The equivalence principle is one of the laws of nature and it is connected with the nature of gravitation. In general relativity theory, the equivalence principle states that a gravitational field is locally equivalent to an accelerated frame. To be … Read More
The Limitations of Classical Physics
Light waves and other forms of electromagnetic waves travel through free space at the speed c = 3.0 x 108 m/s. The speed of light sets an upper limit for the speeds of particles, waves and the transmission of … Read More
What is a Black Hole?
A black hole can be described as an area of space where the gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves has enough energy to escape it. In varied ways, a black hole acts like an … Read More
Spin Quantum Number
This property of atomic electrons was discovered through experimentation. The close observation of spectral lines revealed that each line was actually a pair of very closely-spaced lines, and what is referred to as fine structure was hypothesized to result from … Read More
Bohr’s Correspondence Principle
Bohr’s correspondence principle states that predictions of quantum theory must correspond to the predictions of classical physics in the region of sizes where classical theory is known to hold.
The classical sizes for length, mass, and time are on the … Read More
Magnetic Quantum Number
The magnetic quantum number for an electron classifies which orientation its subshell shape is pointed. The “lobes” for subshells point in multiple directions. These different orientations are called orbitals. For the first subshell (s; l=0), which look like a sphere … Read More
The Exclusion Principle
The exclusion principle states that no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of quantum numbers i.e. be in the same quantum state. Note, if this principle wasn’t valid, every electron would occupy the 1st atomic … Read More
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
Electron beams are capable of providing crystallographic information about nanoparticle surfaces and can also be used to produce images of the surface, and they play this role in electron microscopes.
The Operation of Transmission Electron Microscope
In a transmission electron … Read More
Angular Momentum Quantum Number
A shell is made up of subshells. Subshells are regions of space where electron “clouds” are allowed to exist, and different subshells actually have different shapes. The first subshell is shaped like a sphere as illustrated in Fig 1.0(s) i.e. … Read More
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
Einstein special theory of relativity is based on two assumptions:
- The principle of relativity: All the laws of physics have the same form in all inertial reference frames.
- The constancy of the speed of light: The speed of light in