Polarization of an Atom
Claimed by Owen Fisher
This page serves to outline and explain the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of the polarization of an atom.
The Main Idea
In an atom, the cloud of electrons, while connected to the nucleus, is not exactly centered on the nucleus. For this reason, atoms can interact with external charges and become polarized. The nucleus and cloud of electrons can move relative to each other. If an external charge comes into the same space that an atom occupies or is close by, the charge creates an electric field, which exerts a force on the atom. "Applied" electric fields such as this explain why the electron cloud and nucleus can move relative to each other. For example, if a positive charge is placed to the left of an atom, an electric field will be created that shifts the electron cloud of the atom towards the positive charge (to the left) and will shift the net positive nucleus away from the charge (to the right) as two objects of the same charge repel each other. In this case, it is now more probable to find an electron to the left of the nucleus, rather than the right.
A Mathematical Model
[math]\displaystyle{ {\vec{F} = q\vec{E}} }[/math] where F is the force created by the electric field E and the charge of a particle q. This force is what causes the atom to become polarized.
[math]\displaystyle{ {\vec{p} = α\vec{E}} }[/math] for almost all materials, the dipole moment p of the polarized atoms or molecules is directly proportional to the magnitude of the applied electric field E. The constant α is called the "polarizability" of a particular material. Many of these polarizability values have been measured experimentally and can be found in reference volumes.
A Computational Model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ubxdTOV34
Examples
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Connectedness
- How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
Atoms are the composition of all life. Anything can be broken down into atoms and subatomic particles. If we are able to understand atoms we understand the fundamental concepts of all life, and that is pretty interesting in my opinion.
- How is it connected to your major?
Polarization of atoms is not directly related to my major of Mechanical Engineering; however, there are classes I am required to take such as Intro to Physics 2 and Chemistry where the polarization of atoms directly applies.
- Is there an interesting industrial application?
There are many interesting industrial applications of the polarization of atoms over a broad scope of fields.
- Some of these include:
- Chemistry
- Checking chirality of organic compounds
- Infrared spectroscopy
- Astronomy
History
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See also
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Further reading
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External links
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/estatics/Lesson-1/Polarization
http://academics.smcvt.edu/abrizard/EM/dielectric_I.pdf
http://budker.berkeley.edu/papers/pdfs/QBvisualisationPreprint.pdf
http://www.hho4free.com/electrical_polarization.htm