ATOMIC PHYSICS

Chapter 3
• Classical Physics (Newtonian Physics) generally concerned with
the macrocosm, that is, with the description and explanation of
large-scale observable phenomena.
• As scientists probed deeper into the submicroscopic world of the
atom (the microcosm), they observed strange things; strange in
the sense that they could not be explained by the classical
principles of physics.
• Quantum physics describes the behavior of matter and
interactions on the atomic and subatomic levels.
• The development of physics since about 1900 is called modern
physics.
Early Concepts of the Atom
• Greek philosophers were debating whether matter was
continuous or discrete.
• Most of these philosophers, including Aristotle, decided
that matter was continuous and could be divided again and
again, indefinitely.
• Few philosophers thought that an ultimate, indivisible
(atomos) particle would be indeed be reached.
• John Dalton in 1807 presented evidence that matter is
discrete and exists as particles.
Early Concepts of the Atom

• Dalton’s major hypothesis was that

each chemical element is composed
of tiny, indivisible particles called
atoms, which are identical for that
element but different from atoms
of other elements.
• Billiard ball model
Early Concepts of the Atom
• Dalton’s model had to be refined about 90
years later when the electron was discovered
by J. J. Thomson at Cambridge University in
England in 1897.
• Atoms of all types contain electrons.
• Thomson concluded that an atom was much
like a sphere of plum pudding; electrons
were the raisins stuck randomly in an
otherwise homogeneous mass of positively
charged pudding.
Early Concepts of the Atom

• Thomson’s model plum pudding model of the atom was

modified only 8 year later in 1911.
• Earnest Rutherford discovered that 99.97% of the mass of an
atom is concentrated in a very tiny core which he called the
nucleus.
• Rutherford’s nuclear model of the atom pictured the electrons
as circulating in some way in the otherwise empty space around
this very tiny, positively charged core.
Early Concepts of the Atom
Early Concepts of the Atom
Rutherford’s model of the atom
The Dual Nature of Light
• Is light a wave or a particle?
• Until the time of Isaac Newton, most of the scientists
thought that light consisted of stream particles called
corpuscles, emitted by a light source.
• Around 1665, an evidence of wave property of light
began to be discovered.
• The propagation of light is best described by a wave
model.
• Understanding emission and absorption requires particle
approach.
 The Dual Nature of Light
• Scientists knew before that visible
light of all frequencies was emitted
by the atoms of an incandescent
(glowing hot) solid, such as the
filament of a light bulb.
• There is a dominant orange-red
color perceived by our eyes, in
actuality there is a continuous
spectrum.
 The Dual Nature of Light
• The intensity of the emitted
radiation depends on the
wavelength. Practically all
wavelengths are present, but
there is a dominant color,
which depends on the
temperature.
• A hot solid heated to a higher
temperature appears to go from
a dull red to a bluish white.
 The Dual Nature of Light
• The hotter the solid, the greater the
vibrations in the atoms and the
higher frequency of the emitted
radiation.
• According to classical theory, the
intensity of the radiation spectrum
is inversely related to the
wavelength. This relationship
predicts that the intensity should
increase without limit as the
wavelength get shorter.
The Dual Nature of Light

Thermal Radiation: Classical idea and its dilemma

Answer by: Max Planck, a German physicist
• Classically, an electron oscillator may vibrate any frequency or
have any energy up to some maximum value, but Planck’s
hypothesis stated that the energy is quantized.
• The oscillator can have only discrete, or specific amount of
energy.
• Planck hypothesis become the first step toward a new theory
called quantum physics.
• Planck introduced the idea of a quantum, a discrete amount of
energy.
The Dual Nature of Light
• Electrons are emitted when
certain metals are exposed to
light. This phenomenon was
called the photoelectric
effect.
• This direct conversion of
light (radiant energy) into
electrical energy now forms
the basis of photocells used
in calculators and etc..
The Dual Nature of Light
• Classical: It would take an appreciable time for
electromagnetic waves to supply the energy needed for
an electron to be emitted.
• Quantum: Electrons flow from photocells almost
immediately upon being exposed to light. Only light
above a certain frequency would cause electrons to be
emitted.
• Einstein postulated that light was quantized and
consisted of particles, or packets of energy, rather than
waves.
The Dual Nature of Light
• The higher the frequency of the light, the greater the
energy of its photon.
The Dual Nature of Light
Summary:

• A photon is a quantum of packet of electromagnetic

energy (light), and its energy depends on the frequency
• In explaining phenomena, light sometimes behaves as
a wave and sometimes as a particle, giving it a dual
nature.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

• When a light from

incandescent sources,
such as light bulb
filaments, is analyzed
with a spectrometer, a
continuous spectrum
(continuous colors) is
observed.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

• When the light from a

gas-discharge tube is
analyzed with a
spectrometer, a line
emission spectrum,
rather than continuous
spectrum, is observed.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

Gas-discharge Tube
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

• When visible light of all wavelength is passed through a

sample of a cool, gaseous element before entering the
spectrometer, a line absorption spectrum is observed,
which is a results with dark lines missing
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• The dark lines are
at exactly the same
wavelengths as the
bright lines of the
line emission
spectrum for that
particular
elements.
Three Types of Spectra
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• An explanation of the spectral line observed for
hydrogen was advanced in 1913 by Danish physicist
Niels Bohr.
• In the atom, the electric force supplies the necessary
centripetal force.
• An electron can have only specific energy values in an
atom.
• Bohr correctly reasoned that a discrete line spectrum
must be the result of a quantum effect.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom

• Bohr’s possible electron

orbits are characterized by
whole-number values, n =
1, 2, 3,…, where n is called
the principal quantum
number.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• Classical: A loss of energy
would cause the electron to
spiral into the nucleus, as
electron moves in its orbit.
• Bohr: the hydrogen electron
does not radiate energy when in
an allowed, discrete orbit, but
does so only when it makes a
quantum jump, or transition,
from one allowed orbit to
another.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• In hydrogen atom, the electron
is normally at the bottom of the
well or in the ground state,
and must be given energy, or
excited, to raise it up in the well
to a higher energy level, or
orbit. The states above the
ground state are called excited
state.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• The photon emission and photon absorption
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• The photon emission and photon absorption
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• Hydrogen’s line emission spectrum
results from the relatively few
allowed energy transitions as the
electron de-excites.
• Hydrogen’s line absorption
spectrum results from exposing
hydrogen atoms in the ground state
to visible light of all wavelength.
The hydrogen electrons absorb only
those wavelengths that can cause
electron transition up.
Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom
• The Bohr hypothesis predicts that an excited hydrogen
atom will emit light with discrete frequencies
corresponding to discrete down transitions.
Spectral Lines of Some Elements
The Electron Cloud Model of the Atom

• Schrodinger’s (Erwin
Schrodinger, an Austrian
Physicist) Electron Cloud
Model
• Schrodinger‘s electron cloud
model (or quantum model)
The Electron Cloud Model of the Atom