#atoms

Infinite in Both Directions

Atoms. The romance of reality. 1927.

a is a diagram of the Hydrogen Atom.

b represents an atom with three electrons (lithium), each revolving in its own orbit.

Day 42 - Molecules

Physicists at MIT have developed a new way to probe inside an atom's nucleus, using the atom's own electrons as "messengers" within a molecule. In a study appearing today in the journal Science, the physicists precisely measured the energy of electrons whizzing around a radium atom that had been paired with a fluoride atom to make a molecule of radium monofluoride. They used the environments within molecules as a sort of microscopic particle collider, which contained the radium atom's electrons and encouraged them to briefly penetrate the atom's nucleus.

After 200 years scientists finally crack the “dolomite problem”

A 200-year mystery is cracked as scientists finally grow dolomite—by learning how to wash away its flaws.

For more than two centuries, scientists tried and failed to grow dolomite in the lab under conditions thought to match how it forms in nature. A recent study has finally changed that. Researchers from the University of Michigan and Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan succeeded by developing a new theory based on detailed atomic simulations. Their work solves a long-standing geological puzzle known as the "Dolomite Problem." Dolomite is a widespread mineral found in iconic locations such as the Dolomite mountains in Italy, Niagara Falls and Utah's Hoodoos. It is abundant in rocks older than 100 million years, yet it is rarely seen forming in more recent environments.