Why do atoms oscillate

By pulling the string, you transferred chemical energy in your arm to elastic energy in the stretched string. When you let go, the elastic energy was converted to motional energy kinetic energy as the string snapped back and started vibrating. The total kinetic energy of the entire string averaged over time is zero, since the overall string is not going anywhere with respect to the guitar.

But the kinetic energy of any small part of the string at a given moment is not zero. In this way, a plucked guitar string experiences local motion but not overall motion. An electron in an atomic orbital state acts somewhat like a plucked guitar string.

It is spread out in a three-dimensional cloud-like wavefunction that vibrates. Whereas a guitar string vibrates up and down, an atomic electron wavefunction simply vibrates strong and weak. The frequency at which the electron wavefunction vibrates is directly proportional to the total energy of the electron. Electrons in higher-energy atomic states vibrate more quickly.

Because an electron is a quantum object with wave-like properties, it must always be vibrating at some frequency. In order for an electron to stop vibrating and therefore have a frequency of zero, it must be destroyed. In an atom, this happens when an electron is sucked into the nucleus and takes part in a nuclear reaction known as electron capture. With all of this in mind, an electron in a stable atomic state does not move in the sense of a solid little ball zipping around in circles like how the planets orbit the sun, since the electron is spread out in a wave.

Furthermore, an electron in a stable atomic state does not move in the sense of waving through space. The orbital electron does move in the sense of vibrating in time. But the truth is more complicated than this simple picture depicts.

There are two things that describe the electron in quantum theory: the electron's quantum wavefunction, and the magnitude squared of the electron's quantum wavefunction. The "magnitude squared" operation just means that you drop phase factors such as negative signs and then take the square. For instance, the magnitude squared of negative three is nine.

Interestingly, experiments can only directly measure the magnitude squared of the electron wavefunction, and yet we need the original wavefunction in order to predict the outcome of many experiments. For this reason, some people say that the magnitude squared of the wavefunction is the only real entity, whereas the original wavefunction itself is just a mathematical crutch that is needed because our theory is inelegant. Different types of waves have different types of oscillations.

Longitudinal waves : Oscillation is parallel to the direction of the wave. When bound in a stable state in an atom, an electron behaves mostly like an oscillating three-dimensional wave, i. It's a bit like a vibrating guitar string. When you pluck a guitar string, you get the string shaking, which is what creates the sound.

Why do waves oscillate? Category: science physics. When electrons move, they create a magnetic field. When electrons move back and forth or oscillate , their electric and magnetic fields change together, forming an electromagnetic wave.

This oscillation can come from atoms being heated and thus moving about rapidly or from alternating current AC electricity. What is the relationship between light waves and empty space? Light travels so fast that light emitted from the Sun travels million km to Earth in only about eight and a half minutes. However, when light travels in matter, it interacts with the atoms and molecules in the material and slows down.

How can you generate mechanical waves? Mechanical waves can be produced only in media which possess elasticity and inertia. A mechanical wave requires an initial energy input. Once this initial energy is added, the wave travels through the medium until all its energy is transferred.

What are the types of waves? Different types of waves have a different set of characteristics. Based on the orientation of particle motion and direction of energy, there are three categories: Mechanical waves.

Electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic Wave. Radio waves. Ultraviolet waves. What is the difference between an oscillation and a wave?

An oscillation is a phenomenon that is localized to a certain region whereas a wave is a phenomenon that travels. Is Pulse a periodic disturbance? Juris dictionary. Your Own Credit Repair Business. Scholium: Dark radiant heat begins at absolute zero temperature, and extends through light, chemical rays, actinic rays, and infra-violet rays, up to the dissociation of all molecules to the 63rd octave.

Keely indicates that atoms oscillate within and just around the visible light frequencies depending on the weight of the atoms. This is a simple statement and one that is easily verifiable by consulting any good reference work on atomic resonances.

The unique idea here is the separate distinction between creative force Thermism and the Transmissive force Rad-energy.

Thermism as we have already seen, is or can be associated with heat. We may with tongue-in-cheek associate Keely's Thermism with the modern term of "latent heat. If the atom was very dense as in uranium or other radio-active substances, then this effect is very noticeable. We call it radiation. The term radiation implies a force that radiates. Rad-energy is also a force that radiates. The term are more or less synonymous.

When considering heavy element radiation, the force is considerable and has a considerable effect on its neighbors. When the radiating forces are weak as may be from a light element, the effect may not be noticeable, yet the effect is still there.

Hence we cannot say that gold, for instance, does not have a radiating force or that hydrogen the lightest of recognized elements does not also have this quality. Keely tells us that they all do according to their tension and atomic weight. With these numbers in hand it should be easy to determine any element's radiating force rad-energy or radioactivity coefficient. According to the Laws of Harmonic Attraction and Repulsion, if these radiating forces are in a harmonic ratio with a neighboring substance, the two will join and be held together by cohesion.

In fact, according to Keely, it is this harmonious relationship between resonant substances that is cohesion see Law of Attraction, issue 8. If the radiating frequencies are not in harmony, the two substances will be repulsed see Law of Repulsion, issue 8.

Thinking along these lines one is enlightened as to what Keely means when he uses the term Chemism.