In case you didn't know, we did notes all day today. We learned a lot more about light energy and wavelengths. First, we learned that wavelengths and frequency are indirectly related, so the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency, and the shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency. We can use the equation λv=c, where λ is in meters/wave, v is in # of waves/second, and c is the speed of light, which is 3x10^8.
Next, we learned about the electromagnetic spectrum which looks like this:
This gives you a nice visual and adds how long each wave is, so that's helpful. We can only see a very small sliver of the spectrum, specifically the rainbow. This is the area that says "visible" in the picture.
After that, we learned about two very interesting scientists who had opposing ideas about where light came from. Max Planck explained that the transfer of energy was not continuous, and that the energy was quantized, like rungs on a ladder. He believed that light came in waves and believed that it could be explained through his formula ΔE=hv where ΔE is the change in energy, h is Plank's constant 6.626x10^-34, and v is velocity.
On the other hand, Albert Einstein believed that radian was made up of a stream of partciles called photons. He did agree that the energy was quantized, though.
Solving the mystery was Louis de Broglie, who applied the wave-particle theory to electrons. There was a "dual nature of light". His equation is λ=h/mv, where λ is the wavelength, h is Planck's constant, m is the intial mass, and v is velocity.
Remember that the energy in a wavelength is QUANTIZED and has to be a whole number!
During this part of the class, Liebs gave us some really cool psychedlic glasses that allowed us to see the light coming off a helium light bulb. This is something like what we saw when we put them on.
We then went on to learn that when an electron has a very high energy drop, this is what causes it to have a high frequency. Liebs demonstrated this by getting up onto the table and then jumping back down. Also, if an electron has a low energy drop, it has a low frequency. This happens at the speed of light and is impossible to see with the naked eye.
Then we learned something truly astonishing. Niels. Bohr. Was. Wrong.
According to Bohr's model of the atom, the electrons moved in orbits around the nucleus, staying on a similar course the entire time. But, if this was true, a loss of energy would cause the electron to spirial toward the nucleus and crash into it. Obviously, this does not happen, as Ben T. pointed out because otherwise, we would be blowing up all the time.
Instead, electrons move in orbitals. They are different from orbits, as each electron moves around in its own cloud. The atom is mostly empty space except for the nucleus and the regions were you would find an electron. The probability of predicting where the electron is is very possible, but no one can predict it exactly accurately, because they are just regions of space. There is about a 90% probabilty of finding an electron, for it is very vague.
That was about all we did today. I would post the notes, but they aren't on slideshare :( But this is about all we did. Also, the first question on the worksheet we got today is for homework, get it here!
Have a nice Wednesday!
The next scribe will be.........Matteo Parque, enjoy!
:)
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