special satellites, have discovered gamma rays arriving at the Earth in a pattern that reflects the structure of our galaxy. Their source may be in the interaction of cosmic rays with clouds of interstellar gas. Some pulsars are also strong gamma sources, emitting rays in very short pulses. Most intriguingly, these satellites have recorded 10-second bursts of gamma rays with intensities that vary too quickly to monitor properly. It is thought that these bursters may originate in the background radiation of the Universe.

Detection of Gamma Rays

The instruments used to detect gamma rays can range from simple scintillators, crystal devices that produce flashes of light when a gamma ray enters them, to large spark chambers, from which the energy and arrival direction of each ray can be found. The traces of very high energy rays can be tracked by telescopes through the atmosphere by the Cerenkov effect, which produces flashes of light as particles that are in collision with the rays are forced to move at speeds faster than the speed of light itself through air.

Interaction with Matter

Gamma rays interact with matter in a similar way to X-rays they are absorbed or lose energy via the photoelectric effect and the Compton effect. But for rays with the shortest wavelengths, a new phenomenon is seen. When a gamma-ray photon passes very close by a nucleus, it can be converted into a pair of particles a negative electron and a positron (or positive electron). For this to happen, the gamma ray must have an energy greater than 1.02 MeV, which by Einsteins famous massenergy relation is equivalent to the mass of the two particles. Any excess energy appears as kinetic energy (the energy of movement) of the electron-positron pair. The damage caused by gamma rays to matter (for example living tissue) is due to collisions by these fastmoving secondary electrons.

Uses of Gamma Rays

Artificially produced radioisotopes that emit gamma rays, for example, cobalt-60, are used medically in the treatment of cancer, and for the detection of flaws in metal castings.
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Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

TYPES OF WAVES

HYSICISTS classify waves according to how they disturb the medium through which they

move. In a transverse wave, such as a water wave, the medium is disturbed at right angles to the direction of travel. In a longitudinal wave, such as a sound wave, the medium vibrates in the direction of travel. A soliton is an isolated wave that does not lose energy as it travels. Solitons can occur in channels of water, such as canals. THREE TYPES OF WAVES The three types of waves are transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and solitons.
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Uses of Plasma
Plasma physics plays an important part in nuclear physics and particle physics. Plasmas are particularly important in the development of electric power generators that use nuclear fusion. They have many other uses, including the household ornaments called plasma balls.

Plasmas in Nuclear Fusion

Producing power using nuclear fusion (the joining together of light atoms) requires fuel to be raised to a sufficiently high density and temperature for a sufficiently long time for fusion to occur. In practise, this means reproducing conditions similiar to those found in the Sun, where fusion occurs naturally. Typical conditions might be temperatures of 108 K, particle densities of 1020 particles per cubic metre, with the particles contained for at least one second. Under these conditions, the reacting substances form a plasma, and fusion can occur, releasing substantial amounts of energy.

Plasma Balls
Plasma balls are hi-tech household ornaments with a confined plasma writhing in patterns of light, reacting to touch, sound, and electric fields. The patterns in these balls are generated by the continuous ionization and recombination of ions in the plasma. These plasmas are similar to the kind found in electric discharge tubes, such as fluorescent lights.
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Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science 3.0

QUANTUM THEORY

UANTUM THEORY helps explain the behaviour of light, ultraviolet radiation, and other

forms of radiant energy. It suggests that these forms of radiation are composed of tiny packets of energy, called quanta (one packet is called a quantum), that behave like particles. The quantum theory explains the photoelectric effect where metal surfaces struck by electromagnetic radiation emit electrons. Each electron emitted has had energy transferred to it from an individual quantum of radiation. Photoelectric effect If electromagnetic radiation hits a metal plate, electrons are emitted, provided the quanta hitting the plate have enough energy. The energy of quanta depends on the frequency of the radiation.
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Quantum Mechanics

The development of quantum theory has a wide range of implications, and is very useful in explaining why microscopic systems sometimes behave in ways that defy the classical physics of the large-scale, macroscopic Universe. Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that predicts how microscopic quantum systems behave.

Some Principles of Quantum Mechanics

Quantum theory has many different aspects, but a few of the most important are summarised here. WaveParticle Duality Albert Einstein was responsible for proving beyond doubt that light, usually experienced as a wave, also has particle-like properties; it can be thought of as a stream of photons, individual quanta of electromagnetic energy. Louis Victor de Broglie took the further step of suggesting that, as light had particle-like properties, matter might have wavelike properties as well. He was proved right by experiments involving electron diffraction a wave-related property which agreed with his calculations of the wavelength of the electron. Quantization of Physical Properties Einsteins recognition of the quantum of light, the photon, meant that the energy from a light source came in discrete, individual packets. Increasing the intensity would increase the number of photons hitting a target, but the intensity would go up step-by-step, rather than continuously. This quantization of light has since been found to apply to a variety of other physical properties, which are often assigned quantum numbers. Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle Werner Heisenberg realised that the wavelike character of all matter in the universe meant that it was no longer possible to think in terms of absolute measurements of particle properties. The wavelike character of matter meant that it was not possible to know all the properties of a particle precisely at the same time. Instead, it was only possible to think in terms of probability certain measurements were far more probable than others, but nothing could be definite.

Applications of Quantum Mechanics

Armed with an understanding of some of the basic principles of quantum theory, it is now possible to explain many phenomena that are simply inexplicable if the subatomic universe obeys the classical physics of the macroscopic world. One example is so-called quantum tunnelling used to explain radioactive decay and many other processes. Quantum Mechanics and Radioactive Decay One success of quantum mechanics is in explaining the mechanisms behind radioactivity. For example, the alpha decay process involves an alpha particle (two protons and two neutrons) spontaneously escaping from the nucleus of a radioactive atom. According to classical physics, this is an impossibility the protons and neutrons are tightly bound together, providing a barrier called a potential well that the alpha particle cannot possibly have the energy to overcome. However, quantum mechanics (specifically the uncertainty principle) recognises that the energy of the alpha particle is a question of probabilities it is not a fixed constant value, but is variable and takes on particular values only when it is observed and measured. So there is always a possibility that the alpha particle may, on one approach to the barrier, attain a state where its energy exceeds the barrier, and it manages to escape. The possibility is very small, but it does exist. For example, the escape of alpha particles from the nucleus of uranium-238 in radioactive decay has a probability of success of one in 1038 attempts. But for large numbers of atoms making many attempts to decay each second, the effect is appreciable.
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Electron Waves
Electrons are particles, but under certain conditions, they also have many of the properties of waves. This is known as waveparticle duality and it is one of the important features of quantum theory.

De Broglie Waves
In 1924, Louis de Broglie suggested that, just as light exhibits both wavelike properties (such as diffraction and interference) and particle-like properties, then perhaps particles also exhibit wavelike properties. He put forward the hypothesis that the wavelength P associated with a particle is related to the particles momentum mv by P = h/mv, where m and v are the particles mass and velocity, respectively, and h is Plancks constant. Combined with Niels Bohrs idea of electrons in stable orbits around the nucleus, de Broglies theory leads to a remarkable conclusion. According to Bohr, the allowed angular momentum of electrons in orbits was restricted to integer multiples of h/2T, where h is Plancks constant. As angular momentum =mvr, mv = nh/2Tr. So if P = h/mv, it follows that nP = 2Tr. But 2Tr is the circumference of an electron orbit, so each orbit represents a whole number of electron wavelengths. In other words, electron orbits are standing waves. In 1929, de Broglie received the Nobel Prize for his work.

Schrdingers Equation
Erwin Schrdinger extended this idea, and worked out an equation for describing the propagation of the electron waves. This was similar in some respects to other wave equations. When the vibrations of a violin string are described in terms of waves travelling up and down the string, only certain vibrational wavelengths occur corresponding to the fundamental note and its harmonics. Similarly, in the atom, Schrdinger found only certain stationary energy states, which confirmed Bohrs earlier work. Applied to atoms other than hydrogen, Schrdingers equation predicted energy values that agreed completely with the observed spectral wavelengths of light emitted in transitions between energy states.
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Formula: De Broglie Wavelength

Wavelength (P) = Plancks constant (h) / momentum (mv). Wavelength is measured in metres (m), mass in kilograms (kg), and velocity in metres per second (m s-1). Plancks constant h = 6.626 1034 J s

Example
If an electron travels at 6 106 m s-1, what is the de Broglie wavelength of its associated wave?

Solution
P = h / (mv) = 6.626 1034 J s / ( 9.11 1031 6 106) = 1.21 1010 m = 0.121 nm The electron has a wavelength of 0.121 nm.
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The Macroscopic Quantum World

What effect does the quantum theory of atomic structure have on the large-scale (macroscopic) world around us? Many of the principles of quantum physics on the microscopic level have results that contradict common sense, and these contradictions are magnified when we extend them from microscopic systems into the macroscopic world. The explanation of these contradictions occupied many of the founders of quantum theory and continues to be a source of much controversy.

The Copenhagen Interpretation

The accepted model for quantum physics and its effect on the real Universe was developed by Niels Bohr during the 1930s. Bohr recognised that in any microscopic, or quantum system, the properties of the system can never be measured without taking into account the way the measurement is made and the effect this has. The very act of observing and measuring a quantum event interferes with it, ultimately fixing the quantum state that will be observed. Before measurement, the system is defined in terms of probabilities, rather than certainties. So we cannot consider the properties of an isolated quantum system, and in a very real way it is the act of observing that fixes what we will observe. Since quantum and macroscopic systems are intrinsically linked in this way, where can we draw a line at which classical physics, with its simple certainties, comes into effect? This was the question considered in a famous thought experiment called Schrdingers cat.
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Pauli Exclusion Principle

The Pauli exclusion principle, devised in 1925 by the Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli, states that no two fermions in a quantum system can exist in exactly the same state simultaneously. Fermions are subatomic particles, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons, that have an angular momentum (or spin) that can be measured in half-integer values (for example, ,,1). Paulis principle was devised in order to explain the structure of electrons in the atom. It was also linked to the initial discovery of angular momentum, or spin, in subatomic particles.

Discovery of Electron Couplets

The exclusion principle and the concept of spin were devised to explain disagreements between the atomic spectra of certain metals and the spectra predicted according to Niels Bohrs model of the atom. The Bohr model predicted single, well-defined emission lines (wavelengths) in the spectrum, caused by energy emitted as electrons orbiting the nucleus moved from higher to lower energy levels. But observations in fact found closely spaced pairs of lines. Pauli explained these pairs (sometimes called doublets or couplets) as due to two slightly different energy transitions, because the electron movements causing the spectrum could take on two different values of spin (+ and , depending on the direction of rotation). So electrons of spin + moving to a lower energy level would release a slightly different amount of energy from electrons of spin  undergoing the same transition.

Statement of the Principle

To explain the characteristics of electrons and their distribution in atoms, Paulis principle states that each electron in an atom is characterised by four quantum numbers: n, l, m, and s. The numbers n, l, and m distinguish the orbital of the electron uniquely, while s is the spin. So, as there are two possible values for s, a maximum of two electrons can occupy a single orbital. The principle can be extended to all other fermions, which have other properties distinguished by a

variety of other quantum numbers. However, Paulis principle does not apply to the bosons subatomic particles with spin in whole units (bosons include particles such as photons and gluons).

Behaviour of Particles and the Exclusion Principle

At the quantum level, the Pauli exclusion principle has an important effect on the behaviour of systems of particles, to the extent that different statistical rules have to be used to distinguish fermions, which obey the principle, from bosons, which do not. These two sets of statistics are called, respectively, FermiDirac and BoseEinstein statistics. In FermiDirac statistics, fermions can never occupy exactly the same energy state in a system, while in BoseEinstein statistics, they can and do, creating some unusual phenomena.
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