The Britannica Guide to the Atom

TITLE......Page 4
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 6
INTRODUCTION......Page 13
WHAT IS AN ATOM?......Page 22
THE ATOMIC PHILOSOPHY OF THE EARLY GREEKS......Page 23
THE EMERGENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE......Page 25
EXPERIMENTAL FOUNDATION OF ATOMIC CHEMISTRY......Page 27
ATOMIC WEIGHTS AND THE PERIODIC TABLE......Page 31
KINETIC THEORY OF GASES......Page 33
SIZE OF ATOMS......Page 36
ELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF ATOMS......Page 38
LIGHT AND SPECTRAL LINES......Page 39
DISCOVERY OF ELECTRONS......Page 42
MILLIKAN OIL-DROP EXPERIMENT......Page 44
IDENTIFICATION OF POSITIVE IONS......Page 46
DISCOVERY OF RADIOACTIVITY......Page 47
MODELS OF ATOMIC STRUCTURE......Page 50
RUTHERFORD’S NUCLEAR MODEL......Page 51
MOSELEY’S X-RAY STUDIES......Page 54
BOHR’S SHELL MODEL......Page 55
THE LAWS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS......Page 62
SCHRÖDINGER’S WAVE EQUATION......Page 64
ANTIPARTICLES AND THE ELECTRON’S SPIN......Page 66
STRUCTURE OF THE NUCLEUS......Page 67
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY AND THE STANDARD MODEL......Page 69
CHAPTER 2 THE ATOM: COMPONENTS AND PROPERTIES......Page 72
ATOMIC MASS AND ISOTOPES......Page 73
CHARGE, MASS, AND SPIN......Page 74
ORBITS AND ENERGY LEVELS......Page 76
ELECTRON SHELLS......Page 78
ATOMIC BONDS......Page 80
CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS......Page 84
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES......Page 85
THE NUCLEUS......Page 86
NUCLEAR SHELL MODEL......Page 87
RADIOACTIVE DECAY......Page 89
NUCLEAR ENERGY......Page 91
CHAPTER 3 ISOTOPES......Page 93
THE DISCOVERY OF ISOTOPES......Page 94
NUCLEAR STABILITY......Page 97
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES......Page 100
ELEMENTAL AND ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCES......Page 101
VARIATIONS IN ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCES......Page 105
MASS FRACTIONATION......Page 106
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ASSOCIATED WITH ISOTOPES......Page 108
EFFECT OF ISOTOPES ON ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR SPECTRA......Page 110
MOLECULAR VIBRATIONS......Page 112
IMPORTANCE IN THE STUDY OF POLYATOMIC MOLECULES......Page 113
CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF ISOTOPIC SUBSTITUTION......Page 114
EFFECT OF ISOTOPIC SUBSTITUTION ON REACTION RATES......Page 116
MASS SPECTROMETRY......Page 118
DISTILLATION......Page 119
GASEOUS DIFFUSION......Page 120
GAS CENTRIFUGATION......Page 121
PHOTOCHEMICAL ENRICHMENT METHODS......Page 122
THE NATURE OF RADIOACTIVE EMISSIONS......Page 124
ALPHA DECAY......Page 125
BETA-MINUS DECAY......Page 126
ISOMERIC TRANSITIONS......Page 127
ELECTRON CAPTURE......Page 128
SPONTANEOUS FISSION......Page 130
SPECIAL BETA-DECAY PROCESSES......Page 131
HEAVY-ION RADIOACTIVITY......Page 132
OCCURRENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY......Page 133
ENERGY RELEASE IN RADIOACTIVE TRANSITIONS......Page 136
CALCULATION AND MEASUREMENT OF ENERGY......Page 137
ABSOLUTE NUCLEAR BINDING ENERGY......Page 140
THE LIQUID-DROP MODEL......Page 141
THE SHELL MODEL......Page 143
THE COLLECTIVE MODEL......Page 145
RATES OF RADIOACTIVE TRANSITIONS......Page 146
EXPONENTIAL-DECAY LAW......Page 147
MEASUREMENT OF HALF-LIFE......Page 149
MEDICINAL......Page 162
INDUSTRIAL......Page 163
SCIENTIFIC......Page 164
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND......Page 165
UNITS FOR MEASURING IONIZING RADIATION......Page 168
SOURCES AND LEVELS OF RADIATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT......Page 169
ARTIFICIAL SOURCES......Page 172
MECHANISM OF BIOLOGIC ACTION......Page 175
RADIONUCLIDES AND RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT......Page 177
ACCUMULATION IN CRITICAL ORGANS......Page 178
THE HAZARDS OF LONG-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES......Page 180
MAJOR TYPES OF RADIATION INJURY......Page 182
EFFECTS ON THE CELL......Page 183
EFFECTS ON ORGANS OF THE BODY (SOMATIC EFFECTS)......Page 189
EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO......Page 195
EFFECTS ON THE INCIDENCE OF CANCER......Page 196
PROTECTION AGAINST EXTERNAL RADIATION......Page 200
CONTROL OF RADIATION RISKS......Page 202
CHAPTER 6 NUCLEAR FISSION......Page 205
HISTORY OF FISSION RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY......Page 206
STRUCTURE AND STABILITY OF NUCLEAR MATTER......Page 209
INDUCED FISSION......Page 212
SPONTANEOUS FISSION......Page 213
THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF FISSION......Page 214
FISSION FRAGMENT MASS DISTRIBUTIONS......Page 216
FISSION DECAY CHAINS AND CHARGE DISTRIBUTION......Page 218
PROMPT NEUTRONS IN FISSION......Page 220
DELAYED NEUTRONS IN FISSION......Page 221
ENERGY RELEASE IN FISSION......Page 222
FISSION THEORY......Page 223
NUCLEAR MODELS AND NUCLEAR FISSION......Page 225
FISSION CHAIN REACTIONS AND THEIR CONTROL......Page 235
USES OF FISSION REACTORS AND FISSION PRODUCTS......Page 237
THE FUSION REACTION......Page 238
TWO TYPES OF FUSION REACTIONS......Page 239
ENERGY RELEASED IN FUSION REACTIONS......Page 241
RATE AND YIELD OF FUSION REACTIONS......Page 242
THE PLASMA STATE......Page 244
FUSION REACTIONS IN STARS......Page 246
FUSION REACTIONS FOR CONTROLLED POWER GENERATION......Page 248
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT......Page 249
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION (ICF)......Page 252
MUON-CATALYZED FUSION......Page 254
COLD FUSION AND BUBBLE FUSION......Page 255
CONDITIONS FOR PRACTICAL FUSION YIELD......Page 256
HISTORY OF FUSION ENERGY RESEARCH......Page 258
CONCLUSION......Page 260
DEMOCRITUS......Page 263
18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES: BEGINNINGS OF ATOMIC THEORY......Page 266
AMEDEO AVOGADRO......Page 267
JOHANN JAKOB BALMER......Page 270
JÖNS JACOB BERZELIUS......Page 271
ROBERT BROWN......Page 274
ROBERT WILHELM BUNSEN......Page 276
STANISLAO CANNIZZARO......Page 278
JOHN DALTON......Page 281
JOSEPH LOSCHMIDT......Page 285
DMITRY IVANOVICH MENDELEYEV......Page 286
LOTHAR MEYER......Page 289
JEAN PERRIN......Page 290
JOSEPH-LOUIS PROUST......Page 291
20TH CENTURY: RADIATION AND AFTER......Page 295
HENRI BECQUEREL......Page 296
MARIE CURIE......Page 299
PIERRE CURIE......Page 304
OTTO HAHN......Page 307
HENRY GWYN JEFFREYS MOSELEY......Page 310
WILHELM RÖNTGEN......Page 311
ERNEST RUTHERFORD......Page 312
FREDERICK SODDY......Page 316
FRITZ STRASSMANN......Page 317
SIR J.J. THOMSON......Page 318
GLOSSARY......Page 322
ATOMIC COMPONENTS AND PROPERTIES......Page 326
RADIOACTIVITY......Page 327
NUCLEAR FISSION......Page 328
NUCLEAR FUSION......Page 329
RADIATION......Page 330
INDEX......Page 335