So I'm sitting in my Bible study last night, listening intently to the discussion about Paul putting a smack down on the Galatians (and being on my best behavior because
my friend Julie and I had eaten Zalads at Zaxby's and walked in a wee bit late and everybody looked at us and saw my Zaxby's cup of sweet tea and I was totally busted), when my cell phone, politely on "manners mode", buzzed me.
Since "everyone" who would be calling me knows where I am on Wednesday nights, I figured it was my children, so OF COURSE my attention was temporarily diverted to see if one of them was in need (my husband was busy watching Stephen Curry–pronounced " / 'st?fin/–and the Davidson Wildcats put their own smackdown on the UTC Mocs).
I opened my phone to read the following text, copied exactly as it was written:
And then the line that made me fall out of my chair–
I'm sorry, Joe. I don't think I heard a word you said after that.
Well, what’s the explanation? I’m dying to hear it! (lol)
that’s an easy one
Oh my word!!! Seriously?? That made my head hurt.
OMG…hilarious.
I did not get past “can you explain”….
Good luck with that. I am glad I am still on 1+2=3
Don’t you just LOVe kids??? Mine are all married and have kids of their own and I want to tell you IT DOES NOT STOP!
I get calls or text for emergency cooking help, diaper looks funny help, what do I do with help etc. I believe your story whole heartedly!!!
that questions made me understand how it feels to have dementia
Oh, that is just so funny! But here’s what I really want to know . . . did you or your husband go to Davidson??? Because my oldest is looking at that school. We have a campus visit coming up in March. Email me if you want–because I’d really like to know someone who knows Davidson. Thanks!
Hey, Robin! It’s Julie. Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. When you asked me this chemistry question last night, I was trying to pay attention to Joe. If I remember correctly:
Niels Bohr applied the quantum hypothesis to atomic spectra in 1913. The spectra of light emitted by gaseous atoms had been studied extensively since the mid-19th century. It was found that radiation from gaseous atoms at low pressure consists of a set of discrete wavelengths. This is quite unlike the radiation from a solid, which is distributed over a continuous range of wavelengths. The set of discrete wavelengths from gaseous atoms is known as a line spectrum, because the radiation (light) emitted consists of a series of sharp lines. The wavelengths of the lines are characteristic of the element and may form extremely complex patterns. The simplest spectra are those of atomic hydrogen and the alkali atoms (e.g., lithium, sodium, and potassium). For hydrogen, the wavelengths ? are given by the empirical formula
where m and n are positive integers with n > m and R?, known as the Rydberg constant, has the value 1.097373177 × 107 per meter. For a given value of m, the lines for varying n form a series. The lines for m = 1, the Lyman series, lie in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum; those for m = 2, the Balmer series, lie in the visible spectrum; and those for m = 3, the Paschen series, lie in the infrared.
Bohr started with a model suggested by the New Zealand-born British physicist Ernest Rutherford. The model was based on the experiments of Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden, who in 1909 bombarded gold atoms with massive, fast-moving alpha particles; when some of these particles were deflected backward, Rutherford concluded that the atom has a massive, charged nucleus. In Rutherford’s model, the atom resembles a miniature solar system with the nucleus acting as the Sun and the electrons as the circulating planets. Bohr made three assumptions. First, he postulated that, in contrast to classical mechanics, where an infinite number of orbits is possible, an electron can be in only one of a discrete set of orbits, which he termed stationary states. Second, he postulated that the only orbits allowed are those for which the angular momentum of the electron is a whole number n times ? (? = h/2?). Third, Bohr assumed that Newton’s laws of motion, so successful in calculating the paths of the planets around the Sun, also applied to electrons orbiting the nucleus. The force on the electron (the analogue of the gravitational force between the Sun and a planet) is the electrostatic attraction between the positively charged nucleus and the negatively charged electron. With these simple assumptions, he showed that the energy of the orbit is a constant that may be expressed by a combination of the known constants e, me, and ?. While in a stationary state, the atom does not give off energy as light; however, when an electron makes a transition from a state with energy En to one with lower energy Em, a quantum of energy is radiated with frequency ?.
Inserting an expression for En into this equation and using the relation ?? = c, where c is the speed of light, Bohr derived the formula for the wavelengths of the lines in the hydrogen spectrum, with the correct value of the Rydberg constant.
Bohr’s theory was a brilliant step forward. Its two most important features have survived in present-day quantum mechanics. They are (1) the existence of stationary, nonradiating states and (2) the relationship of radiation frequency to the energy difference between the initial and final states in a transition. Prior to Bohr, physicists had thought that the radiation frequency would be the same as the electron’s frequency of rotation in an orbit.
Sorry it’s so lengthy…my old chemistry major actually stuck with me!!
Jules
duh, the hydrogen spectrum. doesn’t everyone remember that when they were in school?
Ha ha ha. If kids only knew how much you will NEVER use.
I couldn’t even read it. 😉
You may want to throw in some thoughts on boundary layer management for a re-entering shuttle orbiter, and the implications for the Orion CEV design before that configuration is frozen.
I like your “manners mode” reference. I always keep my BB on vibrate mode…not sure why folks need max-volume ringtones to announce to the world that they’ve received a call, text msg or e-mail.
Uhm…you lost me (and I got an A in Chemistry!) I’m sure if I pondered that message for awhile I might be able to read it without stuttering 😉
I hope you sent her in search of her Daddy 😉
More to the point, the angular part of the Hydrogen atom is just the rotor, and gives the quantum numbers l and m. The only remaining variable is the radial coordinate, which executes a periodic one dimensional potential motion, which can be solved.
You just can’t make it any clearer than that.