Atomic structure electromagnetic radiation

The most useful tool for studying the structure of atoms is electromagnetic radiation. What we call light is one form of this radiation. We need to know about the properties of light in order to understand what electromagnetic radiation reveals about atomic stmcture. 

Two fundamental discoveries about the structure of the atom and electromagnetic radiation also occurred during this period and provided a foundation for instrumentation that would be fundamental in furthering our understanding of soil chemistry. One was the discovery of X-rays, also sometimes called Rontgen rays, discovered in 1895, by W. Rontgen [24], The second was made by J. J. Thomson in 1912. He observed positive rays and described how these could be used to identify compounds and elements. Subsequently, he presented a clear description of the process in 1913. This led to the development of mass spectrometry [25],... 

Although shown to have some serious flaws and long since abandoned, the Bohr model laid the groundwork for the more sophisticated theories of atomic structure that are accepted today and introduced the all-important concept that only specific energy states are allowed for an electron in an atom. Like electromagnetic radiation, electrons in atoms are now visualized as having a dual wave/particle nature. 

Most of what we know about the structure of atoms and molecules has been obtained by studying the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. Line spectra reveal the existence of shells of different energy where electrons are held in atoms. From the study of molecules by means of infrared spectroscopy we obtain information about vibrational and rotational states of molecules. The types of bonds present, the geometry of the molecule, and even bond lengths may be determined in specific cases. The spectroscopic technique known as photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) has been of enormous importance in determining how electrons are bound in molecules. This technique provides direct information on the energies of molecular orbitals in molecules. 

The set of energy levels associated with a particular substance is a unique characteristic of that substance and determines the frequencies at which electromagnetic radiation can be absorbed or emitted. Qualitative information regarding the composition and structure of a sample is obtained through a study of the positions and relative intensities of spectral lines or bands. Quantitative analysis is possible because of the direct proportionality between the intensity of a particular line or band and the number of atoms or molecules undergoing the transition. The various spectrometric techniques commonly used for analytical purposes and the type of information they provide are given in Table 7.1. 

These speculations about the ionic, polar, or electronic nature of chemical bonding, which arose largely from solution theory, resulted mostly in static models of the chemical bond or atom structure. In contrast is another tradition, which is more closely identified with ether theory and electrodynamics. This tradition, too, may be associated with Helmholtz, especially by way of his contributions to nineteenth-century theories of a "vortex atom" that would explain chemical affinities as well as the origin of electromagnetism, radiation, and spectral lines. 

In reference 190, the authors describe the spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic techniques they used to determine the pMMO structure. First, EPR and EX AFS experiments indicated a mononuclear, type 2 Cu(II) center hgated by histidine residues and a copper-containing cluster characterized by a 2.57 A Cu-Cu interaction. A functional iron center was also indicated by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). ICP-AES uses inductively coupled plasma to produce excited atoms that emit electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength characteristic of a particular element. The intensity of this emission is indicative of the concentration of the element (iron in this case) within the sample. 

Chemical reactions take place when the reacting atoms, molecules or ions collide with each other. Therefore the outer electrons are Involved when different substances react together and we need to understand the electronic structure of atoms to explain the chemical properties of the elements. Much of the information about the electronic structure of atoms and molecules is obtained using spectroscopic techniques based on different types of electromagnetic radiation. 

A significant change in the theoretical treatment of atomic structure occurred in 1924 when Louis de Broglie proposed that an electron and other atomic particles simultaneously possess both wave and particle characteristics and that an atomic particle, such as an electron, has a wavelength X = h/p = h/mv. Shortly thereafter, C.J, Davisson and L.H. Germer showed experimentally the validity of this postulate. Dc Broglie s assumption that wave characteristics are inherent in every atomic particle was quickly followed by the development of quantum mechanics, in its most simple form, quantum mechanics introduces the physical laws associated with the wave properties of electromagnetic radiation into the physical description of a system of atomic particles. By means of quantum mechanics a much more satisfactory explanation of atomic structure can be developed. 

Chemists study atoms by observing the properties of electromagnetic radiation they emit. They then build up a model of the structure of the atom that accounts for these properties. The analysis of the electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by substances is a branch of chemistry called spectroscopy. We shall see that atomic spectroscopy—spectroscopy applied to atoms—can be used to determine their internal structure. 

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