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PHYSICS
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012
http://archive.org/details/physicsOOphys
PHYSICS
The Physical Science Study Committee is a group students was sought. In 1957-58, eight schools and
of university and secondary school physics teachers 300 students tried out the early materials. Their com-
working to develop an improved beginning physics ments and suggestions helped to improve and extend
course. The project started in 1956 with a grant from the content and approach. Then in 1958-59, nearly
the National Science Foundation, which has given 300 schools and 12,500 students used the course, and
the main financial support. The Ford Foundation in 1959-60, almost 600 schools and 25,000 students
and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have also con- participated in the third test year. The course was
tributed to the support of the program. thoroughly revised in the light of this experience.
This textbook is the heart of the PSSC course, in The reactions of teachers and students show that
which physics is presented not as a mere body of facts a large percentage of students are intrigued by this
but basically as a continuing process by which men course and do well with it. Their concepts grow
seek to understand the nature of the physical world. through exploration in the laboratory, analysis in the
Besides the textbook there are the following closely text, and study of the films. The course appeals to
correlated parts a laboratory guide and a set of new
: students who are inclined toward the humanities as
and inexpensive apparatus; a large number of films; well as to those who are already interested in science.
standardized tests; a growing series of paper-back
books by leaders in related fields; and a comprehen-
sive teacher's resource book directly related to the
The PSSC Course
the United States. To be sure that the new approach of mass and of its conservation. We then use the
was sound and teachable, the help of teachers and evidence of physicists and chemists to find that matter
VI PREFACE
is made of relatively few kinds of atoms. Direct ex- The laws of conservation of momentum and of
perience is provided in the laboratory. There, for energy are introduced through a combination of
instance, the students compute the size of a molecule theory and laboratory exploration. These laws form
from measurements of thin films of oil. Moving pic- a substantial portion of Part III, and we stress their
tures extend this direct by
laboratory experience use in situations where detailed observation of the
showing experiments which are beyond the reach of motion is not possible, as in Chadwick's discovery of
students. the neutron and in the kinetic theory of gases.
Throughout, the student is led to realize that Part IV introduces the student to electricity and
physics is a single subject of study. In particular, through it to the physics of the atom. Here the stu-
time, space, and matter cannot be separated. Further- dent uses the knowledge of dynamics gained in Part
more, he sees that physics is a developing subject, and III. We begin with qualitative observations, then
that this development is the imaginative work of men proceed to a quantitative study of the forces between
and women like him. charges. We learn how to measure very small elec-
The topics in the PSSC course are selected and tric forces and discover that electric charge comes in
ordered to progress from the simple and familiar to natural units. We then study the motion of charged
the more subtle ideas of modern atomic physics. In particles in electric fields and learn how to determine
Part I we have looked at a broad picture of the uni- the masses of electrons and protons.
verse. Now as we examine certain fields of physics Next comes a discussion of magnetic fields pro-
in more detail, we start in Part II with light. We live duced by magnets and currents, and a discussion of
by light, and the student moves easily into a study of the forces they exert on moving charges. As a final
sharp and diffuse shadows, reflection in mirrors, and part of electricity we discuss the induction laws and
the refraction of light at optical boundaries. The give the student a qualitative feeling for the electro-
natural development of the subject leads us to de- magnetic nature of light. Many of the fundamental
velop a particle theory (or model) of light. Its dis- ideas are explored in Coulomb's
the laboratory —
cussion illustrates repeatedly the manner in which Law, the magnetic around a current, the force
field
virtually all scientific knowledge develops. Again exerted by a magnetic field on a current-carrying wire
films — for instance, the film on the pressure of light are examples.
— help the student to go beyond the laboratory. Now we use the knowledge gained on a large
Under continued scrutiny the particle model scale to probe the structure of atoms. Following the
proves inadequate, and the student finds that we need work of Rutherford, we establish the nuclear model
another model —
a wave model. The laboratory of the atom. But some questions are unanswered.
again provides an unexcelled source of experience, and Why, for example, is such an atom stable? Why
here the student becomes familiar with the properties doesn't it collapse by emitting light? In searching for
of waves. He observes the behavior of waves on ropes answers, we both grainy and
discover that light is
and on the surface of water. He begins to recognize wavy. Furthermore, we find that although matter
the group of characteristics that constitute wave be- behaves like particles, in some respects it also behaves
havior. Knowledge of interference and diffraction like waves. By combining both properties, we can
comes directly from a study of waves in a ripple tank. understand the stability of the hydrogen atom and the
For the first time, perhaps, the smears of light around structure of its energy levels. In this part of the
street lamps, the colors of oil slicks, and the formation course, because direct experimentation becomes
of images by lenses appear as aspects of the wave harder and more expensive, films bring to the stu-
nature of light. dent such experiments as the Millikan experiment and
During the first half of the course, the principal the interference of photons. At the end of the course
emphasis is on the kinematics of our world: where we have arrived at the modern model of atoms.
things are, how big they are, and how they move, not The PSSC course as now presented has proved
why. In Part III we turn to a closer look at motion, to be thoroughly teachable. It is useful in a wide
this time from a dynamical point of view. With variety of schools. However, those who have col-
simple laboratory apparatus the students discover laborated in building this course wish to improve it
Newton's law of motion. They learn to predict mo- further. As the Physical Science Study Committee
tions when forces are known and to determine forces continues this development, your comments will al-
when motions are known. Thus armed they follow ways be welcome.
the extraordinary story of the discovery of universal
gravitation, Newton's educated guess with which he James R. Ktllian, Jr.
jumped from the known laws of motion to the law of Chairman, Board of Trustees
gravitational attraction. Educational Services Incorporated
CONTENTS
PART MECHANICS
PART
IV ELECTRICITY AND ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Appendix
Trigonometric Functions 636
Physical Constants 640
The Development of This Book 641
Index 651
PART THE UNIVERSE
WHAT IS PHYSICS?
CHAPTER 1
Physics is the fundamental science of the natural moon. Eclipses became far easier to predict than
world. It tells us what we know about that tomorrow's weather. The moon has been circling
world,how men and women found out what we our planet since long before the first dinosaur
know, and how they are finding out more today. walked the earth. A man-made satellite can circle
When a flash of lightning shatters the dark, the the globe for a long period without propeller, jet,
radio crackles and your eyes are dazzled for a few or wings —a tiny synthetic moon. How do
seconds. A moment you hear the roll of
later satellites move? How can we design our own?
thunder, and a loose windowpane rattles. Three How can we visit the moon?
states away in a storm-location center, a radio- Physics enables us to answer such questions. It
locater can pinpoint the lightning stroke; and gives us thepower to predict and to design, Jo
downtown the weather forecaster, hearing a far- understand and to adventure into the unknown.
away rumble, nods as if he had been expecting the From what we learn in physics, new things are
storm. made. With new answers in physics, new ques-
Here is a chain of events, different events, taking tions are always arising. Many of these questions
place at different places and different times. They would never have been asked if physics itself had
are all linked. How are they tied together, and not been put to use.
justwhat is happening to eye, to ear, to the radio, Before the time of Galileo there were no astro-
and in the air itself? nomical telescopes. Once Galileo had put to-
Take another chain of events. In the test shops gether two lenses to make an astronomical tele-
of a steel mill you can watch a thin bar of a new scope and had discovered four moons revolving
alloy pulled at its ends by the powerful jaws of a around Jupiter, more and better telescopes were
testingmachine as big as a house, which is driven designed and made. With their aid, new heavenly
by a fast-whirring electric motor no bigger than a bodies were found, such as the many small planets
football. The solid bar slowly yields to the pull. called asteroids that move between the orbits of
It stretches out like a piece of taffy, and breaks a Jupiter and Mars.
little later with a jangle of sound. How does it all New questions now arose. How could the com-
work? What holds the bar together? Why did it plex motions of these moons and asteroids be ex-
finally give way? And, by the way, why is steel plained? To answer questions like this, much of
stronger than glass? Why is it heavier than the special mathematical branch of physics called
aluminum? Why does it rust? mechanics was developed. Beginning in the
Men once feared the "illness of the sun," when eighteenth century, rapid advances were made in
the sun disappeared and the earth darkened. this study of how objects move when subjected to
Then we learned about the complex motion of the complex forces. The new knowledge of mechanics
2 WHAT IS PHYSICS?
led to the better design of machines. So we see "astronomy" of the planet we know best, our own
that without the telescope, mechanics would have earth. Meteorology, the physics of our atmos-
taken a slower course. phere, attempts to explain the causes of weather
More recently, around fifty years ago, the begin- in terms of physics. Chemistry is a science nearly
nings of the understanding of atoms made it clear as fundamental for the others as is physics. Its
physics is so important in everyday life and so of how long before, or how long after, are un-
well developed, that it is left to a professional reliable. (Look at a clock, then look away for
group of engineers, far removed from the general what you and see how
believe to be five minutes
study of physics. These are the people who design well or badly you do.) If you had no clock out-
and build skyscrapers, bridges, and roads. Their side your body, you could roughly measure the
work is based on physical principles so well tested flow of time by counting your heartbeats. You
by three centuries of experience that the physicist would find, however, that the rate of your pulse
no longer doubts their applicability. He feels changed from day to day, from morning to eve-
add little to them that is new. In the
that he can ning, and sometimes from minute to minute.
same way, the release of nuclear energy (atomic Without a clock you might not detect these changes
power), a recent product of the physics of the unless you compared your pulse with another per-
twentieth century, is now very near to becoming a son's. The two of you would not agree exactly in
specialized, important, and fascinating technical measuring time intervals, and then you might try
pursuit on its own, called nuclear engineering. to find something outside yourselves that would
This is the way with physics. It fathers other beat more steadily than your pulse.
sciences and which we
their useful applications, An example of the process that we have been
can call technology. Like grateful children, these discussing is given in a well-known story. While
have often in their turn given back to physics new watching a great lamp swinging from the ceiling of
materials, new tools, and new ideas. Many of a cathedral, Galileo noticed that the lamp seemed
these new tools are now almost indispensable to to take about the same length of time to complete
physics. For example, radio and other electronic each swing. He guessed that he could use the
devices grew out of physics, and now these devices lamp, or any other pendulum having a similar
are used in solving modern problems in physics. motion, as a good timing device. The extent of
Modern research in physical science and the tele- the swing, however, changed greatly from the wide
vision entertainment industry alike depend on arc with which an almost imperceptible
it started to
electronics, which is the direct descendant of motion later. Could it really be that the rate of
what seemed to be obscure and unimportant swinging did not depend on the length of this arc?
happenings in the physics laboratories of 1900. Although Galileo knew that his pulse beat was
not steady, he felt sure that its rate was steady
1-3. The Tools of Physics enough during the relatively short time taken for
Physics requires tools — tools of every kind. the motion of the lamp to die down. He found
As with nearly all activities of human beings, the that the same number of pulses marked each
key tool of the physicist is his mind. Next, he swing, regardless of the distance that the lamp
needs language to make
clear to himself and to traveled during the swing. This observation of
others what he thinks and has done, and what he Galileo's led to the idea that a pendulum kept
wants to do. Mathematics, which can be thought swinging by a spring or a slowly falling weight
of as a special, supremely clear and flexible inter- would keep accurate time. Such clocks could be
national language of relation and quantity, is also tested by starting two or more of them together
an important tool in his kit and his own eyes, — and then seeing if they swung through equal num-
ears, and hands are very important indeed. He bers of beats in the same time. From such experi-
regards these as the first instruments for collect- ments grew the familiar pendulum clocks that are
ing information about the events of the world, still nearly as accurate and reliable instruments
which he tries to understand and to control. as any that man can build.
Then, to aid his senses, and to produce the special This is the typical story of how a basic notion
circumstances he sometimes wants to study, he may be established. We begin with a rough, per-
must make use of a rich variety of other tools, sonal experience, like that of the heartbeat, and
instruments, machines, or contrivances. transfer it to an instrument which appears to
Our senses are often unreliable and are subject behave more simply and reliably. Then we test
to error. For example, we generally have little the instrument, to see works as we have
if it really
trouble in telling whether one thing happened be- guessed. So physics is built, going outward from
fore or after another, but we find that our estimates our own experience, making a bold guess, which
WHAT IS PHYSICS? 5
1—4 (a). In 1896, the French physical chemist Henri Becquerel 1-4 (b). The resulting exposure, like the one reproduced here,
discovered radioactivity by exposing a photographic plate to a could only result from some invisible yet penetrating ema-
uranium salt. The photographic plate was wrapped in black nations from the salt, since light was never permitted to strike the
paper, and crystals of uranium acetate were laid on top. photographic plate. Here is an example of a simple means
used to obtain an important fundamental result.
is often a real step in the dark — Galileo could an electron move through a spiral path such as is
not be sure that the pendulum wasn't just match- shown in the photograph in Fig. 1-6 (b) requires
ing his changing pulse —
and then testing the complex equipment. At the University of Cali-
guess by seeing what must imply. In this way
it fornia Radiation Laboratory there is a huge ring-
we have built microscopes which can make tiny shaped magnet, weighing as much as a ship, and
atoms visible, and mammoth telescopes that deriving its power from generators sufficient to
plumb the depths of space. supply the power needs of a small town. (Fig. 1-5.)
The tools of physics may be simple. In 1896 Running through the magnet there is a tube,
Henri Becquerel discovered the strange radio- shaped like a tire, big enough so that a man could
active properties of uranium,and began the branch crawl around inside. Its rim is as far across as a
called nuclear physics, with no other equipment basketball court. Because this chamber must be
than a photographic plate, wrapped in black kept free of air, it vacuum like
contains a high
paper, and a few crystals of a special chemical that inside a radio tube. The whole device is
salt. In 1934 Fermi and his associates in Rome operated by a network of switches and tubes and
discovered the slow-neutron basis of atomic meters, as complicated as a small telephone ex-
energy. They used simple apparatus — a hospital change. And for the picture itself, the big cameras
radium supply, a marble fountain basin of water, must be focused on a tubful of liquid hydrogen,
some pieces of silver and cadmium, and an in- an extremely cold but intensely flammable liquid.
strument made of little pieces of thin metal leaf [Fig. 1-6 (a).]
mounted on a small microscope. Following up
the work of Fermi, five years later Hahn and 1-4. Who Builds Physics?
Strassmann discovered the fission of uranium. The people who design the kind of equipment
They worked with simple chemical equipment and you have been reading about are physicists. When
a commonplace Geiger counter. Who will next their skills are primarily skills in designing and
found a branch of science with simple equipment performing experiments, they are called experi-
and a really good idea? We do not know, but it is mental physicists. When, on the other hand, they
bound to happen. are skilled primarily in the use of mathematics
The tools of physics may become wonderfully in the problems of physics, they are called
complex. The instrument-filled satellite and its theoretical physicists. Benjamin Franklin and
launching rockets can be thought of as the tools of Mme. Marie Curie were experimental physicists.
the physicist who seeks to study the upper air and Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were theoretical
the rain of particles from outer space. To make physicists — perhaps the greatest.
6 WHAT IS PHYSICS?
1—5. The bevatron at the University of California Lawrence This large tool is used in obtaining evidence of the behavior of
Radiation Laboratory is an example of a large and complex particles too small to be seen with any device so far developed
tool. The man in the lower right gives an idea of the dimensions by man. (Courtesy: University of California Lawrence Radia-
of this giant accelerator. The huge ring-shaped magnet weighs tion Laboratory.)
people who
fix the purpose of the team are the
In the earlier days, the tools, both experimental physicists.The engineer finds his interest primari-
and mathematical, were so simple that a single ly in the design and operation of the instru-
man or woman could become skilled in the use ments or machines or processes at hand. The
of both kinds. Isaac Newton not only made the physicist is interested in what he can find out by
thrilling experiment of breaking sunlight into the use of these tools, whatever they are.
colors with a prism, but actually invented for It will be clear that we have not given in this
his own use one of the most useful forms of chapter a sharp, simple definition of what physics
mathematics, the calculus. Franklin contributed is. For physics grows and changes, just as what
to electrical theory. Nowadays some of the tools we know about the world, and what we can do
are so complex that few physicists are versatile with that knowledge, also changes. After you
enough to become masters of all of them. But have finished this book, as you look back on what
whether theorists or experimenters, the people you have seen and learned and wondered at, you
who build physics are all physicists. will have a much better view of what physics is
Physicists may be aided by engineers and by than we could write in a chapter.
craftsmen of many sorts. All these the physi- — In the next few chapters we shall talk about
cists, and craftsmen
engineers, form a coordi- — time, space, motion, matter, and measurement.
nated team. Clearly, no one man could have They are and they are all essential to
all related,
built, or even designed, the whole of a great our discussion of physics. They form a foun-
modern laboratory like that at Berkeley. But the dation on which we will build not something —
WHAT IS PHYSICS? 7
FURTHER READING
Andrade, E. N. da C. Sir Isaac Newton. Doubleday Heathcote, N. H. de V., Nobel Prize Winners in
Anchor Books, 1958. Physics. Henry Schuman Co., 1953. Biographical
Curie. E\t, Madame Curie. Doubleday, 1949. sketch and summary of the prize-winning work of
Fermi, Laura, Atoms in the Family. University of each.
Chicago Press, 1954. An account of Enrico Fermi's Jeans, James, The Growth of Physical Science. Cam-
life and work. bridge University Press, 1951. (Galileo, pp. 145-
Franklin. Benjamin. Autobiography. Pocket Books. Newton, pp. 183-196, 204-210, 225-
150, 171-178.
Gamow, George, The Birth and Death of the Sun. Einstein, pp. 293-301.)
227.
Mentor Books. (Chapter III: The Transmutation Taylor, F. Sherwood, A Short History of Science
of Elements, Becquerel.) and Scientific Thought. Norton, 1949.
TIME AND MEASUREMENT
CHAPTER 2
2-1. The Starting Point — the Senses forms the basis of the "movies." If you examine
The most universal physical instruments are a strip of movie film, you will see that it bears a
built into our bodies. Through our eyes we get sequence of slightly differing still pictures. Run
most of our information about the world. Nearly them by fast enough, and the eye will blend them
as important are our ears, which bring us sounds. into a smooth succession, which we recognize as
Then there are the various impressions of touch. motion. Your sense of temperature can also be
These include the very delicate touch of our finger- fooled : if you hold one hand
in a pan of hot water
tips on which we rely for texture, the muscular and the other in cold water and then put both
senses of pushing and pulling, by which we form hands simultaneously into a pan of lukewarm
the impressions of weight and solidity, the feel of water, the "cold" hand will feel hot. and the "hot"
hot and cold, and our inner sense of balance. hand will feel cold. (If you haven't tried this, try
Smell and taste — more important to chemistry it.)
than to physics — are also important sources of Like the senses, all the other instruments of the
what we know about the outside world. These physicist can be deceived — even the most accu-
tools, which continually bring information to us, rate and sensitive, such as delicate balances, elec-
are, as you know, called the senses. Moreover, tronic meters, and timing devices. They all have
we not only passively sense the world, but with their limitations. Testing the readings of his in-
our hands and back and legs we handle and move struments, like questioning the first impression of
some parts of it. the senses, is part of the cross-checking which has
It is true that no one has to manufacture or buy togo into every conclusion made by the physicist.
his eyes or his ears, but their use is not entirely But this careful cross-checking gives him confi-
given to us at birth. We all had to train ourselves dence in his instruments, just as our sense of
to use them. We all had to learn to interpret the touch can be a valuable cross-check to confirm
images we see and the sounds we hear, to learn what we see with our eyes.
that the little down the street is the school
patch
building, big as when we get near it. As
life
2-2. The Key Concepts of Physics;
babies we spent much of our time learning these the Need to Extend the Senses
things. We cannot remember how hard it was, Let us consider a few of the most basic notions
just as we cannot remember learning to talk. of physics, time and space, and their combination
The senses can be deceived. Optical illusions in what we call motion and matter. No doubt we
are familiar. Perhaps the most common one gain our first impressions of these through our
:
senses. But it is pretty clear that in order to learn of the alphabet make up all the books that have
all we want to know about time, space, and
that ever been written in the English language, so the
matter we must extend and sharpen our sense im- combination of a few building blocks makes up
pressions by the use of other tools. all matter with its great variety. We did not dis-
Consider first what we call time. Lying in bed, cover these atoms by the direct use of our senses.
running down the hall, riding in a plane, we are They are far too small for us to see in everyday
always aware (if we are aware of anything) of the experience. We learned of their existence by ex-
passage of time. We all have a measure of time tending our senses, using the ideas and techniques
built into us: the heartbeat. About once a sec- of physics and chemistry.
ond — sometimes sometimes faster
slower, it — Here we have not sharply defined space, time,
beats for our whole lifetime. We have other and matter. These fundamental concepts are fa-
measures of time, too, which we all know. The miliar enough to everyone, and yet they are hard
sun marks day and night. The four seasons pass, to define. The main point is that we take these
and we all hope to see a few hundred of them three key concepts from everyday experience. We
come and 2.0. Much longer than that, or much establish them by the use of our own built-in de-
shorter than a heartbeat, or the blink of an eye, tecting devices —
eyes, muscles, and so on. For
we cannot directly grasp. But certainly time ex- example, we sense big pieces of matter: moun-
tends far beyond these bounds back to before — tains, perhaps a stretch of ocean and small ones
;
we were born, ahead to after we die and for — down, it may be, to the fine grains that make up
moments too fleeting for us to capture. Our white flour, or the motes of dust that we see in a
parents recall what we cannot; the historians tell sunbeam.
us more than that; big trees go back centuries; It is our first job to find how we can go beyond
and we do not doubt that the hills and the rocks these ordinary experiences. We must find out
themselves are far older. All these things are be- how to talk in an orderly fashion about things far
yond the direct grasp of our personal time sense. away from the familiar experience of everyday
A second important notion in physics is dis- life. Doing this will bring us into the heart of the
tance, or space. We
can pace off a mile, with a subject.
little effort. We can span a short distance with
our fingers, or with our extended arms. We can 2-3. Time and Its Sweep
even hold our fingertips close together to show a Then open
Close your eyes for a short time.
hairsbreadth of space between them, but it is hard them while you count "one, two, three." Close
to measure off less. How can we measure dis- them again. Now what did you see while your
tances greater than we can pace off or smaller eyes were open? If you were in a normal room,
than we can feel? As we shall see, the measure- not much happened. Things appeared unchang-
ment of extremely short and extremely long dis- ing. But you sat for a few hours with your eyes
if
tances is important for understanding the way the open you would find people going in and out,
world works. To gain this understanding, physi- shifting chairs, opening windows. The whole ac-
cists have developed methods of measuring the tivity of the things in the room appears to depend
distance to the planets and the stars, and the on the time interval over which you watch.
means of measuring the size of atoms. Watch for a year, and the plant in its pot will
The third key notion is substance or material, grow up, flower, and wither.
or matter as it is more commonly called. It is one Keep the experiment going, at least in thought.
of the main successes of physics in our times that Watch for a hundred years, and the building may
we have learned a great deal about the inner na- have come down about you. A thousand years?
ture of matter. We have learned that all the dif- No American town has lasted for a thousand
fering materials — skin, bone, blood, rock, steel, years, except possibly for the Pueblo Indian vil-
nylon, air, even the sun — are composed of the lages of the Southwest. Ten thousand years? In
same tiny building blocks, the atoms. Their that time the Niagara River will have cut away the
combinations "spell out" the nature of the com- rock, and the falls will have receded far upstream.
plex world in which we live, and even the nature In a million years much of the American land-
of our bodies. Just as a couple of dozen letters scape will be unfamiliar. (Fig. 2-1.)
10 TIME AND MEASUREMENT
2—1. Niagara Falls illustrates the slow changes that time brings process, continuing over long periods of time, has caused the
to the face of our world. The dotted line in the photograph falls to move miles upstream to their present location, and in
shows the shape of the American Fall before a slide carried 10,000 more years will carry them far beyond in the direction
away about 15,000 tons of rock from its lip in 1954. This of Lake Erie. (United Press Photo.)
smashes into a light bulb. The duration of the flash was less
sec elapsed between the first and last pictures. Note the slow
rate at which the balloon collapses when compared with the
speed of the bullet, which is out of the frame of the picture in
less than 10100 sec after it punctures and leaves the other side of
the balloon. (Courtesy: Harold E. Edgerton.)
TIME AND MEASUREMENT 13
2—5. The human eye is not fast enough to catch the rapid
1
lasted only 100 000 sec. Therefore we see the wings appar-
motions (60 a second) of a hummingbird's wings. In this high- ently motionless. A motion picture, taken at the usual 24 frames
speed photograph, taken with a flash stroboscope, the flash a second, would show only blurred images of the wings. (Cour-
tesy: Harold E. Edgerton.)
2-6. This apparatus was used to make the high-speed photo- right, note the gun, balloon, strobe light (under balloon),
graphs of the bursting balloon shown in Fig. 2-3. From left to electronic timer, and camera. (Courtesy: Harold E. Edgerton.)
14 TIME AND MEASUREMENT
There is a kind of confusion possible, too. Con- would have worked just as well. Thereno natu-
is
sider our example of the one-slit stroboscope ral division of time known to us that would apply
"'stopping** the motion of a record-player turn- throughout "the universe. Perhaps the second is
table. Since the turntable appeared at the same convenient because it is not very far from the in-
place each time we could see it, we assumed that terval between heartbeats. This is not fundamen-
its time for one rotation was equal to that of the tal, however. What is important is that a unit be
disc. There are, however, other possibilities. The clearly defined and easily reproduced so that it is
turntable could have gone around two, three, four available to everybody.
. . times during one rotation of the strobo-
. A second is approximately defined as the time
scope: and we still would have observed the between "'ticks" on a clock which makes 86,400
same effect. How can we be sure that we really ticks while the sun moves from its noon position
see the turntable on successive rotations? This on one day to its noon position the next day.
problem occurs quite frequently when using a From measurements of the sun's motion, astrono-
stroboscope, but there is a simple way to get mers can calculate with great accuracy just when
around it. When you have the motion stopped, itcrosses the highest point in its journey, and
simply increase the speed of the stroboscope. The from that they fix the time. Because the sun
motion may or may not appear to be stopped moves at somewhat different speeds across the sky
again at some higher speed. If it does not, then during the year, an average is taken over all days,
you know that the original speed of rotation of and this average defines the second.
the stroboscope 'was the correct one. If it does, The earth is ever changing. Earthquakes,
then continue increasing the speed of the strobo- floods, eruptions, freezing, and melting take
scope until you can no longer stop the motion.
The highest speed of the stroboscope which stops *A "minute" is a tiny part of an hour; of a minute ^
isa kind of minute of a minute. In old time it was called
the motion will give the time of rotation of the
a second minute. We have shortened our speech, and
turntable. call it just a "second."
16 TIME AND MEASUREMENT
place. Even the earth's rotation, which causes the things we talk about happen over and over.
the apparent motion of the sun in the sky, is not But ifyou want to catch a train on a particular
really unchanging. We know it changes a little, day, you also need to know when the time count
because some very good clocks agree among them- begins. The problems of standard and daylight
selves better than any of them agree with the ob- time, of time zones, and so on, are really problems
servations of the sun. Therefore the physicist of agreeing on such a starting time. Once you
usually defines the second by the careful mainte- agree on a starting time, the questions are really
nance and cross-checking of the best observatory the same. We must measure an interval.
clocks. Any laboratory time measurement must
in the end be referred to them if high accuracy is 2-7. Times Large and Small — Orders of
needed. Magnitude
Just what makes a clock keep accurate time is a The span of time since the first animals came to
very hard and deep question. This is not simply live on dry land includes something like 12,000,-
a matter of the complicated works you see in an 000,000,000,000 seconds. The time it takes a
ordinary watch or clock. It is rather what you light ray to pass through a windowpane is about
mean by time itself. Let us be satisfied with the 1/100,000,000,000 part of a second. Such num-
idea that very carefully protected beating pendu- bers are impossibly clumsy to learn or to use.
lums, or the newer electronic clocks which depend But since we must be prepared to use large and
on the vibrations of a thin slab of quartz crystal, small numbers, large and small counts, through-
all count off accurate time. If they are compared out physics, we must find a way to handle them.
over years and years, they agree with one another There is an easy, compact way. Any number
with high precision all over the world. Still can be written as the product of a number be-
newer ones, using as vibrators certain atomic vi- tween one and ten and a number which is a
brations themselves, are now being built. No power of ten. For example, we can write 769
one knows if there may not be some slight differ- as 7.69 X 100; and 0.0043 is 4.3 X toW The
encesamong all these means of marking time. number at the beginning of this section is
We know that so far there have been none big 1.2 X 10,000,000,000,000,000. We shall usually
enough to notice. One of the tasks of future write our numbers this way, but in order to avoid
physics is to press this question further. writing zeros till our hands hurt, we shall use an
Time measurement gives rise to what appear to abbreviation. Instead of 100 we write 10 2 ; in
be two different questions: "How long did it -3
place of ! which equals j^> we write 10
take?" and "When was it?" The first question
,
we answer by giving a time interval: "The race and in place of the long one we write 1.2 X 10 16 .
took four minutes." The second question is The exponent, at the upper right of the 10, tells
answered by a statement such as "The race how many zeros in the power of ten, and we use
started at five o'clock yesterday afternoon." For the minus sign to say that we deal with thou-
the first measurement, a stop watch is good sandths instead of with thousands.
enough; it ticks off, starting at zero, and meas- A few more examples should make the system
ures the length of a time interval. In the second clear:
case, the readingon a correct clock is needed. But =
3270 3.27 X 103 .
(10 4
). or This way of writing numbers makes it easy to
determine what is called the order of magnitude.
t = 10- u sec X 10 4
_ |0<-u-M) sec _ 10- 7 sec.
The order of magnitude is the power of ten
closest to the number. This is, of course, an ap-
and negative exponents will be freely
Positive proximate statement about the number. It serves
used in this book. If the methods for handling to put you "in the right ballpark." So we can
them are unfamiliar to you, practice on the last say that the order of magnitude of 137 is 10 2 ;
few problems at the end of this chapter. You can that is, 137 is closer to 100 than it is to 1,000.
make up more problems yourself. Similarly, the order of magnitude of 0.00262 is
We do not always deal with round numbers, 10- 3 ; 0.00262 is closer to 10" 3 than it is
that is,
11
like lO Suppose you have numbers like 172 and
.
to 10
-2
or 10~ + Estimating by rounding off to
.
32.500. These can be written as 1.72 X 10 2 and orders of magnitude is one of the most helpful
5.25 X 10 4 Then multiplication and division
.
ways to begin any computation in physics. Some-
can be carried out separately for the powers of times it is good enough for the entire purpose
ten and for the numbers between unity and ten you have in we shall use this
mind. In our work
which stand before them. For example, when we technique frequently; and you should become
multiply these two numbers we get familiar with it now. However, we do not always
2.00 X 10- 5 is
tervals are somewhat variable — the human life
18
10 Expected total life of the sun as a io- 2
Time for electric fan to complete one
normal star turn
10 17 Age of the oldest rocks 10- 3 Time for fly to beat its wings once
Time elapsed since first fossil life Time that a fired bullet is in the
10 15 Time for the sun to revolve around lu- Time for one vibration of the highest-
the galaxy pitched audible sound
Age of the Appalachian Mountains lu- 5 Time during which firecracker is ex-
ploding
IO 15 Time elapsed since dinosaurs
IO 8
Time elapsed since you began school IO- 13
IO 7 Time for the earth to revolve around IO- 14
the sun (year)
io- 15 Time for electron to revolve around
IO 6 One month proton in hydrogen atom
IO 5 Time for the earth to rotate once on IO" 16
its axis (day)
io- 17
IO 4 Duration of average baseball game
io- 18
IO 3 Time for light from the sun to reach
io- 19
the earth
io- 20 Time for innermost electron to re-
IO 2 One minute
volve around nucleus in heaviest
10 l atom
10° Time between heartbeats (1 second) io- 21
_1 for proton to revolve once in
10 Time for bullet (.30 caliber) to cover io- 22 Time
the length of a football field (300 ft) nucleus
Notice that our own personal experience of 10 11 seconds includes all we can learn from his-
time covers about ten orders of magnitude, from tory, which is only a few hundred generations old.
about 10 -1 second, the smallest interval we can Beyond that, we must devise special indirect
comprehend directly, to some IO 9 seconds, our methods to fix times. For example, from the
life span. Another two orders of magnitude to kind of fossils we find in a geological formation
TIME AND MEASUREMENT 19
we can learn something about the age of the for- incredibly quick. And as we do, we learn more
mation, and from the order which fossil-hear-
in and more about the world.
ing rock was laid down we learn about the evo-
lutionary sequence. To go back still further we 2-8. The Direction of Time
must build intricate instruments and learn to in- Our whole lives hinge on the difference be-
terpret their readings. In this manner, for ex- tween past and future. Time moves on relent-
ample, we can measure the age of the earth by lessly. We easily recall the past but we can hardly
methods that depend upon the laws of radioac- predict the future, except for a short time in ad-
tivity. See. for example, the book by Patrick vance. Time seems to have a natural direction.
Hurlev mentioned in the reading references at the How this direction arises is a very deep and diffi-
end of the chapter. cult question. We shall not try to settle it. Never-
For very short times, below direct perception, theless, it is worth noting that we can predict
about three or four orders of magnitude to 10 -5 eclipses of the sun for thousands of years in the
id cover the ordinary motions and changes future. And in the same way, we can "predict"
of the fastest-moving things men can make, even that on some date in the past an eclipse was visi-
explosions. For still smaller orders of magnitude, ble in such and such a place. A search of the
we can use the much more responsive electrons as historical records usually confirms our mathe-
the "parts" of a clock and go to time intervals as matical conclusions. For example, we have
-10 dated by astronomical calculations the documents
short as 10 second. Below that, all the way
down to the shortest time intervals which are of and monuments of peoples like the Mayans of
physical interest —
more than ten orders of Central America who had excellent calendars,
magnitude beyond the reach even of electronics but whose starting point for time reckoning was
— we are in the realm of the atom. Here indirect originally unknown to us.
arguments alone give us the time intervals that The difference between past and future is not
enable us to conjecture about what is going on in really important in astronomical calculations.
these tiny and swiftly changing parts of the world The solar system, regarded simply as a big, mov-
around us. To tell how all these time intervals ing machine which takes up one position after an-
are detected, and how the world appears when re- other, would run just as well "backward" as
garded not with our senses alone, but with instru- "forward." However, the distinction between
ments which allow us to split seconds —
these are past and future is important in the lives of men
among the main goals of this book. and women. Apparently, "time's arrow" is to
We have not stopped in either direction in be found in complicated phenomena, like people
measuring time. We continue to press outward or plants where birth comes first and death last
from our senses, both to the very slow and to the and the process of life never runs in reverse.
20 TIME AND MEASUREMENT
performed some of the first important experiments per second but his friend insists he should set
with the motion of falling bodies before the days it at 32 frames per second. Who is correct? Why?
of accurate clocks. To measure the short time
intervals involved in his experiments, he used a 10. In time-lapse photography, plants and their blos-
simple clock that you can make for yourself. In soms may be seen to develop at a rate comparable
the bottom of a tin can, punch a small hole with to that of the motion of animals. If the total
a nail. Keep the can nearly full of water and growth of a plant which would require 50 days
measure the amount of water that falls out in 10, is to be shown on a 10-minute film, what interval
20, and 30 seconds. In this way you can learn should elapse between the successive pictures?
to read the clock in seconds. (Assume that the film is to be shown at 24
What are the major sources of error in this frames/sec.)
device? Can you reduce the errors? Remember
11. The shutter speed of a camera is -^ of a second.
Galileo used a clock like this in discovering some
of the major principles of physics. (See "Two
How far would a rifle bullet travel while a student
attempts to take its picture with a ^-second
New Sciences" by Galileo.)
exposure? (The bullet's speed is 3500 ft per
sec.) What shutter speed would be necessary to
6. * Galileo, in observing the swinging of a cathedral limit the bullet's movement to 0.1 inch during the
lamp, "found that the same number of his pulse exposure?
beats marked each swing regardless of the dis-
tance the lamp traveled during each swing." 12. A 10-slit stroboscope is rotated at a constant
Check on the correctness of this statement by rate for 20 seconds to determine that a motor
constructing and timing a simple pendulum. If shaft takes ^ sec to make one rotation. How
you find difficulty in counting your pulse beats many rotations does the stroboscope make?
and pendulum swings at the same time, try work-
ing with a partner or using a watch (which Galileo 13. A stroboscope disc with 4 openings must be ro-
did not have available). tated 80 times in 10 seconds to make a fan with
TIME AND MEASUREMENT 21
four identical blades appear to stand still. What (c) Use the powers-of-ten notation to determine
are the possible rates of motion of the fan? How the average amount of the budget that must be
would vour answer be different if one of the blades paid by an individual citizen.
was a different color from the others?
18. Express only the order of magnitude of your
14. A disc stroboscope contains 4 slits and is turned answer to the following:
6 times in 10 seconds. What time interval can Light travels on the order of 10 5 miles each
(a)
FURTHER READING
Bolton,L., Time Measurement. Van Nostrand, 1924. Hood, Peter, How Time Is Measured. Oxford Uni-
Brown, Harrison. "The Age of the Solar System," versity Press, 1955.
Scientific American, April, 1957 (p. 80). Hurley, Patrick M., How Old Is the Earth ? Double-
Eddington, Sir A. S., The Nature of the Physical day, 1959: A
Science Study Series paperback.
World. Cambridge University Press, 1953 (pp. 36- Lyons, Harold, "Atomic Clocks." Scientific Ameri-
62). can, February, 1957 (p. 71).
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES
CHAPTER 3
We began the last chapter by describing time as What we can say with assurance is that size and
"one of the basic notions of science," and went on distance, as divisions of space, determine the na-
to speak at some length about time. Perhaps you ture of the world just as much as does time.
noticed that we were unable to confine the dis- Think of the sun, whose bright glare showers the
cussion to time and time alone. We were speak- earth with light, makes our crops grow, and keeps
ing also of positions and distances, of motion, of our earth from being a dead, frozen planet. It
matter. appears to us as a large, bright disc, too brilliant
These, too, are basic notions. Each of them is to look at directly. Compare it with a star which
intertwined with all the others. It is impossible appears as nothing but a tiny bright spark in the
to deal with one without dealing with all the rest. dark night. The difference is one of distance.
To them intelligibly, it is necessary to deal
discuss The sun is a star we happen to live "near." The
with them one after another, although they do little twinkling star, though a furiously hot sun
not appear in nature one after another. They like our own, is relatively far away from us.
come together. Or consider the very small. You know that a
To use these notions skillfully, we must refine drop of pond water looks a little cloudy perhaps
our understanding of each of them, and we must to the unaided eye, but nothing more. Under the
do this even though, strictly speaking, we have microscope, it is a jungle of plants and animals,
no place to start. The procedure — and all our living, hunting, fleeing. Beyond the microscope's
history has shown it to be a very practical pro- grasp is a more wonderful part of the world,
still
cedure —
is to move back and forth among these the world of the atom, which we are going to
basic notions, registering gains wherever we can probe.
and using these gains in turn to register further When we say the sun is "near," compared to
gains. We use our crude notions of space, for any other star, or that Bombay is "far," compared
example, to refine our notion of time. Then we to any place in our state, we have started to
are able to use our refined knowledge of time to measure intervals of distance, or size. Intervals
improve our notion of space. But while we carry of space —
sizes or distances —
can best be com-
on this process, we must remember that physics pared by the same scheme we used in comparing
itself is one indivisible subject dealing with the time intervals. We have only to make a count.
whole universe of which we are part. We sub- We count how many times we have to span with
divide it for our own convenience, but only so our fingertips, or lay off with a ruler, or pace out
that later we may put it together again. with equal steps, and we have measured a distance.
22
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES 23
3-1. The Unit of Distance The Founding Fathers of our own American
Every people has had a unit of length. Hunt- republic, very much steeped in the same climate of
ing folk, like theNorth American Indians, used opinion that later produced the metric system of
the pace, the and the day's journey.
bowshot.' weights and measures in France, introduced a
When it became necessary to measure off land for kind of "metric system" in currency which we use
irrigation and for plowing, standard rods were to this day. They established our decimal system
made. As early as ancient Egyptian times, when of coinage, with 100 cents = 1 dollar, and a few
great buildings were made of stone, rather wide other multiples, like dimes and quarters, to re-
use was made of a standard of length, a cubit, or place the traditional English system in which 12
the distance from the elbow to the tip of the pence = 1 shilling, and 20 shillings = 1 pound
middle finger. In the times of the Ptolemies, there sterling. Anyone who struggles to calculate a
were professional pacers who helped make maps 10 per cent discount on the price of an English
by pacing out the roads in units called stadia. By book will see the virtue of a system of units
medieval times, with the growth of the European which matches the number system. This is the
nations, there were many measuring units. In great value of the metric system, which has made
England, length was measured by the inch, foot, it universal in science. Even our inch is now
yard, fathom, rod, furlong, mile, and league. legally defined in terms of the meter: it is defined
These units reflect convenient early standards. as exactly 2.54 X 10~- meters.
The French Revolution brought to power a worth remembering that a meter is roughly
It is
government set sharply against all that was tradi- a yard and a foot is about 30 cm, while a milli-
tionaland old-fashioned. An early action of the meter is about the thickness of a pencil lead.
new government of France was the establish-
ment of a group of learned men ("experts," we Names and Definitions of Metric Units
would say nowadays) to produce a rational set of of Distance
was rather well known in terms of carefully laid or a microfarad? What is a millisecond?
out base lines surveyed in Europe. This is the Throughout this book, to save time and space,
origin of the metric system, which we employ we shall follow the practice of physicists and,
throughout physics in all countries today. whenever convenient, use the abbreviations given
It was one thing to say that the meter was to be in the table instead of writing out the full name of
-7
10 of a quadrant of the earth's circumference, the unit.
but quite another to lay off
short metal bar.
this distance on a
However, it is not important 3-2. Measuring Large Distances —
that the standard meter be related to the earth's Triangulation
circumference. As our standard of length we The method of laying standard lengths end to
now employ the standard meter bar the French end can be used to measure quite large distances
made. Many careful copies have been produced. on the surface of the earth. It is sometimes used
24 SPACE AND ITS MEASURES
• far object
i
\
i
\
1 i
6 i
i
\9>
^^"Ite -o
i
\*
\
i
\
i \
•— •
.. ,. • *? base line
oV
3—2. When we have measured the length of a base line and
3—1. Measuring a distance by triangulation. know the direction of an object from each end of the base line,
One way to measure a distance by triangulation We can simplify the procedure. All we need to
is illustrated in Fig. 3-1. We wish to measure do is to construct the right angle TAC; measure
the distance AT across the river. To do so we off a convenient distance, AC, called the base
line up the tree, T, on the far side of the river, line; and measure the angle TCA. By making a
with two stakes A and B. We then construct the scale drawing we can get the answer.
right angle BAC. (To do this we can use a large Aninstrument can be constructed that will
carpenter's square.) We drive a stake into the measure the angles and work out the geometry
ground measured distance from A. Then
at C, a automatically. An example of such a triangulat-
we continue along line AC and drive another ing instrument, for measuring distances by simple
stake, D, into the ground a measured distance sighting, is the range finder found in almost all
farther on. Now we construct a right angle CDE. good cameras. The base line of the range finder
We drive in a stake atE so placed that it is in is no larger than the camera, and distant objects
line with the tree, T, and the stake, C. Finally will appear at almost the same angle from both
we measure the distance DE. ends of it. Just where the sight lines cross is then
As you can see in the figure, the triangles difficult to say. The camera range finder, there-
TAC and EDC are similar because they have two fore, measures only the distances to near-by
pairs of equal angles, the right angles TAC and objects. You can make range finders with longer
EDC and the vertical angles TCA and ECD. base lines, and you will find that the bigger you
Therefore the corresponding sides are in the same make the base line, the greater the distance you
ratio. In particular can measure.
The big range finders on warships have base
AT _ AC To measure
fines limited by the of the ship.
DE ~ DC'
size
Since we have measured AC, DC, and DE, we This sets the limit for measuring big distances
can now determine the distance AT across the geometrically.
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES 25
To use a base line to find the distance to an 3-3. In these photographs the two positions of the camera
were somewhat less than a meter apart. Note the apparent
object, we must measure the direction of the
shift of the ruler with respect to the more distant blackboard.
object from each end of the base line. (Fig. 3-2.)
To measure these two directions, an astronomer other and show little or no apparent motion even
who uses the diameter of the earth's orbit as a over thousands of years. For this reason, we call
base line must have a way of establishing a refer- them the fixed stars and we can use them to give
ence direction when he takes his observation at us known directions from any point on the earth's
one end of the diameter and when he takes it at orbit.
the other end. To fix this reference direction, he Unlike the extremely distant stars a near-by star
uses the most distant stars. He can pick them will appear to move relative to the distant ones
out because they do not change their apparent as we go from one point to another on the earth's
positions with respect to one another. Here he orbit. This shift in the apparent direction of the
is using something very familiar to you. As you near-by star is just like the shifts you see looking
watch through a window of a rapidly moving out the car window or the shift you see when you
car, the objects near you apparently move rapidly hold out a finger before your eyes and look at it
backward but the distant features of the landscape first with one eye open and then with the other.
do not seem to move at all. In the same way, The finger appears to shift its position along a
the most distant stars stand still relative to each distant wall; and the nearer it is to your face the
26 SPACE AND ITS MEASURES
parent shift of the star's position as viewed from the two ex-
tremes of the earth's orbit. Notice that it goes to the right and
then back to the left in successive six-month intervals. It is this
in Section 4-3. a bright star. Have you ever noticed in viewing it that it doesn't
seem to twinkle as much as a star? The illustration above
The enough so that even a
planets are close
shows the planet as photographed at three different times with
small telescope will show most of them as round
a small telescope. The four satellites that show up are the ones
discs. (Fig. 3-6.) This is clearly what you discovered by Galileo and are often referred to as the Galilean
would expect if they are really globes whose sizes moons. (Courtesy: Clyde Fisher and Marian Lockwood,
are of the same order of magnitude as our earth. "Astronomy," John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) In the illustration below,
But not even the Palomar telescope shows up we see the planet as photographed through Palomar's 200-in.
telescope. Note how much more detail is visible. Even the
any such clear discs for the stars. They are too
shadow of one of the moons can be seen. Jupiter has a diam-
far away. Astronomers have special means of eter of the order of 10 s m and is at a distance of the order of
measuring the sizes of stars. For the present we 10' 2 m from the earth.
Table 1. Distance
Length Length in
inMeters Associated Distance Meters Associated Distance
18
10 Greatest distance measurable by parallax 10
7
Air distance from Los Angeles to New
10 17 Distance to nearest star York
10 16 10 6 Radius of the moon
10 15 10 5 Length of Lake Erie
10" 10* Average width of Grand Canyon
10" Distance of Neptune from the sun 10 3 One mile
10 12 Distance of Saturn from the sun 10 2 Length of football field
10 11 Distance of Earth from the sun 10 1 Height of shade tree
10
10 Distance of Mercury from the sun 10° One yard
9
10 Mean length of Earth's shadow 10- 1 Width of your hand
Radius of the sun 10~ 2 Diameter of a pencil
10 8 Mean distance from Earth to the moon 10~ 3 Thickness of windowpane
-4
Diameter of Jupiter (Fig. 3-6) 10 Thickness of a piece of paper
10 7 Radius of Earth 10~ 5 Diameter of red blood corpuscle
A collection of a hundred billion distant suns similar to our own. The nearest of these is the
make up what is known as our galaxy. Our own Great Nebula of Andromeda, which you can just
star, the sun, is probably a quite ordinary, though see with the naked eye on a dark, clear night.
rather elderly, family member. Beyond our (See Figs. 3-8 and 3-9.) Nearly a billion distant
galaxy comes a great collection of other galaxies, galaxies are scattered throughout the universe,
cousins of our own, dotting the heavens as far as according to estimates based on photographs of
our greatest telescopes can reach. They spread the sky taken with the big Palomar telescope.
out in all directions, looking fainter and smaller How many more there may be we are unable to
the greater their distance, but they are recognizably say.
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES 29
3—8. The Great Nebula in the constellation Andromeda. unaided eye. It is of the same order of size as the Milky Way,
This enormous island universe of stars, which is similar to our about 100,000 light-years in diameter. This photograph,
own galaxy, is visible to the unaided eye under favorable con- made with the 48-in. Schmidt telescope at Mt. Palomar in
ditions as a hazy patch of light, subtending an angle of about California, also shows two satellite galaxies of the Great
3 degrees. It is the most remote object that is visible to the Nebula (center right and center left).
Table 2
Orders of Magnitude of Distances Too Large to
Measure by Geometric Means
Length
in Meters Associated Distance
2
10 Distance to farthest photographed object
(a galaxy)
1
to measure a fraction of a turn. How does a screw help us to
10 Distance to the North Star (Polaris)
measure a small distance accurately?
Ol
mm
2345678
|j|l|llil|llll|llllll!ll|ll!l|lllljlil III li iilini
o I
Zi lil Oi l
3—11 (b). Here the hair has been photographed on a very small 1
on the ruler
has made it
is one hundredth of a
Each of the smallest divisions
millimeter. The microscope
possible for us to measure the diameter of the hair
llll llll Mill
111
lllllllll
111
I 11 mini iniliiii
llll
II
1
llll
more accurately. How accurate was your estimate from Fig, *
a millimeter?
Orders of Magnitude of Distances Too Small to usually demonstrated by pointing out that three
Measure by Geometric Means separate measurements are needed to locate an
object in space. In the room in which you are now
Length
in Meters Associated Distance sitting, for example, you can locate any point by
specifying its distance from one wall, its distance
10"' Average distance between successive col- from a second adjacent wall, and its height from
lisions (mean free path) of molecules in
the floor. We can say this with complete con-
the air of a room
fidence, even though we may not know the shape
10" 7 Thickness of thinnest soap bubble still
of the room. We assume that it has at least two
showing colors
straight walls that meet in a corner of some kind.
10" Average distance between molecules of If walls and floor meet at right angles, they repre-
air in a room sent what are called rectangular or Cartesian
9
io- Size of molecule of oil coordinates. If the corners are all right-angled,
io-
10
Average distance between atoms of a the calculations may be simpler, but they are no
crystalline solid better or no worse than any other kind. If the
room is circular, three numbers will still do the
io- n
job, although the calculation is different.
IO" 12 Average distance between atoms packed In any case, three numbers — and the rules that
in center of densest stars
say what they mean — define any point, and only
io- 13 that point. This is merely one way of expressing
io- 1 * Size of largest atomic nucleus the fact that space is three-dimensional. It is,
a square whose edge is a standard unit of length. the unit is being subdivided to measure small irregularities.
Since we use meters for length, we have as a unit As you can see, there are additional small areas that will not
20.3 cm long. It is not hard to see that this much as a result of changing air currents from
method work for any length that we want to
will the warm surface of the earth. We want a clear,
measure. For we can make the divisions finer stillnight, with the star well up in the sky.
and finer until irregularities in the edge of the box Another assumption involved in measuring by
we measure, or in the markings on our ruler, limit triangulation is that the laws of geometry are
the fineness of our measurements of its length. correct. They cannot be taken for granted, how-
Some measurements are not subject to the proc- ever. All assumptions that we make in measur-
ess of making smaller and smaller subdivisions ing must be tested. The geometry and
results of
for greater and greater accuracy. The counting the straight path of lines of sight have been well
of the number of people in a room, for example, tested, largely by the success of the whole picture
has a natural unit, the individual. Here the whole we can build up. But we must always be on the
question of smaller and smaller subdivisions is watch, especially when using indirect methods in
irrelevant. Unlike time and space, matter does measuring things far from everyday experience, to
have known natural units. This is the real essence see if such traditional assumptions can still be
of modern physics. The natural units of matter relied upon.
are its building blocks, atoms and their few parts, We noted earlier that we must do our best to
which combine in so many ways to make up the understand the limitations of our instruments, in-
whole of the material world stars and sea, — cluding our senses. The problem of measuring
pencil and paper, skin and bone. We do not the sizes of planets and stars illustrates this point.
know whether space and time do or do not have When we look through a telescope at various
such natural units. We only know that we have planets, they have various sizes; they appear as
not run into them. Until we find such units (if we discs of various diameters. Stars seen in tele-
ever do) we will freely use any subdivision of our scopes also appear to have some diameter, but the
arbitrary unit of measurement to represent time diameter does not change as we look from star
and space. to star. Instead depends on which telescope we
it
We have just looked at the problems involved use and on which way we
point it. The apparent
in the basicmethod of measurement by counting. size of stars seen in telescopes arises from the be-
In many measurements a second type of
real havior of telescopes, not from the real size of
problem arises. A measurement that is made by stars. (See Fig. 3-14.) We have run into a
an indirect method is always based on special limitation of our instrument, one which we can
assumptions. In measuring the thickness of a later understand,and we must get the information
piece of paper, for example, we made an assump- about the size of stars some other way. All in-
tion that the paper was uniform. The measure- direct methods of measurement have limitations,
ment of large distances by triangulation also and no one method works for all cases.
involves an assumption — one we are pretty Even the method of using standard lengths has
familiar with in everyday life. We assume that its problems. In very precise land surveys, for
the line of sight — which is the line that light example, the temperature of the steel tapes used
travels to get to the eye from the object is a — is measured meter by meter in order to correct
straight line. Only if this is right will our method for expansion or contraction. Here, because we
of sight-triangulation work. Commonly we check employ physical objects, the direct method must
the straightness of a board by sighting along it. be carefully scrutinized.
We seem to accept the straightness of the path of
light. Of course, it can deceive us and often does. 3-7. Significant Figures
The heat-shimmer you see above a hot radiator or Numbers and their combinations by means of
a sun-warmed surface tells you that here are sight- arithmetic give us an exact way of speaking about
paths which are not straight and are constantly quantity. In physics, however, there are limits
changing. If we wish a reliable answer when to our accuracy of measurement, and they in
measuring long distances by triangulation, we turn place limits on our use of numbers to record
must avoid looking through heated, disturbed air. our measurements.
We cannot measure the distance to a star by this We have learned that the use of a large string
means on a night when the star is twinkling very of zeros on either side of the decimal point, to
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES 35
third digit but have no idea of the value of the Fig. 3—7, shows two star images in detail. The images of the
two brightest stars display four rays, while the smaller stars
fourth. The number of digits about which we do
appear as small, irregular shapes. The four neat rays on the
feel reasonably sure is called the number of bright stars are due to the out-of-focus image of a four-armed
significant figures. In the example of the hair, support within the telescope. Even the roundish shapes of the
we have indicated only one significant figure. images of the fainter stars do not depend on the stars, but on
the nature of the telescope, the atmosphere, the photographic
This means that we think three is a reasonable
plate, and the light. These cause the light from a distant star
value, but we are not at all sure of the next digit
to blur rather than focus to a sharp point. The true star image
(second significant figure). in each case would be considerably smaller than the blurry
A physicist who makes a measurement must spot. For this reason, the star images of Fig. 3—7 appear much
estimate its and the simplest way of
reliability, more crowded than the stars which make them. In the same
expressing that reliability is by writing the proper way, the stars that form our Milky Way cannot be separated
by the unaided eye.
number of significant figures. To write additional
figures that have no meaning is worse than a What is the meaning of this result? In any num-
waste of time. It may mislead people who use ber obtained by measurement all the digits follow-
those figures into believing them. ing the last significant one are unknown — for ex-
It is clear that the greater the accuracy of our ample, the hundredths and thousandths place in
measurements, the larger the number of significant the first measurement above. These unknown
figureswe can use. When we write four signifi- digits are not zero. you add an un-
Clearly if
cant figures, we imply that a fifth digit would known quantity to a known quantity you get an
have no meaning. If our accuracy were ten times unknown answer. Consequently, the last two
we would use another significant figure.
greater, digits in the sum above are in fact unknown. In
The most careful physical measurements, using this case, then, we should round off all of our
the highest available accuracy of the primary measurements to the nearest tenth so that all
standards, still fall short of having twelve signifi- the digits in our answer will be significant. This
cant figures. gives
Because the numbers used in physics reflect
27.8 hr
the limitations of measurement, we modify our
1.3 hr
ideas of arithmetic slightly so as to make sure
0.7 hr
that we do not write meaningless digits in our
29.8 hr
answers. Suppose we make the following time
measurements —
27.8 hr, 1.324 hr, and 0.66 hr — Since the first measurement is known only to the
and we want to find their sum. Paying no atten- nearest tenth of an hour, we know the sum only
tion to significant figures, we might write to the nearest tenth of an hour.
27.8 hr Subtraction of measured quantities works the
1.324 hr same way. It makes no sense to subtract known
0.66 hr and unknown quantities. Particular care must
29.784 hr be taken in subtracting two numbers of nearly
36 SPACE AND ITS MEASURES
equal magnitude. For example, suppose you error in the third significant figure. All the figures
wish to find the difference in length of two pieces we write beyond the third have no significance.
of wire. One you have measured to be 1.55 The proper way to express the answer is
-2
meters long and the other 1.57 meters long. 2.30 X 10 m 2 for when two numbers are mul-
,
large or zero instead of 2 cm. Subtraction of the least accuratemeasurement you are using.
nearly equal quantities destroys accuracy. For It should be noted that numbers that are not
this reason,you sometimes need measurements the result of measurement may have unlimited
much more accurate than the answers you want. accuracy and may be taken to any degree of
To avoid the difficulty of making more accurate accuracy required by the nature of the problem.
measurements, we would put the two wires side For example, if an area was measured and found
by side if possible and measure the difference to be 3.76 m 2 twice that area would be
,
the difference between two large numbers. We have seen how to handle numbers when
Now what about multiplication? How do we they represent physical quantities. But we have by
modify it to take account of the limitations of no means told the whole story of accuracy in
measurement? Suppose we wish to find the measurement. The use of significant figures
area of a long strip of tin. With a meter stick sometimes raises difficulties that would lead us
we measure its width to be 1.15 cm and its length into a detailed study of the theory of errors.
to be 2.002 Here we have three-significant-
m. However, the idea of significant figures helps us
figure accuracy in our width measurement and avoid misleading numbers and unnecessary calcu-
four-significant-figure accuracy in our length lation.
measurement. To get the area we multiply length Every physical quantity must have: a unit, to
by width. Paying no attention to significant tell what was counted; an order of magnitude;
figures, we get and a statement about its reliability, which for
the present we can make in a rough way by writ-
A = 2.002 mX 1.15 X 10~ 2 m ing only the correct number of significant figures.
= 2.30230 X 10- 2 m 2
. There is no technique in physics more important
than the writing of physical quantities with all
But now think of the meaning of this answer. these facts made clear.
When we measured the width we wrote 1.15 cm
because we were not sure that the real width
might not be a bit bigger or a bit smaller by per-
FURTHER READING
haps 0.01 cm. If in fact the width is that much Gamow, George, One, Two, Three . . . Infinity.
Mentor Books, 1957 (pp. 257-261).
bigger, we have made a mistake in the area by
Helson, W. H. I., and Kilpatrick, F. D., "Experi-
the product of this extra width times the length, ments in Perception." American, August,
Scientific
that is, 1951 (p. 50). Some remarkable optical illusions
illustrating the fallibility of our senses.
Error = 0.01 X 10- 2 mX 2.002 m Lee, Oliver J., Measuring Our Universe. Ronald
= 0.02 X 10- 2 m 2
.
Press, 1950. How physicists and astronomers meas-
ure distances within the atom and in outer space.
Moore, Patrick, The Story of Man and the Stars.
Thus we see that we have an uncertain number in
Norton, 1954.
the hundredths place, which means that our Whipple, Fred, Earth, Moon and Planets. Harvard
original evaluation of the area may already be in University Press.
SPACE AND ITS MEASURES 37
1. Choose an arbitrary unit such as the length of scaled so as tofit on a piece of paper, the distance
the first joint of the thumb or the length of a may be roughly measured. The distance may
fingernail. Mark off a scale, using this unit, along also be determined trigonometrically, since two
the edge of a piece of paper. Use this scale to angles and a side are known.
measure the length and the width of this page.
Determine the ratio of the length to the width. 6. * What is the diameter of the moon? Assuming
What are the units of this ratio? Compare the that the moon is 3.8 X 10 s km from the earth,
ratio that you obtained with the ratios that others you. can determine its diameter by the following
obtained for this same object using different units. method. Place two strips of opaque tape 2 cm
What is the effect of different units in measuring apart on a windowpane. Make a pinhole in a
ratios? card and then observe the moon through the
pinhole and between the two strips. Back away
2. * Stand 75 to 150 yards from a building with a from the window until the moon just fills the
fairly flat front and several stories high (an alley space between the two strips. Measure the dis-
between buildings with one dead end is also suit- tance from the card to the window. Using the
able). Clap your hands sharply and listen to the geometry of similar triangles, calculate the diame-
echo, which is, of course, much fainter than the ter of the moon. Do not attempt to use this
original clap. method to determine the diameter of the sun.
Nowclap in rhythm and adjust your rate of The bright sun will be harmful to the eye. Could
clapping until you cannot hear the echo because this method be used to determine the size of a
it comes backat the same time the louder sound star?
isbeing created. Have someone count the num-
ber of times you clap in ten seconds. Measure 7. * Cover one eye with your hand and try to judge
the distance and compute the speed of sound distances with only one eye. Observe that most
(not forgetting to double the distance to get the of the hunting animals and birds have a unique
path traversed). placement of the eyes which permits them to esti-
mate the striking distance to their prey. Consider
3. * tree or a building on a sunny
Find the height of a
the difficulty of almost any of the many tasks
day. The information you need is the length of
we perform if we were denied this depth percep-
both your shadow and that of the tree and your
tion.
own height. From these data the tree's height
may be found by using similar triangles. Does
the sun's position affect your results?
8. * A camera with one lens cannot show relative dis-
tance unless the picture it takes shows the depth
4. In using the triangulation method of measuring of space which separates objects. Show how
this could be used to make a camera "lie." Take
a distance, an observer sights upon an object
directlv opposite him on the far bank of a river.
a picture of objects on a table, from slightly below
He places a stake where he is standing and then the edge. Notice that similar objects appear to
moves 50 meters upstream parallel to the river. be of different size depending upon their position
Here he places a second stake. Then he moves on the table. Effects such as this are used to
10 meters farther upstream and places a third show the illusion of a person seemingly inside
stake. From this stake he walks directly away a bottle or larger than a tree.
from the river until he is on a line with the second
stake and the object on the far side of the river. 9. (a) Asimple range finder may be improvised by
He finds that he is 44 meters from the third stake. using two meter sticks to establish sight lines to
What is the width of the river? See Fig. 3-1 of the object. The amount these deviate from paral-
the text for a diagram of this method. lel positions is a measure of the nearness of the
front measurement had been 96.2 instead of 96.0 18. A person reports seeing a "flying saucer" 200 feet
cm when the backs of the sticks remained at 1 long, at an altitude of 6000 feet and flying at an
meter? Express this error as a per cent. estimated speed of 2000 miles per hour. Discuss
(c) As the sticks are made more nearly parallel, the accuracy of this observation.
failure to sight the sticks exactly produces a much
larger error of range estimation. Compare the 19. Two students made the following length measure-
ranges when the fronts of the sticks are 99.0 and ments in the lab and wished to find their sum —
99.2 cm apart while the backs remain at one 3.52 m, 4.213 m, and 5.034 m. One student
meter. insisted that they should round off to the nearest
hundredth of a meter first and then add, while
10. * Constructing a scale model of the solar system: the other student argued that they should be able
A volleyball representing the sun and placed near to add the measurements directly and then round
one end of a football field will give a scale on off their sum.
which an inch will equal approximately 10 5 miles (a) Try both of these methods and compare the
(0.1 megamile). To such a scale, the earth will be results.
only a little more than Jg- inch in diameter and (b) Which student was correct?
930 inches (77 feet) away from the sun. Distant
Neptune would be almost half a mile away and 20. Solve the following problems with due consider-
only a little over i inch in diameter. What sizes ation to significant figures.
will our other planets and their satellites have 1 ' 4 * 10 *-?
(a)
on our model? By what must all dimen-
factor 2.6 X 10 5
sions be reduced if this scale model is to fit easily (b) 3.7(6.27 X 10- 2 ) = ?
on your football field? What object could you (c) 46.7 - 10.04 = ?
use to represent the earth on this new scale? 8.34 X 0.659 ,
V
'
12.03
11. Determine the thickness of the leaves in one of
your books by measuring the thickness of 200 21. A student measures a block of wood and records
pages (100 sheets). Why is it suggested that you the following results: length = 6.3 cm, width
use 100 sheets? What assumptions are made in = 12:1 cm, and height = .84 cm.
this measurement? (a) What is the volume of this block?
(b) Assume the length and width measurements
12. A straight line 5.0 cm long is rotated in a plane to be correct; however, you can see that the
about one end. What is the area swept out by height measurement may be off by 0.01 cm either
this motion? way. How would this change your answer for
the volume?
13. A straight line 20 cm in length is moved to a new (c) What fraction is this of the total volume?
swept out in moving the line? 2.6 cm, what is its circumference?
15. A piece of cardboard whose dimensions are 12 cm 24. A bus driver clocked the following times for por-
by 8.0 cm is tilted about the 8.0 cm edge through tions of his route:
an angle of 90 deg. What volume has been swept Station A to Station B 1.63 hr
out by this motion? Station B to Station C 4.7 hr
Station C to Station D 0.755 hr
16. An method for determining the area of an
indirect Station D to Station E 2.00 hr
irregular surface was mentioned in this chapter. (a) How long did it take him to drive from
What is assumed in this method? Station A to Station E?
(b) What
part of the whole trip does the time
17. A 12-inch LP
record which plays for 25 minutes between Stations B and represent? D
at 33i RPM
has 4 inches of grooved surface (c) The time to go from Station A to Station C
along the radius. What is the average distance is how much more than the time to go from
between grooves? Station C to Station E?
FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
CHAPTER 4
39
40 FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
[ y
We
scales
can illustrate this relation between weight
and volume for iron by a graph. We must choose
—
one for the vertical direction, marking
off some number of pounds for each vertical di-
^
1200
900 — <»
/
vision of the paper, and one for the horizontal | 600
direction, marking off volumes in ft
3
Now we .
2
1
4
'olume Weight 1
3
1 ft
3
440 pounds Volume (ft )
3
2 ft 880 pounds
4—1. Graphic representation of a direct proportion. the
3 ft 3 1320 pounds If
3
weight of 1 ft of iron were less, would the graph be steeper?
or less steep?
The graph is shown in Fig. 4-1.
the straight line
On it are shown two values of V and the corre-
sponding values of W. You can see from the
similar triangles that the ratio W/Vis the same in
both cases. Such a graph presents
meaning of the equation
represent this equation.
— kV. W
to the eye the
It is
A * L-.
areas is the same as the ratio of the squares of any two corre-
same thing applies to the corresponding lengths
sponding dimensions. Here, since L is twice L [M is also twice
in any two similar figures. (See Fig. 4-3.)
M) the area of the larger figure is four times the area of the
Some figures that have the same name may not smaller.
be similar. Not all rectangles, forexample, are
similar. We can have two rectangles with the This is just a particular example of the general
same base b but different heights h. The area rule: the ratio of the volumes of similar solids is
is given as the product of the two linear dimen- the cube of the ratio of their linear dimensions.
sions: A = bh. Although such examples are Check this yourself for cubes or for some curious
different from similar figures, they have incom- solid that you build. One good way is to make
mon the fact that the area is always measured in the figure of blocks or bricks, then find the ratio
units of the square of a length. If we use the of the numbers of bricks you must use to make a
meter as the measure of all lengths, the areas will similar solid with every linear dimension doubled.
be specified in terms of the number of meters You will find that you use eight times — that is,
factor. For similar solid figures, when the linear We can write equations including the propor-
dimensions are multiplied by the factor n, the tionality constant: A = L2 for the square and
volumes are multiplied by the factor n 3 one n for , A = wR 2
for the circle. Just as we could repre-
each linear dimension. For example, the volume sent the equation W= kV by a graph, so we can
of a sphere is represent these equations by graphs. The rela-
tion between length of edge and area for a square
K = £*,
is shown in the table.
2m 4 m 2
V = ^{R'f 3 m 9 m 2
4 m 16 m 2
= %*>#
= nl V.
42 FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
uu
70
80
60
60 50 -
^E 40
40 1)
E
3
30
>
20
20 —
2 4 6 10 10
Length of Edge in Meters
J^\ 1 1
the length of a side. How can you use this graph to find the Length (m)
area of a square if you know the length of a side? How would
you use it to find the length of a side, knowing the area?
4—5. Graphic representation of the volume of a cube versus
the length of its side.
In Fig. 4-4 we have used the values in this table
to draw the graph of A = L 2 .
V = kL 3
which we discussed
, here, we also find
the vertical scale to account for the different
values of k. For example, since A = trR 2 for a
inverse-power laws, such as / = k/L 2 — inten-
sity of light is inversely proportional to the second
circle, we can read the radius on the horizontal
power of the distance from the light source. We
scale and the area on the vertical one by multi-
shall discuss the inverse-square relation in Section
plying every vertical reading by t.
4-3.
We can make the same kind of graphical repre-
Whenever we have a relation between the
sentation for the volumes of similar figures. The
values of one quantity in terms of the values of
table shows a few values of the relation for the
another, we have what is called a mathematical
volume of a cube, V — L 3 .
4-2. Interpolation and Extrapolation know the equations to hold according to the ge-
ometry of Euclid for spheres or squares of any
Suppose we measure the volumes and corre- size, however large. But the physicist has to ad-
sponding radii of a number of spheres and plot mit that he has no certain test for the validity of
the results (volume against radius). From the Euclid's geometry beyond the distances to the
measurements, we are sure of the positions of a galaxies. Indeed, theoretical physicists have in-
number of points on this plot, one for each sphere. vented proposals to change the laws of Euclid
If we now draw a smooth curve through these whenever enormous distances are involved.
points, we obtain a curve from which we can find From the point of view of physics, the geometry
the volume of a sphere for any radius not only — of space is subject to experiment. Euclid's geom-
for the values of the radii we have measured. The etry may not be an accurate description of our
process of finding from this plot new values measurements if the shapes we study range in
located between the measured ones is called in- size over many orders of magnitude. Naturally,
terpolation. Such a process is meaningful and we shall not change our description unless it gets
useful when there are good reasons to believe that us into trouble. In this course the geometry of
the curve is valid for values between the measured Euclid will serve us well.
ones. Then one gets information which is not im-
mediatelv available from the measurements.
example of the relation between the
In the 4-3. The Inverse-Square Relation
volumes and radii of spheres, we know from the Look at a row of street lights that stretch away
from you in the distance. The lamps themselves
equation V= — /?
3
that the volume changes
are all the same —
that is, each gives off the same
smoothly with the radius. So a smooth curve amount of light each second but the closer —
through a few computed or measured points is each one is to you the more intense it appears.
reasonable. When no formula is known, how- If the light spreads out equally in all directions
ever, we depend only on experimental measure- (which is nearly true for a street lamp and a star
ments. Then drawing a smooth curve expresses and many other sources), it can be pictured as
our belief that things change smoothly in nature. shown in Fig. 4-6. Here we consider just a por-
Interpolation always carries with it some element tion of the light moving out through a sort of
of risk. Even if things do change smoothly, we "pyramid" from the point P. As the distance
must get experimental values quite close to-
gether if we want to know how the graph goes
in any region where it curves sharply. Interpo-
lation is of no use at all for graphs of functions
from the source increases, the light is spread over street lamps, which we call 1 and 2. at different
a greater area and the light appears less intense. distances d and d2 from
x
a white wall which they
This suggests that the intensity of the light is in- illuminate. Then, their intensities at the wall are
versely proportional to the area it falls on. in the ratio
/« 2
'
di
where / represents the intensity and A the area. This relation enables us to estimate the distance
For the moment let us assume that this relation of one lamp if we have another equal lamp at a
holds for light. Later you will study light inten- known distance. For example, suppose we find
sities experimentally. that a lamp 10 meters {d ) away gives an intensityx
Each of the sides of the squares in Fig. 4—6 is that is 16 times that of an identical lamp at some
proportional to its distance from P. Therefore, unknown distance d2 (Photoelectric cells,
.
the area of each square is proportional to the camera light meters, and photographic plates
square of that distance. If we call the distance d, can give accurate measures of relative intensity.
this can be expressed as So can the eye with the aid of a special screen on
which to make comparisons.) How can we find
A *d2 .
We know that ljlx is 16 and we know that
d-P.
dr is 10 meters.
Combining this relation with / * — we find that
_ h _ d2 2
16 2
12 (10 meters)
This is the inverse-square relation, which for d = vT6 X (10 meters) 2 = 4 X 10 meters
2
light says that the intensity is inversely propor- = 40 meters.
tional to the square of the distance from the
source. This is just the method which gives us our
knowledge of the distance of far-off stars, whose
In detail you can see that / * -^ by remember- distance from us is too great to be measured by
ing that the geometric methods using the diameter of the
earth's orbit as a base line. The measurement is
made by comparing the intensity of the faint
'«i image of a faraway star on a photographic plate
r _ a_
means ~ (1) with the intensity of a near-by star which appears
I A'
to give off the same amount of light. The meas-
distance d. For example, suppose we have two a Centauri A. From the inverse-square relation
FUNCTIONS AND SCALING 45
we learn that a Centauri A must be about if the physical dimensions of the light source are
\ I0 n = 3 X 10 5 times as far away from us as small (less than 5 per cent, say) compared with
the sun is. The sun is 1.5 X 10 u m away, so the the distance between eye and source. The in-
star must be about 4.5 X 10 16 maway. And this verse-square relation describes many situations
is almost exactly what a geometrical measure- in nature where something — light, particles, or
ment also tells us. In this case the inverse-square lines of electric force — radiates from a point in
relation proses itself as a method of distance straight lines uniformly in all directions. Many
measurement. When we apply the inverse-square experimental verifications of this law for light
relation to measurement of distances of stars and other effects have proved its truth and veri-
farther away, our confidence is strengthened be- fied the deductions we made from geometry.
cause it agrees with other indirect methods of
measurement. 4-4. Scaling — The Physics of Lilliput
We were able to find the distance to a star The fictional traveler Lemuel Gulliver spent a
by two methods, but we do not have much hope busy time in a kingdom called Lilliput, where all
of finding the size geometrically. The angle sub- living things —
men, cattle, trees, grass were —
tended at our eye is much too small to be meas- exactly similar to our world, except that they
ured visually or even with the best instruments. were all built on the scale of one inch to the foot.
If the star is the same size as the sun, this angle Lilliputians were a little under six inches high, on
isabout the same as the angle a dime would sub- the average, and built proportionately just as
tend at a distance of 300 km. That is about the we are. Gulliver also visited Brobdingnag, the
distance from New York Washington. No
to country of the giants, who were exactly like men
wonder the sizes of stars cannot be measured di- but twelve times as tall. As Swift described it,
rectly even through the largest telescopes. daily life in both kingdoms was about like ours
The inverse-square relation has given us a (in the eighteenth century). His commentary on
powerful new way
measure great distances.
to human behavior is still worth reading, but we
Many other mathematical relations in physics shall see that people of such sizes just could not
can be exploited to tell us things about the physi- have been as he described them.
cal world. Often these do not appear to be Long before Swift lived, Galileo understood
closely related to the experiments which gave us why very small or very large models of man could
the relation in the first place. We have intro- not be like us, but apparently Dean Swift had
duced the inverse-square relation here to illus- never read what Galileo wrote. One character in
trate the use of such relations in physics, not to Galileo's "Two New Sciences" says, "Now since
discuss the nature of light. Light will be our ... in geometry, . . . mere size cuts no figure, I
topic later on. do not see that the properties of circles, triangles,
We must realize, however, that the inverse- cylinders, cones, and other solid figures will
square method of distance measurement has its change with their size. . .
." But his physicist
limitations. The inverse-square relation will cer- friend replies, "The common opinion is here ab-
tainly not apply if there is anything between solutely wrong." Let us see why.
the eye and the source that makes light deviate We start with the strength of a rope. It is easy
from a straight-line path or absorbs some of it. to see that if one man who pulls with a certain
Obviously, a patch of fog would reduce the in- strength can almost break a certain rope, two
tensity from a distant lamp and upset any calcu- such ropes will just withstand the pull of two men.
lations based on the inverse-square law. There A single large rope with the same total area of
must also be some definite meaning given to the cross section as the two smaller ropes combined
distance between eye and source. This sounds willcontain just double the number of fibers of
obvious —
and it is, if we think of a street lamp one of the small ropes, and it will also do the job.
in the next block. We measure from where In other words, the breaking strength of a wire
we stand to any point on the lamp. Since the or rope is proportional to its area of cross sec-
lamp is so far away, all these measurements give tion, or to the square of its diameter. Experience
essentially the same distance d. Thus you can and theory agree in this conclusion. Further-
see that the inverse-square relation will be true more, the same relation holds, not only for ropes
46 FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
making the hones, or he must admit a diminu- mainly through the skin (and some through
tion of strength in comparison with men of breathing out warm air). It is easy to believe —
medium stature; for if his height be increased in- and it can be checked by experiment — that the
ordinately he will and he crushed under his
fall heat loss is proportional to the surface area, so
own weight. if the size of a body be
Whereas, that
diminished, the strength of that body is not di- heat loss « L2 ,
minished in the same proportion; indeed, the keeping other factors, like the temperature, nature
smaller the bodv the greater its relative strength. The food taken
of skin, and so on, constant. in
Thus a small dog could probably carry on his must supply this heat, as well as the surplus
back two or three dogs of his own size; but 1 be- energy we use in moving about. So minimum
lieve that a horse could not carrv even one of his
food needs go as L 2 . If a man like Gulliver can
own size." The sketch of Fig. 4-8 is taken from live off a leg oflamb and a loaf of bread for a day
Galileo, who drew it to illustrate the paragraph
or two, a Lilliputian with the same body tempera-
just quoted.
ture will require a volume of food only (y^) 2 as
An elephant is already so large that his limbs
large. But his leg of lamb, scaled down to his
are clumsily thickened. However, a whale, the world, will be smaller in volume by a factor of
largest of all animals, may weigh forty times as 3
(tV) - Therefore, he would need a dozen of his
much as an elephant: yet the whale's bones are roasts and loaves to feel as well fed as Gulliver
not proportionately thickened. They are strong
did after one. Lilliputians must be a hungry lot,
enough because the whale is supported by water.
restless, active, graceful, but easily waterlogged.
What is the fate of a stranded whale? His ribs
You can recognize these qualities in many small
break. Some of the dinosaurs of old were animals
mammals, like a mouse.
of whalelike size: how did they get along?
We can see why there are no warm-blooded
Following Galileo, we have investigated the animals much smaller than the mouse. Fish and
problems of scaling up to giants. Now let's take frogs and insects can be very much smaller be-
a look at some of the problems that arise when
cause their temperature is not higher than their
we scale down. surroundings. In accord with the scaling laws of
When you climb dripping wet out of a pool area and volume, small, warm-blooded animals
there is a thin film of water on your skin. Your need relatively a great deal of food; really small
fingers are no less wet than your forearm; the
ones could not gather or even digest such an
thickness of the water film is much the same over enormous amount. Certainly fhe agriculture of
most of your body. Roughly, at least, the the Lilliputians could not have supported a king-
amount of water you bring out is proportional dom one Gulliver described.
like the
to the surface area of your body. You can ex- Now we see that neither Brobdingnag nor Lilli-
press this by the relation
put can really be a scale model of our world. But
amount of water a L 2 ,
what have these conclusions to do with physics?
where L is your height. The original load on
Let's start again with the very large. As we
your frame is as before, proportional to your
scale up any system, the load will eventually be
volume. So, the ratio extra load! original load is
greater than the strength of the structure. This
proportional to L 2 fO, Perhaps you
or to 1/L.
effect applies to every physical system, not just
carry out of the pool a glassful or so, which
to animals, of course. Buildings can be very
amounts to about a 1 per cent increase in what large because their materials are stronger than
you have to move about. But a Lilliputian will bone, their shapes are different, and they do not
bring out about 12 per cent of his weight, which
move. These facts determine the constants like
would be equivalent to a heavy winter suit of
K in the equation
clothing with an overcoat. Getting out of the
pool would be no fun If a fly gets wet, his body
!
strength = KL 2
,
load doubles, and he is all but imprisoned by but the same laws hold. No building can be made,
the drop of water. which will look like the Empire State but be as
There is a still more important effect of the high as a mountain, say ten thousand meters.
scale of a living body. Your body loses heat Mountains are solid structures, for the most
48 FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
part, without interior cavities. Just as the bones may be minimized. In this way we may discover,
of a giant must be thick, an object of mountain- or at least get a clearer view of, things which are
ous size on the earth must be all but solid, or less obvious on our normal scale of experience.
else built of new materials yet unknown. It is largely for this reason that physicists examine,
Our arguments are not restricted to the surface in and out of their laboratories, the very large
of the earth. We
can imagine building a tremen- and the very small, the slow and the rapid, the
dous structure far out in space away from the hot and the cold, and all the other unusual
gravitational pull of the earth. The load then is circumstances they can contrive. In examining
not given by the earth's gravitational pull, but as what happens in these circumstances we use in-
the structure is built larger and larger each part struments both to produce the unusual circum-
pulls gravitationally on every other and soon the stances and to extend our senses in making
outside of the structure is pulled in with great measurements.
force. The inside, built of ordinary materials, is It is hard to resist pointing out how much the
crushed, and large protuberances on the surface scale of man's own size affects the way he sees
break off or sink in. As a result any large the world. It has been largely the task of physics
structure like a planet has a simple shape, and if to try toform a picture of the world which does
it is large enough the shape is close to a sphere. not depend upon the way we happen to be built.
Any other shape will be unable to support itself. But it is hard to get rid of these effects of our
Here is the essential reason why the planets own scale. We can build big roads and bridges
and the sun tend to be spherical. The pull of which are long and thin, but are essentially not
gravity is important for us on earth, but as we three-dimensional, complex structures. The very
extend the range of dimensions which we study, biggest things we can make which have some
it becomes absolutely dominant in the very large. roundness, which are fully three-dimensional, are
Only motion can change this result. The great buildings and great ships. These lack a good deal
masses of gas which are nebulae, for example, of being a thousand times larger than men in their
are changing in time, and hence the law that large linear dimensions.
objects must be simple in shape is modified. Nor can we, as yet, build anything complex like
When we go from our size to the very small, a watch or a radio tube which is scaled down to
gravitational effects cease to be important. But 10~ 3 of our own length. In this range of magni-
as we saw in investigating Lilliput, surface effects tudes lies all our engineering. Physics goes much
become significant. If we go far enough toward beyond, outward to the galaxies and inward to
the very small, surfaces no longer appear smooth, the nucleus of the atom. The extension of our
but are so rough that we have difficulty in defining engineering technology to the very small and
a surface. Other descriptions must be used. to the really giant belongs to the future. Power
In any case, it will not come as a complete plants a mile high, or radio circuits built into a
surprise that in the domain of the atom, the very pinhead, would represent enormous new possi-
small, scale factors demonstrate that the dominant bilities for technology. They may come, but
pull is one which is not easily observed in every- for the foreseeable future the human scale will
day experience. fix the physical nature of most of our endeavors.
Such arguments as these run through all of Even within our present technology our scaling
physics. Like order-of-magnitude measurements, arguments are important. If we design a new
they are extremely valuable when we begin the large object on the basis of a small one, we are
study of any physical system. How the behavior warned that new effects too small to detect on
of a system will change with changes in the scale our scale may enter and even become the most
of its dimensions, its motion, and so on, is often important things to consider. We cannot just
the best guide to a detailed analysis. scale up and down blindly, geometrically; but
Even more, it is by the study of systems built by scaling in the light of physical reasoning we
on many unusual scales that physicists have been can sometimes foresee what changes will occur.
able to uncover unsuspected physical relations. In this way we can employ scaling in intelligent
When changing scale one aspect of the physical
, airplane design, for example, and not arrive at a
world may be much emphasized and another one jet transport that looks like a bee —
and won't fly.
FUNCTIONS AND SCALING 49
1. The total thickness of 500 sheets of a particular and plot these values against the corresponding
weight.
sample of paper is 40 mm. Assuming that they
(a) Does your graph suggest that the amount
are of uniform thickness, plot a graph of the total
of distortion is directly proportional to the weights
thickness against the number of sheets. From
applied?
your sjraph determine the thickness of 200 sheets.
Of 300 sheets. Of 600 sheets. (b) Does this relation hold for extremely small
weights? Large weights?
4. Carefully plot the area of a square against length 40 7.30 X 10- 2 110 1.43
of side for lengths from 1 to 10. (This may be 50 1.22 X 10- 1 120 1.96
60 1.97 X 10- 1 130 2.67
used as a square-root table in solving other prob-
lems.)
6. A hollow metal sphere has a wall thickness of 2 10. The pressure of the atmosphere decreases as the
cm. If you increase both the diameter and thick- altitude increases. At sea level the pressure is one
ness of this sphere so that the overall volume is atmosphere and at approximately 5500 meters,
three times the original overall volume, how thick the pressure is 0.5 atmospheres. It con-
will the shell of the new sphere be? tinues to decrease by approximately half with
each increase of 5500 meters up to 16,000 m.
(a) Plot the pressure P in atmospheres as a
7. The range of a television station is a function of
function of altitude A in meters.
the height of the antenna. The range is given by
(b) Is the representation improved by plotting
the formula D= 3.56 Vh, where D is the range 1/F?
in kilometers and h is the height of the antenna in (c) What is the pressure at the top of Mt.
meters. Everest (8800 meters)?
(a) Calculate the range for antenna heights of
(d) What is the pressure in atmospheres at an
10 meters, 20 m, 30 m, and 50 m. altitude of 100 kilometers? Do you believe your
(b) Plot the range against the
antenna height. answer?
(c) Can you determine from the graph the
range for an antenna height of 40 m? Of 70 m?
(d) How would you plot the data to get a 11. If two identical lamps are 60 cm apart, where
straight-line graph? should a screen be placed between them so that
50 FUNCTIONS AND SCALING
the intensity on one side of the screen is four times (a) what would you expect to be the ratio of
the intensity on the other side? these animals' heights?
(b) what would you expect to be the ratio of
their weights?
12. Asmall source of light is placed between two
parallel, white screens (S, and 52 ). It is 15 cm
FURTHER READING
Bocke, Kees, Cosmic View : The Universe in 40 Jumps. ure distances within the atom and in outer space.
Day, 1957. Illustrations of changing scale from "Sets, Relations,and Functions." Report of the Com-
atoms to galaxies. mission on Mathematics {Appendices), College En-
Haldane, J. B. S., "On Being the Right Size." World trance Examination Board, New York (pp. 8-17).
of Mathematics, Vol. II, edited by James R. New- Smith, Cyril S., "The Shape of Things." Scientific
man. Simon & Schuster, 1956. American, January, 1954 (p. 58).
Lee, Oliver J., Measuring Our Universe. Ronald Thompson, D'Arcy W., "On Magnitude." World of
Press, 1950. How physicists and astronomers meas- Mathematics, Vol. II, cited above.
MOTION ALONG A PATH
CHAPTER 5
A freight train is rolling down the track at 5-1. Speed and Distance
40 miles per hour. Around the bend a mile For a body moving with a constant speed, the
behind, a fast express appears, going at 70 miles relationship of time, speed, and distance is
per hour on the same track. The express engineer expressed simply. If we let d stand for the length
slams on his brakes. With the brakes set he of the trip, v for the speed, and / for the time
needs two miles to stop. Will there be a crash? needed for the trip, the equation
What we are called upon to do here is to predict
where the two trains will be at subsequent times, d = vt
and to find in particular whether they are ever relates these quantities for all cases of constant
at the same place at the same time. In a more speed.
general sense, we are asking about the connections It is often convenient to use a graph to repre-
between speeds, positions, and times. sent motions. Fig. 5-1 shows a graph of the
The general subject of such relationships is speed versus time for a car which travels at
called kinematics. In studying kinematics we do 45 mi/hr. Taking some horizontal position on
not concern ourselves with questions such as the graph, such as that corresponding to 0.20 hr,
"Why does the express train need two miles to we find a reading on the vertical (or speed) axis
stop?" To answer such a question we would need of 45 mi/hr. In fact, we find 45 mi/hr for any
to study in detail how the brakes slow down the time we select.
train. Such questions as these will be considered
in Part III on Mechanics. Here, we just consider 60
the description of motion. We shall start with
50
the discussion of motion along a given path with-
out considering the position and direction of the < 40
(m
path in space. Then in the next chapter we shall OJ
o
extend the discussion to describe the path. Speed IO o
In both of these chapters we shall draw on our —
o
ability to measure time and distance, for all motion
is the changing of distance as time goes on. 1 1 1 1 1
them we would in fact be talking words without 5-1. The speed of a car moving steadily may be graphed as
meaning. o hori zontal line.
51
52 MOTION ALONG A PATH
D
60
40
\
A
C E
Q.
<S>
H
1
1 1
1
1 1
1 1 1
o 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Time (hours)
40
1
1
S, 1
1
_E 1 1
"S 20 1
1 1
1
1
1 1
, 1 1 1
5—3. The speed-time graph for a car which is changing speed 5—4. In this figure an imaginary car is alternately moving a
during part of its trip. Does the shaded area give the distance little faster and then a little slower than the car of Fig. 5-3 so
traveled during the time interval from 0.000 to 0.020 hours? that, eventually, it covers the same distance.
has different scales in the horizontal and vertical versus elapsed time. Can we tell how far the
directions —
scales which may differ not only car goes in the first 0.020 hr? We can try to
numerically, but also in the nature of the physical multiply the speed by the time, but we get into
quantities that they represent and therefore in trouble, for we must now choose from a whole
their units. When we talk about the "height" range of speeds. On the other hand, using the
being 30 mi/hr, we are using the graph in a way area under the graph, which worked as an alter-
that gives the same answer no matter what scale nate method for motion at constant speed, might
we use in the actual drawing. For example, it also serve here, allowing us to solve graphically
makes no difference whether we use 0.5 cm or 1.0 a problem that presents difficulties when tackled
cm to represent 10 mi/hr, but we must know algebraically. Using the area to find our distance
which, and stick to it on any one graph. looks reasonable because we can approximate
Since heights and horizontal distances that we the sloping graph of Fig. 5-3 closely by the one
plot on the speed and the time scales of our graph in Fig. 5-4.
are proportional to the actual speeds and times The graph of Fig. 5-4 represents the motion of
involved, any two areas on the graph are ex- an imaginary car that changes speed in steps
actly proportional to actual distances the car (keeping constant speed during each step).
moves. This fact often allows us to decide at a Each step brings it to a speed a little greater than
glance in which time interval the greatest distance the speed of the real car at that instant. Then,
is covered. For example, we can see that the while the imaginary car's speed remains constant,
area of the rectangle marked D in Fig. 5-2 is the speed of the real car gainson it and passes it.
greater than that of any of the other rectangles. Next the imaginary car's speed increases by an-
Therefore, we know without calculations that other step. The distance covered by the imaginary
the car travels farther in the interval D than in any car is given by the area shaded under the stepped
of the other intervals. graph of Fig. 5-4. If we make the steps smaller,
The total distance the car travels in 1.10 hr is and more frequent, the two cars would never
obtained by adding up the "areas" of all the differ much in speed. Then the shaded area
intervals in Fig. 5-2. which gives the distance covered by the imaginary
car would practically give the distance covered
5-2. Varying Speeds by the real car. And that shaded area, for many
For the case we have considered, the graph did steps, is practically the shaded area under the
not give us any really new information because graph of Fig. 5-3 for the real car. If you want
we had a method of computing distances without to see another discussion which leads to a rigorous
the aid of a graph. Now we shall use our graph- proof that the area under this speed-time graph
ical ideas to help analyze a more difficult problem. gives the distance traveled, read the material in
Fig. 5-3 gives a graph of the speed of a car the box on the next page.
54 MOTION ALONG A PATH
that the distance moved by the real car is the somewhere between these two values since
area under the sloping graph in Fig. 5-3. it never moves faster than A or slower than
We can bracket the distance covered by the B. Thus we have bracketed the real car's
real car between two limits by having two travel between the limits 0.50 and 0.70 mi.
imaginary cars that change their speeds in Now make the steps smaller and more
steps, one of them A always traveling faster frequent, as in Fig. 5-6. If you calculate
than the real car and the other B always the distances traveled by B and A in the first
slower. Then in a given time A must travel 0.20 hr (the area under the graphs) you will
a greater distance than the real car and B find they are 0.55 mi and 0.65 mi. This gives
must travel a shorter distance than the real a smaller interval between the upper and
car. The distance traveled by the real car lower limits than we obtained before. We
lies between those traveled by A and B. can continue to decrease the interval between
First imagine A and B each changing speed the upper and lower limits for the distance
in large steps as in Fig. 5-5. B starts with by making the cars change speed in shorter
the real car's initial speed. For the first and shorter time intervals. The area repre-
0.010-hour period, it travels at 20 mi/hr while senting the upper limit of the distance and the
the real car speeds up from 20 to 30 mi/hr, area representing the lower limit become
and for the next 0.010 hour B travels at 30 more and more nearly the same, and both
mi/hr. Meanwhile, A runs at 30 mi/hr for of these areas get nearer and nearer to the
the first 0.010-hour period and then at 40 area under the sloping curve. Mentally
mi/hr. In a total time of 0.020 hr, B travels continuing this process, we prove that the
0.20 mi + 0.30 mi or 0.50 mi; while A "area" under the speed-time graph does give
travels 0.30 mi + 0.40 mi, or 0.70 mi. The the distance traveled by the original car.
30 —^nfllH
20
a
01
0)
a 10
5-5. We can "bracket" the distance covered by the 5—6. If the two cars of Fig. 5—5 change their speeds
car in Fig. 5—3 by imagining two other cars, A and B, that more frequently, it is clear that they approximate the
travel with different speeds as shown in this figure. motion of the real car more closely.
Since the "area" under the slant line of Fig. 5-3 (You get the same answer by breaking the trape-
is that of a trapezoid with a base of 0.020 hr, zoid up into a rectangle and a triangle and adding
and the two heights, 20 mi/hr on the left and 40 their areas.)
mi/hr on the right, we can now say how far the In general, even for more complicated speed-
original car goes. The area of the trapezoid gives time graphs, such as that of Fig. 5-7, the distance
the distance is still given by the "area." For example, for
the time interval 0.5 hr to 1.0 hr the distance is
+
( 20 mi/hr 40 mi/hr>
X 0.020 hr = 0.60 mi.
given by the shaded area of Fig. 5-7.
we are not able to
Even if
compute the "area" from a
MOTION ALONG A PATH 55
shorter time. « 20
your car breaks down and you phone the
If
garage, you will probably tell the repairman the
|io
location of your car by telling him its distance o
^^ 1 1 1 •
and direction along the road from some land- 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60
25
_
20
-^^-
i^^^
, ,
.Car B _
_4>
15
J
0)
II
c 10
1
in
^X^^-Car A
5 5
1
I 1 1 1 1 i i 1
Time (hours)
30 /- »
—
From the graph we can calculate the speeds of
•
the cars. In 0.1 hr, for example, car A goes from — •
the position d = to d = 5. It moves 5 mi and
— «py *
its
it
speed is therefore 50 mi/hr.
again goes 5 mi from d =
In the next 0.1 hr,
5 to d = 10; its
J 20 V E
Because the graph
o
speed is still 50 mi/hr. is a 0)
— S 2^^^ —
straight line, the distance car A moves is the same c
a
/ ^^^
S ^S^ o
for every 0.1 hr ; therefore the speed of A is 50
3 < ^^
mi/hr all the time. Car B also has constant speed. 10
In addition to the speeds, the graph tells us 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
30
. , 25 , car C d:
B^x^^
20 - *T 1 d.-di
'
• 15 k^.
w 5 ._!_!
c a,
Q
«
10
5 ^\_. car D
•
y
e ^^ 1
tj
1
.1
ii
o 1 1 1 1 1 5 1
1
Time (hours) ti t2
Time (t)
5—11. Since the distance-time graphs for the two cars are
parallel, they represent the same speed even though the 5-12. The slope of a straight line is found by dividing
positions of the graphs are different. d: - d\ "up" by tz - fi "over."
see that it has traveled a distance of 10 mi during tx to position d2 at time t2 , this equation gives the
the first 0.40 hr. A car going 50 mi/hr travels 20 average speed with which we move.
mi during the 0.40-hr interval, and is described We can now give this equation for speed a pre-
by the steeper dashed line of the graph. cise geometrical meaning. In Fig. 5-12, if A and
On a d versus / graph it is the steepness alone B are any two points on the graph, then the
that tells the speed. Position on the graph (or on vertical interval between these points is obviously
the road) does not matter. In Fig. 5-11 the d2 — d
and the horizontal interval is
x
t
2
— t v
curves for cars C and D are equally steep. They These two intervals, (d2 — d ) and (t 2 — t x x ),
com-
are parallel to each other; therefore they de- pletely define the steepness of the graph, for they
which car D neither catches
scribe a situation in tell how far "up" and how far "over" one point
up to nor drops behind car C. It always keeps on the line is from another. As we have already
10 miles behind C. The graphs will never cross discovered, the speed depends upon the steep-
as they did when one car passed the other (Fig. ness of the distance-time graph; and the steep-
5-9). The graphs of car C and of car D are in ness of the graph depends upon how far up the
different positions, but they correspond to ex- graph goes in a certain interval over. The ratio
actly the same speed. of "up" to "over" is such a useful measure of the
We shall now express the connection between steepness that we give it a special name. We call
the speedand the steepness of the d versus t graph it the slope of the line. For the distance-time
in mathematical language. To do so we shall graph, as Fig. 5-12 shows, the slope is d2 — d x
-a
- -Ir
You have traveled one mile in one minute, and 0)
u
^^^*
your speed is a mile a minute, or 60 mi/hr. Let e
d stand
l
for 247 miles and dz for 248 miles; also ^
M
let t x stand for the time 3:25:00 and t2 for the a
time 3:26:00. In this language you can express
the speed v by the equation
d, - d,
v = — -• Time (t)
h~ h
In general, if We paSS from position d l
at time 5-13. A straight line has the same slope all along its length.
58 MOTION ALONG A PATH
(miles) 15 J \
yr |
J. A i
• i i
u 10
e i
i
*
S
Distance
/l i i
i
i
2 5 i i
i i 1
i i i
i 1
1 i i
5-14. The slopes of the two graphs are the same, although
their appearances differ. They will appear the same only when will be worth while to introduce a shorthand
plotted to the same scale or on the same graph. notation to indicate the process used in finding
"up" divided by t
2
— tx "over." The slope of them. For instance, the slope of the distance-
the distance-time graph is the speed of the car as time graph is always equal to the ratio of an
only when we are comparing lines on the same us what to do with /. It says "take an interval"
graph, as in Fig. 5-9, or on graphs plotted to the of t or "take the difference between two values"
same scale, that the angle between the line and of t.
the horizontal axis helps us compare slopes. In When the ratio of two intervals is involved, as
general we must measure the vertical and hori- it is in determining a speed, it is customary to
zontal intervals between two points on the graph write the ratio as a fraction, with the understand-
and compute their ratio in the appropriate units — ing that the interval in the numerator takes place
mi/hr, for instance — as in Fig. 5-14. during the time interval of the denominator.
Our discussion of slope applies to other graphs; Thus
nothing restricts us to the graph of distance versus
Ad
time. We shall shortly see the significance of the
At
slope of a graph of speed versus time. In fact,
we shall be dealing with slopes so often that it which is read "vee equals delta dee over delta
MOTION ALONG A PATH 59
Ad 0.0 mi - 6.0 mi
20mi'hr.
At 0.80 hr - 0.50 hr 5-5. Instantaneous Speed — The Slope of
Notice that the result is negative. The distance the Tangent Line
(0.0 mi) at the later time (0.80 hr) is less than the We have been thinking of trips in which the
distance (6.0 mi) at the earlier time (0.50 hr). speed constant either throughout the trip or for
is
The minus sign just tells us that the car was travel- different portions of the trip. The distance-time
ing along the road in the opposite direction from graphs were therefore made of straight lines.
that taken at the start of the trip. In fact, the car Fig. 5-17 is a distance-time graph of a car with
returned to its starting point, d = 0, arriving continually changing speed. How can we find
there 0.80 hr after it left. The graph indicates the speed of the car at any particular time?
at a glance both the approximate speed and the Here there are no straight lines, and it is not
direction of travel. We
have now derived from obvious how to apply the methods we have been
it the information needed to plot the graph of discussing. On the other hand, if we were riding
Fig. 5-16. in the car, the speedometer would be able to tell
We have seen that the quantity v can be either us our speed. So let us think of the speedometer
positive or negative. The positive sign refers to reading at a definite time, for instance 0.50 hr
one direction of motion and the negative sign to after we started our trip. How do we calculate
the opposite direction. it from the graph of Fig. 5-17?
60 MOTION ALONG A PATH
1 1 1 1 I 1
1
1
50
l
1
40 - 1 x^ "
1
Jf^\
1/
\I
1
o 30
u
c
*VI
S 20
10
1 1 1 1 1 I
1
1
Time (hours)
1 1 1 1 1
1 1
40.0 -
39.0
38.0 -
1 37.0
0)
u
e
36.0 -
2
35.0
34.0
33.0 f 1 1 1 1 1 1
Time (hours)
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1
38.7
Point 2
, , 38.6 -
u 38.5 - Point 1
c
V)
r \ t
a 38.4
38.3 -
38 2 S 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Time (hours)
val which covers only 0.005 hr before and after together. The points we use must be close enough
the 0.50-hr markWith this graph,
(Fig. 5-19). together so that the graph is essentially a straight
we can by measuring the slope of.
tell the speed line in between.
the "straight" line. We choose two points near When the part of the graph we use is nearly
0.50 hr, for example, 1 and 2 in Fig. 5-19; then straight, we find the same slope and thus the
reading from this graph, we find same speed no matter which points we take to
evaluate it. In Fig. 5-19, for example, if we let
r, = 0.4986 hr, dx = 38.42 mi;
points 1 and 2 move along the curve until they
t2 = 0.5016 hr, d-, = 38.58 mi.
are closer to the 0.50-hr mark, we get almost the
Consequently the slope is given by same result as before. Try it for yourself.
Furthermore, the points we use to find Ad/At
Ad dt-dy 0.16 mi
53 mi/hr, will be close together when At is small; and if
At .003 hr
At is small enough, Ad/At will have a definite
and the speed at the point 0.5 hr from the start value for a smooth distance-time curve around a
is very closely 53 mi/hr. given point. We therefore say that the speed at
The magnified part of a graph looks straighter a particular
is given by the limit of
instant
than the whole graph because in the magnified Ad/At as At "approaches zero," that is, as
picture we look at only a small portion of the un- At gets smaller and smaller. Symbolically this
magnified graph. When we magnify sufficiently, statement is written
we look at only a small interval of d and t. In .. Ad
v = lim -t— •
I 1 l 1
1 1 1
1
50 Point 2
40
30
4)
w
C Point 1
4-
M 20
s
10
1 _
1
1 1 1 1 1 1 I i
Time (hours)
5-20. To find the speed at any instant, draw a line tangent to two points on the tangent line, find the slope. The value of the
the curve at the point being considered. Then, by taking any slope is the speed.
(We read "lim" as "the limit as A/ approaches of magnifying? The answer is "yes": draw a
At->0 Suppose we drew
tangent and measure its slope.
of .") The word "limit" here stands for the
a straight line tangent to the curve of Fig. 5-17 at
. . .
result obtained when we take tx and t 2 close the point for which t = 0.50 hr as in Fig. 5-20.
enough together so that there is no noticeable In this figure we can easily distinguish the tangent
change produced in the value of the ratio by from the graph of d vs. t; but at hundredfold
using a still smaller interval between tt and t 2 .
we
magnification in Fig. 5-21 see that the tangent
We make the interval At shorter and shorter line and the curve are hardly distinguishable over
until "in the limit," as we say, we get a definite
a small-enough interval around the point of tan-
result. This procedure lies at the heart of the
gency. In this region they have the same slope.
branch of mathematics called the calculus. We can therefore use the slope of the tangent
There may be special cases when this procedure
line to determine the slope of the graph at any
ishard to apply or when it has no meaning. A particular point. Fig. 5-20 shows us how we can
plot of positions which changed suddenly from method to get the speed of the car at
use this
one straight-line slope to another would have no / = 0.50 hr. First, we draw the tangent line to
slope at the point of abrupt change; no speed Then we choose
the curve at the point chosen.
could be defined there. In fact, however, no
two convenient points (labeled and 2) on the 1
To use the procedure we have outlined, we Therefore, when 0.50 hr has elapsed, the car has
need to have a magnified picture of the distance- a speed of 53 mi/hr in the direction of increasing d.
time graph, obtained, for example, by using a The speed at a given instant is called the in-
magnifying glass. Is there any simple way of stantaneous speed. This is what we read on a
getting the speed without going through the steps speedometer. Also it is the instantaneous speed
MOTION ALONG A PATH 63
1 1 i i i
i i
i 1
38.6
I
38.5
u
e
^
38.3
r ^y/ //
38 2 s i i 1 1 1 1 I 1 1
Time (hours)
5-21. With 100-times magnification of Fig. 5-20, the curve and its tangent are indistinguishable near the point of tangency.
A^
time interval At is defined as v. = -t— T
It is
• .
that
It 5-22. Graph of speed vs. time.
50
50
40
1
1 40
1
__§ JL 30 -
30 1
o 1
to o
4>
0) 20 _ 1
Speed
a 1
—
o
10
1
T^
^\
1 1 1 1 1 1
|
1 1 1 1
10 20 30 40 50 60
C) 10 20 30 40
5—23. Graph of speed vs. time for a car that is in motion at 5—24. Deceleration is shown by a negative slope on the speed
t = 0. vs. time graph.
can use them in writing an algebraic expression minus means that the change in speed A; is
sign
and use v 1 and v 2 for the corresponding speed at when an object which is moving forward slows
these two times. The acceleration along the path
down, or when an object is moving backward
is then given by the relation more and more rapidly. Indeed, if an object
moves with a negative value of a p and starts out
v9 — v, Av
going forward, it will slow down, stop momen-
h — h Ar
tarily, and then go backward, retracing its path
where we use the A notation that was introduced at an increasing pace. In Fig. 5-24, find the
in Section 5-3. instant when the car is standing still and the time
There is a simple geometrical significance to during which it speeds up in a backward direction.
Ad So far we have talked about constant accelera-
this equation. Just as -r- is the slope of the d
tion that is, about uniform
along the path,
versus t graph, so the right-hand side of this changes of speed. Let us now consider Fig.
equation is the slope of the speed vs. time graph. 5-25, which shows another graph of speed
Therefore, we can say that the acceleration along against time. What is the acceleration along the
the path is equal to the slope of the graph of v path when 20 seconds have elapsed? In other
versus t. words, what is the instantaneous acceleration
If a graph of speed vs. time is of the type shown along the path at t = 20 seconds?
in Fig. 5-24, we see that the car is slowing down. We know that if we magnified the portion
At the initial time t = 0, it is going 40 mi/hr. near / = 20 seconds sufficiently, it would appear
Fifty seconds later it is going 10 mi/hr. In this to be straight. The slope of this straight segment
time interval, At = 50 sec, the change in speed is would then be the acceleration along the path.
A; = —30 mi/hr. Consequently, Furthermore, as we have seen, instead of magni-
MOTION ALONG A PATH 65
h — At = 20 Sec —^2y^
50
< 40
^> ""^ Av = 30 mi/hr
E
— 30
S
a
20 ]xr
>^ /
1
" 10 -
o i i i
( 10 20 30 40
Time (seconds)
Time (t)
5-25. To find the instantaneous acceleration along the path, 5-26. The speed vs. time graph of a motion with constant accel-
find the slope of the tangent line at the point being considered. Vf
eration along the path. The slope - of the graph is the
tf — fi
acceleration along the path, and the area under the graph is
fving. we can draw a straight line tangent to the the distance covered.
graph at t = 20 seconds, and we can find the slope
of the curve by measuring the slope of this tan-
In view of the definition of the slope,
5-7. Useful Results for Motion with Constant
gent line.
the instantaneous acceleration along the path at Acceleration Along the Path
a time t equals the slope of the graph of speed When the acceleration along the path is con-
versus time. In Fig. 5-25, by choosing two stant, the methods that we have been developing
points (1 and 2) on the tangent line we find the enable us to express several useful relationships
instantaneous acceleration to be in theform of equations. Consider an object
whose speed increases uniformly with time as
50 mi/hr - 20 mi/hr
an = shown by the graph in Fig. 5-26. Let us see
tx 30 sec — 10 sec
what happens during a certain time interval. At
= 1.5 mi/hr-sec.
the beginning of this time interval the speed is
We can also express the instantaneous accelera- called Pj (the subscript "i" means initial), and the
tion along the path in the language of Section 5-5 corresponding time is called ti. At the end of this
is constant, we have
In addition to the instantaneous acceleration —
pt vi = a p {t {
- td = a p T, (1)
at each moment, we define the average accelera-
tion for any time interval At as where T is the time interval between the initial
time ti and the final time t {. To find out how far
Av
Oar = -T- the car has gone during this interval we can com-
At
pute the shaded area in Fig. 5-26. From the
This tells us the over-all change of o in that par- trapezoid formula (or by adding the "area" of a
ticular time interval. The instantaneous accelera- rectangle and a triangle), we get
tion along the path at time t is the average ac-
celeration along the path for a very short time
d = §<»« + °dT, (2)
interval which includes t. If the acceleration does a relationship between the distance traveled, the
not change as time goes on, the average accelera- initial and final speeds, and the duration of the
tion and the instantaneous acceleration are equal time interval.
at any time. We can also find a relation between the speeds
66 MOTION ALONG A PATH
and the distance traveled. Solving Equation 1 for As another example, suppose a car starts from
T we get rest and accelerates at 2.0 mi/hr-sec for a distance
_ V, - Vj of ^ mi. How fast will it then be traveling and
how long does it take to cover this distance?
Now, substituting this expression for T in Equa- We have two units of time, hours and seconds.
tion 2, we get It is convenient to eliminate one in favor of the
other. In the following calculations we choose
rf-Ki + ^^Hr^-
Op
to express all time in hours. For this purpose we
write
Finally, on carrying out the multiplication, we
mi 1 mi
have ap = 2 u = ,
2 X , .,
X
.
,
hr-sec 1 hr 1 sec
2a p d = v{ 2 — Vi
2
Then we replace 1 sec by 3 ^00 hr; therefore
v (2 = Vi
2
+ 2a p d. (3)
1 mi
This relation between the squares of the speeds and ap = 2 X 7200 mi hr2 .
1 hrX hr
the distance is often useful. It will be essential
in our discussion of kinetic energy in Part III. Now to find the final speed we use Equation 3,
T+±a p T
v {2 = 2 X 7200 ~X | mi = 1600 mi 2/hr 2
d = vi 2
.
(4)
V( = 40 mi/hr.
There is a simple meaning to the two terms on
the right-hand side of Equation 4. The term We can find the time from Equation 1 , which be-
ViT gives the distance the car would travel if its
comes
speed had stayed constant at »s during the time v{ = a p ti since and /; = 0.
Vi
interval, while the second term gives the distance
the car would travel if it had started from rest at Therefore
the initial time. You can verify these statements
40 mi/hr 1 _
by first setting a p = 0, then p equal to zero, ins /f
= = ,
hr ° r20seC -
2d = vt,
5-9. Summary
where d is the distance to the destination which In this chapter we have been studying kine-
it reached with a known speed v, and t is the time matics — the story of motion and of the relation-
for the round trip. ships of speed, time, and distance. Our starting
Sound and light are such "messengers." In point was the equation that we all learned early
still air they travel with constant speeds, and they in our school days : at constant speed, the distance
are reflected from objects of all By project-sorts. traveled is equal to the product of speed and the
ing sound in a definite direction, and detecting time of travel. We cannot use this relation if the
the time of arrival of the delayed weak echo, you speed is not constant, because we do not know
can establish the distance of the object which re- in advance by which of the various speeds the
flects the sound. Echoes from the sound of our time should be multiplied. However, we have
shuffling feet, of our voices, or even of our been able to show how the distance can be ob-
breathing, instinctively warn us of a wall when tained with the help of a graph of speed versus
we approach it in the dark. People who are blind time, such as that shown in Fig. 5-27. The
often develop such skills to a fine point which shaded "area" in the figure shows the distance
compensates for the loss of sight. Bats navigate covered between the times t, and t t .
with great accuracy in the dark by listening to the This graph can do more for us. By drawing a
echoes of their high-pitched squeaks. tangent to the graph at any particular time, such
You can perform an echo-ranging experiment as t, we can determine the slope of the graph, at
for yourself quite easily.Measure the speed of this point. This quantity is the acceleration along
sound by timing over a known distance, and then the path — the rate at which the speed is chang-
use sounds to measure other distances. For ing. Thus, the acceleration at the time t in Fig.
more precise measurements over greater distances, 5-27 is
i i
this graph we can find the speed as well as the dis- restriction of motion to a fixed path such as a
tance. The slope of this graph at any particular road. The introduction of vectors in the next
time is the speed chapter will allow us to consider motions in all
FOR HOME, DESK, AND LAD 5. Data for a trip made in a car is given in the ac-
companying table
1. A runner makes one complete lap around an 800-
meter track in 2 min 1.2 sec. What was his aver- Time Interval Duration of Interval Speed
age speed in m/sec? (hr) (mi hr)
1 0.10 20
2. Two cars, one traveling at 40 mi/hr and the other
2 0.40 60
at 60 mi/hr, start a trip of 120 miles at the same
3 0.20 20
time. How much sooner does one car arrive at
its destination than the other?
(a) How far does the car go in the first interval?
3. A man knows by one route between two
that
(b) What isthe total distance of the trip?
4. A Volkswagen and a Cadillac are driven on the 6. A car travels at the speeds given in the accom-
same 80-mile trip. The Volkswagen travels at panying table, where J is a particular time interval
50 mi/hr all the time. The Cadillac starts at the and V'\% a particular speed.
80 _— — ;
'
.::: ; .
—— -
60
_£
E
50
40
— — ..:-.
— .... —
o
• 30
Ma.
20
10
1 , ! .
— L
~T~
-~ ~T
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18
Time (hours)
(a) Make a graph of speed versus time for this Time (sec) Speed (m/sec)
trip. 0.0 10.0
(b) What is the total distance of the trip? 1.0 12.4
(c) How long after the start of the trip is needed 2.0 14.8
for the car to travel a distance of 7VT? 3.0 17.2
(d) How long a time does it take for the car to 4.0 19.6
make the first half of the trip? 5.0 22.0
(e) What is the average speed for the entire 6.0 24.4
trip?
8. A train speeds up according to the speed-time
The accompanving data show the instantaneous graph shown in Fig. 5-29. How far does it travel
speed of a car at intervals of 1 second. Plot the in the first six minutes?
speed versus time, and use your graph to answer
the following questions. 9. Car Ais stopped at a traffic light. The light turns
(a) How fast is the car going at 2.6 sec? At 4.8 green and A starts up. Just as it does so, car B
sec? passes it, going at a steady speed. Their speed-
(b) How far did the car travel between the two time curves are shown in Fig. 5-30.
instants in part (a)? (a) How long does it take car to be going as A
(c) What is the slope of the graph? fast as car B?
car A
"N
car B
-z
^
a
0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018
Time (hours)
70 MOTION ALONG A PATH
(a) (b)
60 6
50 5
1
40 - / 4
0)
H 30
3
C
M 20
2
5
10
O.CX)
/ 1
0.20
1
0.40
1
0.60
1
0.80 1.00
1
1
12
1 1 1 1
) 3 4 5 6
Time (hours)
(
(c) (d)
50
200
40
5
u
C
«-
in
30
20
10
-
S \
/
2
i
3
(pounds)
Weight
190.
K , i , i\ i ,
_L
4
c) 1 () 1 2 3
60
50
Tf 40
1
3°
•
u
5«n 20
a
—^
10
1
--1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
O.C >0 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Time (hours)
MOTION ALONG A PATH 71
60
s 50
E
40
V
C 30
*M
20
S
10
Time (hours)
(e) How far have they traveled from the traffic portion of the trip?
light bv the time car A catches up? (d) What was the speed between 12:15 and
12:30 p.m.?
10. Find the slopes of the graphs in Fig. 5-31. State (e) During a part of the outgoing trip they
the units in each case. were forced to slow down to 12 mi/hr by a slow-
moving truck. Between which mileposts did this
11. The distance-time graph of a car traveling along occur?
a road is shown in Fig. 5-32. Make a graph of its
speed versus time. 14. A train travels 60 mi/hr for 0.52 hr, 30 mi/hr for
the next 0.24 hr, and then 70 mi/hr for the next
12. The distance-time graph of a car is shown in Fig. 0.71 hr. What is its average speed for the trip?
5-33.
(a) At what time is the car going at the greatest 15. A car going at 20 mi/hr accelerates to 60 mi/hr
speed? in 6.0 seconds. What is the average acceleration
(b) How fast is it traveling at that time? along the road?
(c) How fast is the car going at 0.70 hours?
(d) What is the average speed for the first half 16. From the graph of speed versus time for a car
hour? shown in Fig. 5-34, deduce the graph of accelera-
tion versus time.
13. During a along a turnpike, a passenger sitting
trip
beside the driver recorded the following times at 5-34. For Problem 16.
which they passed various mileposts.
Time 120
hr.min Milepost
10:05 a.m. 40 100
10:25 45
10:40 52 j[ 80
10:50 62 E
11:00 66 „ 60
0)
11:10 68
11:25 78 a. 40
11:40 82
11:50 82 20
12:05 p.m. 76
12:15 70
() 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
12:30 56
1:15 40 Time (seconds)
72 MOTION ALONG A PATH
17. Make a graph of distance traveled versus time for second car decelerating at the same rate as the
the car of Problem 16. first car. How long does it take the car to stop at
this rate of deceleration?
speed (accelerates) at a constant rate for 10 moves without acceleration for 5.0 sec, after which
seconds. Its speed at the end of 5.0 seconds is 48 it moves with an acceleration of —150 m/sec
2
(b) Add a line to the graph which shows the along a curved path would not do equally well.
MOTION ALONG A PATH 73
33 3 3 O O O O O O
5-35. For Problem 29.
CHAPTER 6
A car moving along a road travels on a prede- the opposite direction. The result of these two
termined path, but there are many motions in na- trips is the same you made a single trip from
as if
ture for which the path or road is not fixed in ad- C to F, represented by the arrow CF. 3 miles
vance. you drive a motorboat on a lake, pilot
If long. This says that
an airplane, or want to find out about the motion Trip CH + Trip HF = Trip CF.
of a satellite moving across the sky, you are facing
a new situation. There are no roads or paths on If we try to use the length of each trip to repre-
the surface of the water or up in space. sent it in this equation, we will be led to an
To describe motion in general, we must know incorrect conclusion, since 5 mi + 2 mi ^ 3 mi.
more than the speed. We must extend the ideas On the other hand, from the figure you see that
of Chapter 5 to include the direction of motion. we can represent the trip HF by the negative num-
We therefore introduce quantities which have ber ( —2 miles). Then we get the correct result:
74
VECTORS 75
76 VECTORS
6 - 8 = ?
6 + (-8) = ?
or to the problem
6 = 8 + ?
ties we call vectors. We can represent these concerned with both the magnitude and the di-
quantities bv straight line segments, each with an rection, we shall use velocity. Thus, velocity is a
arrowhead to indicate the direction and the vector and speed is a scalar.
length to give us the magnitude. This gives us a Let us turn back to the example of the airplane
standard wav of representing vectors. But what mentioned at the beginning of this section. How
do we reallv mean bv a vector? Vectors are any can we find out how fast the airplane moves rela-
quantities which add and subtract in the same tive to the ground? To see what is involved, let
wa\ as displacements. Notice that vectors are us start with a simpler situation. Suppose we are
reallv new and cannot be described by
quantities in a free balloon, a few hundred feet in the air. If
single The physical magnitudes which
numbers. the air is perfectly still, the balloon will not move
can be given with single numbers we shall call at all. If the whole mass of air is moving at
scalars. The temperature of a room is a good 10 mi hr —
in other words, if there is a 10 mi/hr
example of a scalar physical quantity just as a wind —
the balloon moves right along with it.
displacement 3 kilometers northeast is a good Only when the air mass changes velocity does the
example of a vector quantity. We shall meet air "blow against" the balloon, speeding it up or
several types of vectors in physics. slowing it down until it again moves at the same
speed as the air.
and a minus sign for the other. Now we shall us go back to the example of the airplane headed
represent the direction of motion of a body by north, traveling through the air at 250 km/hr.
the direction of a vector, and represent the in- Suppose the 50-km/hr wind is blowing toward
stantaneous speed (regardless of direction) by the east. By "headed" north we mean that the
the magnitude of the vector. We call this vector nose of the airplane is due north of the tail. A
the instantaneous velocity. few minutes later the nose is still due north of the
When we determine the speed of a car by refer- tail, but the airplane is not due north of its former
ence to mileposts along a road, we find the speed position. As well as going north, the airplane has
relative to the road. To take into account the di- moved mass of air. In
east along with the whole
rection of the road, we specify it with respect to Fig. 6-8 (a) the airplane shown headed north
is
some real or imaginary fixed line on the ground, at A. If there were no wind, the airplane would
such as a line pointing north. When the speed move in the direction in which it is pointed and
and direction are both described, we have speci- would later be located at B. But during the time
fied the velocity of the car relative to the ground. / while the plane would advance the distance
It is important to recognize that we are using t X 250 km/hr from A to B, the air has moved
the two words "velocity" and "speed" in a techni- east by an amount / X 50 km/hr, and so the plane
cal sense which is different from everyday usage. arrives at the position C.
When we are interested only in how fast a body is The addition of the two displacement vectors
moving, we shall speak of speed. When we are AB and BC leads to the vector AC, the displace-
78 VECTORS
= 250 km/hr
tive to the earth (v*w = 50 km/hr pointed east).
north
We then obtain the velocity ~v
R of the plane relative
to the ground. Both its direction and its magni-
tude can be obtained directly from its graphical
100 200 km/hr representation.
I I I
Because 7a and i\v are at right angles in this
the vector AC, the displacement of the airplane relative to the i'
g
= Vva 2 + v v 2
On by the elapsed
ground.
are found as shown
dividing
in part (b).
time, the velocity vectors
relative to the ground is the vector sum of its velocity relative to Notice that the various speeds are indicated by
the air and the velocity of the wind relative to the ground.
v R , v H , and v K the same symbols that are used for
,
ment of the plane relative to the ground. These the velocities, except that they do not carry the
three vectors form a triangle. Each vector is pro- vector sign over them. This is a very convenient
portional to a speed in a particular direction; AB and commonly used notation. You can practice
to the speed north, BC to the speed east, and AC up on vectors and in particular on relative veloci-
to the speed of the plane in the direction of mo- ties by working through the practical navigation
tion with respect to the ground. On dividing problem discussed in the boxed material. It is
each of these displacements by the elapsed time, more complicated than the problem we just dis-
we get a similar triangle representing the cor- cussed, but the basic ideas are the same.
A Navigation Problem
As a example of the relations
practical shown in Fig. 6-9 (a). Here the velocity Tc
that we have found, suppose that the navi- of the airplane over the ground is made up
gator of an airplane wishes to go from a city as the vector sum of the wind velocity ~v K
C to another city D which is 900 miles from and the airplane's velocity relative to the
C in a direction 30° east of north. The air 1\. The navigator starts drawing his
meteorologist tells him that there is a wind diagram from any point O, as in Fig. 6-9 (b).
blowing from west to east with a speed of 50 He knows the direction in which the airplane
mi/hr, and he knows that the pilot plans to must go, that is, the direction of b£; and he
maintain an air speed of 240 mi/hr. To get lays this direction out from O. Also he
to D, the airplane must move over the earth knows the wind velocity completely so he
in a direction 30° east of north. It is the lays out that vector. It runs directly east
navigator's problem to give the pilot his from O and its length OP represents the
heading — to
tell him the direction in which wind speed of 50 miles per hour. Now to
the airplane must be pointed. get the velocity vector F*g of the airplane with
The navigator solves his problem by con- respect to the ground, the navigator must
structing a velocity vector diagram like that add the velocity vector v* of the airplane with
8
VECTORS 79
(b)
!
of the airplane with respect to the ground in 6—9. The solution of a navigation problem.
only one point, the point R on the figure.
The airplane's velocity with respect to the air the navigator's problem. He can now tell
must have just the direction which carries the pilot which way to fly.
it from the point P to the point R. This is the Determining the heading is the navigator's
only way to get the correct direction of most important preflight job, but the pilot
motion of the airplane over the ground. The may also ask him how long the flight will
vector PR is therefore r£. take. To answer this question, the navigator
The complete solution of the problem measures the magnitude of the ground speed
which we have just found is shown in Fig. as constructed in his diagram. He finds that
6-9 (c). By making measurements on this v g will be about 265 mi/hr, and on dividing
velocity vector diagram we find that the the 900 miles between C and D by this speed,
heading of the airplane (the direction of l£) he predicts that the trip will take about 3
;
is 19. east of north. This is the answer to hours and 25 minutes.
6-3. Components of Vectors Suppose that you swim so as to keep your body
Suppose you want to swim across a river 5 mile always pointed at right angles to the bank. You
wide. The current in the river flows at \ mi/hr. will then be moving through the water perpen-
You can swim at an average speed of mi/hr, but 1 dicular to the current, which will carry you
only for 15 minutes. steadily downstream. What will your velocity be
What is the best plan to follow? with respect to the bank of the river? If we repre-
80 VECTORS
(a)
v ! mi/hr
Current
(b) vc \ mi/hr
the bank will be vt„ Does the current help you reach the other Now your velocity across the river is only about
side? 0.86 mi/hr and you won't make it. Perhaps you
sent your velocity through the water by Zv and can wade the rest of the way.
that of the current by 1?„ your velocity with re- We have seen that heading upstream makes it
spect to the bank is K in Fig. 6-10. harder to get across the river. What would
You can see that the magnitude of K, is greater happen you headed somewhat downstream?
if
than that of v*K but does this get you across the
, Of you won't get to the beach, but will
course,
river faster? No, your motion perpendicular to you even get across the river? Do you agree
the banks of the river (which determines the time that a current across your intended path cannot
of crossing) is still the same. You will just make possibly help you?
it. The velocity 7b tells us only that you will Any vector A in a plane can be represented by
reach the other side downstream from the starting two rectangular components. First we choose
point. two perpendicular reference directions for ex- —
The velocity ^b is made up of two parts, perpen- ample, the directions given by OX and OY in
dicular to each other; these are called the rec- Fig. 6-12. Then to construct the vector com-
tangular components of ~v h . In this case, only the ponent of A along the direction OX, we construct
component 7v perpendicular to the bank affects a line through the head of A perpendicular to OX.
the time of crossing. The other component oj Now we draw the vector which extends parallel
does not affect your progress to the other shore. to OX starting from the tail of A and ending
Such rectangular components are mutually in- at the perpendicular. This gives the component
dependent; they do not affect each other. No vector along OX (sometimes called the vector
matter what the ~v c is, you would still make it in component of A along the X direction). To get
15 min. the component vector in the direction OY {the
1
VECTORS 8
3 "
1/
^
^
/ 1
1 f Vi
o
(b)
Component of A
in the direction OX B is the component of A along line PQ
A + A
6—18. Displacement vectors for 2 hour (°) ar| d for two 2 hours We can get the average velocity vector for a given
(b). The vector in (a) is obtained from that in Fig. 6-17 by time interval by measuring the distance between
multiplying i hour by the velocity, a quantity with dimensions.
two images of the ball and dividing by the time
The vector in (b) is obtained from that in (a) by multiplying by
the pure number 2.
between the flashes which made those images.
This gives us the length of the velocity vector;
its direction is the direction of motion of the
val it increases by the same amount. Conse- velocity is constant. This follows from the fact that the
then get 7* from this fact and the fact that the in-
Here F is the velocity vector with which we start.
stantaneous velocity vector always points in the direction
Azms the constant change in velocity that occurs of the path. (See Fig. 6-21.) Other methods of analysis
in each interval. By adding n of these changes to may give more precise results.
AF
vi = ^i + n At
At
6—21. How to find the instantaneous velocity vector. It is
tangent to the path and of such length that its horizontal com-
=% + 5Sf. ponent is equal to the initial horizontal velocity of the projectile.
VECTORS 85
Velocity scale
2 4 6
m/sec
Distance scale
meters
stays constant throughout the flight. On the Fig. 6—22. Successive vectors are found by adding a constant
vector directed vertically downward.
other hand, the vertical component is zero at
86 VECTORS
V,
««^^
The downward component of this vector is the
m/sec-
We
can put our equation for the motion of the
ball thrown to the right into just the same form
6-24. To find the average acceleration in the interval At =
as we did for the ball falling straight down.
h — fi: First find Av* = v*> — v* and divide the vector difference
Here (2.00 m/sec, to the right) is the initial
which
by At. The result is the average acceleration vector a,
velocity^, and (9.8 m/sec 2 down) , is the constant
can now be plotted with an appropriate scale as shown above.
acceleration a. So we get % = % + oi again.
Notice that the acceleration of both balls is down.
Also the downward motion is the same for both,
as you can see by looking across the picture to 6-6. Changing Acceleration and the
check that one moves down the same amount Instantaneous Acceleration Vector
as the other in each time interval. The only In the last section we described motion with
thing different in describing the motion of the constant vector acceleration. We introduced the
two balls is the value of tfj. The acceleration vector acceleration to describe how the velocity
vector a same for both.
is the vector changes. Even when the acceleration
In Chapter 5 we found that v t = v\ + at de- vector is not itself constant, we can introduce it
scribed the speed at any time when there was in just the same way. We define it by a = AT At.
constant acceleration along the path. The where AT* is the vector change in a during the time
equation % =~Ui +
a*t describes the velocity vector interval At. Notice that this vector acceleration
at any time as long as the acceleration vector is has the same direction as the change AT* of the
constant. Notice that the acceleration vector velocity; since this change need not be in the
need not point along the path, as in the example same direction as T*, the acceleration a may point
of the right-hand ball in Fig. 6-19. Furthermore, in any direction with respect to the motion. As
a can be any constant vector of the right units. we saw in the case of the right-hand ball in the
The 9.8 m/sec 2 , down, which we found for the last section, it need not be along the motion.
balls, is just a special value that occurs when The vector acceleration we have just defined is
balls move freely near the surface of the earth. the average acceleration over the time interval At.
In studying other motion we shall find other If the acceleration is itself changing as time goes
constant values of a — and also acceleration on, a will depend on the time interval we choose.
vectors that change as time goes on. For instance, Let us take an example. Suppose a speedboat
by pushing a ball we can get any a* we wish. moves along the path shown in Fig. 6-24 (a).
VECTORS 87
time intervals.
this limiting vector has a definite size and
direction.
Suppose, for example, that Fig. 6-25 shows the
successive velocity vectors of our speedboat at
time intervals of 10 seconds. If we make a
composite picture in which the tails of these
vectors coincide, we get Fig. 6-26. The changes in
velocity during each successive time interval are
also shown in this figure. We see that the velocity
changes Ar in each of the four intervals differ
both in magnitude and in direction. Therefore,
since the time intervals are the same, the average
accelerations are different.
If, instead of using 10-second intervals, we had
used 2-second intervals, we would have gotten
the pictures shown in Fig. 6-27. Since it is
di'ficult to see the details of Fig. 6-27, a magnified 6-26. The vectors of Fig. 6—25 are shown here drawn from
portion of the first 10 seconds is shown in Fig. the same origin. The acceleration is not constant in direction or
VECTORS 89
Vl
—» ^^^ l\ a At
V2
—
^ _>
component of aAt along v
we wish to know what happens within them, we position vector from us as origin to a point on
would need much more information than is given the wheel performs an extremely complicated
by these position vectors. But for many of the motion. But a point on the earth is not always the
needs of astronomy or of navigation, it is suffi- most convenient origin for position vectors. We
cient to think of each as a point at the tip of a vec- are far better off if we get in the car and hang out
tor. As the planet or airplane moves, the vector of the window to look at the wheel. The point
moves, changing in magnitude and direction. on the wheel then moves steadily around a circle,
In each of our examples the position vector and the motion of the position vector looks far
extends from some identifiable point called the simpler.
origin to the moving object, from the earth to In describing motion we try to put the origin in
Jupiter, from the control tower to the airplane. the most convenient place even though we are
Furthermore, motion, as we noticed in Section sometimes physically unable to go there. The
6-2, is always measured with respect to some motions of the planets, for example, look very
frame of reference, and so are positions. The complicated when we describe them with position
airplane's motion is described with respect to the vectors whose origin is in the earth. Copernicus
earth's surface, for example, and so is the motion pointed out that the planetary motions are much
of the falling balls in Fig. 6-19. simpler to describe when we assume that the sun
The motion of the airplane with respect to an- is the center of the solar system, and move the
other airplane may be very different from its origin of the position vectors to the sun. E\er
motion with respect to the ground. The motion since Copernicus pointed out the importance of
of the thrown ball in Fig. 6-19 is just motion with placing the origin in a convenient place, the proper
a constant velocity with respect to the other ball choice of origin has been an important technique
falling on the left of the figure. The motion of used by physicists to describe motion in simple
Jupiter with respect to the sun is simpler than its terms.
VECTORS 91
motion, even the kinematics may become difficult. an example of a very complex form of motion. (Below) Eddies
The eddies behind a spinning propeller and a fly- formed behind a propeller spinning at 4080 rpm. This is another
example of a highly complex motion. (Photos Courtesy: F. N. M.
ing baseball (Fig. 6-34) are complex indeed.
Brown.)
Their study is a specialized kind of unraveling,
requiring enormous "bookkeeping" operations the natural world, here on earth or in the skies,
moving air.
to keep track of every small bit of the in our large-scale machines or in our means of
Powerful mathematical methods are needed, but transport, have we yet found any case to which
the basic ideas used in solving such problems flow the analysis of mechanics does not apply. Where
out of the discussion we have given; the under- the kinematics is hard, progress is slow; where
lying laws are not different. One may well be the kinematics is less demanding, progress is fast.
methods developed in this research are pains- surpassed. This universal speed limit is the speed
takingly and often brilliantly applied to more and of light in free space, which is known to be very
more complex cases, which have clear usefulness close to 3 X 10 8 m/sec. m
The speed of the fastest
for men. The complicated, trial-and-error exten- rockets does not exceed about 2 X 10 4 m/sec.
sion always rests on the foundation of the simple Speeds up to 10 5 m/sec span the whole range of
and the well-understood. speeds of every large object in the solar system,
from planets and meteors to the engineering de-
6-9. The Speed of Light vices of man. Only small particles, electrons and
We have pointed out earlier that from everyday their kin, move appreciably faster. These closely
experiences we can develop a wide extension or approach the speed of light. For their study, the
extrapolation. This is we have
the kind of thing ideas of relativity kinematics are needed. But
just been doing, basing our study of motion on for everything else — solar-system astronomy,
the ideas of space and time we have built up from engineering, or any large-scale laboratory physics,
experience. But if such schemes are pushed too the kinematics we have studied, that of Newton, is
far, they may go wrong. They need to be tested. accurate enough. This whole topic
an example is
For fifty years now we have been finding that our of how you can begin with familiar ideas, which
usual notions of space and time, extremely reliable hold well over a wide range, and reform them
formost of the motions that we notice daily, do entirely when you reach another order of magni-
not work for extremelyfast motions. For speeds tude. The
fact that familiar ideas may be modi-
which begin to be of the order of magnitude of fied to extreme conditions does not end their
fit
that of light, the kinematics we have just discussed meaning and use in the domain for which they
begins to go wrong. It turns out that the speed were originally built up and in which they have
scale cannot be extended indefinitely; if you add been amply tested. Newtonian kinematics is a
velocities that are too big, you reach a region good approximation to relativity kinematics
where the rules of addition go wrong. There whenever the speeds are small compared with the
arises a natural limit to speed, which cannot be speed of light.
In doing the following problems, you should always blocks east, six blocks south, three blocks west,
draw an accurate diagram using ruler and compass, three blocks south, two blocks east, two blocks
either on plain paper or on paper ruled in squares. south, eight blocks west, six blocks north, and
Many of the problems can be solved by the construc- two blocks east. How far^and in what direction
tion and measurement of such a diagram, without will he be from home?
numerical calculations.
1. Draw diagrams to represent the following dis- 3. A man walks along a path which is in the shape of
placements: a regular hexagon; each side is 10 ft long. Two
(a) 5.00 cm to the east followed by 3.00 cm of the sides run east and west.
north followed by 6.00 cm west. (a) Describe his successive displacements.
(b) 5.00 cm to the east followed by 6.00 cm west (b) What is his total displacement?
followed by 3.00 cm north.
(c) 6.00 cm to the west followed by 3.00 cm
north followed by 5.00 cm east. 4. The minute hand of a watch is 2.2 cm long.
(d) Compare the diagrams of parts (a), (b), (a) What isthe displacement of the tip of the
and (c) and state a general rule about adding three minute hand between noon and 12:15?
displacements. (b) What is the displacement of the tip of the
minute hand between noon and 12:30?
2. A man follows this route: From his house he (c) What is the displacement of the tip of the
travels four blocks east, three blocks north, three minute hand between noon and 1 :00?
VECTORS 93
5. For the watch of Problem 4 the hour hand is 1.5 12. The pilot of an airplane which flies at an air speed
cm long. What is the displacement of the tip of of 300 mi/hr wishes to travel to a city 600 miles
the minute hand from the tip of the hour hand: due north. There is a 40 mi/hr wind from the
(a) at noon? (c) at 6:00? west.
(b) at 3:00? (d) at 12:30? (a) What heading should the plane fly?
(b) How long does it take to make the trip?
6. A horizontal vector 10.00 long is added to cm
another vector 10.00 cm long pointing 70.0° up 13. An airplane is flying toward a destination 200
from the horizontal. Make as accurate a scale miles due east of its and the wind is
starting point,
drawing as possible to determine the magnitude from the northwest at 30 mi/hr. The pilot wishes
and direction of their sum. In your answer try to make the trip in 40 min.
for 0.1 -mm precision in length and 0.1 ° precision (a) What should be the heading?
in angle. (b) What air speed should he fly?
7. (a) Find the result of adding a vector 2 cm east 14. A steamer is km/hr in
sailing directly south at 25
to one 3 cm northwest. an area where the wind from the southwest at
is
(b) Find the result of adding a vector 8 cm east 18 km/hr. What is the angle from true north of
to one 1 2 cm northwest. the smoke trail from the stack?
(c) Compare the results of parts (a) and (b),
and state a theorem about adding a pair of vectors 15. The small winged seed of a tall evergreen reaches
which are multiples of another pair. Can you a constant vertical component of velocity of 1
prove the theorem in general? ft/sec almost immediately after it is blown from
the cone. About how far from the base of a 180-
8. A plane flies southeast at 600 mj/hr. Draw a dia- ft tree on level ground would seeds from the top
gram of its displacement from its starting point of the tree be carried by 40 mi/hr winds?
after 0.50 hr, 1.00 hr, 1.50 hr, and 2.00 hr.
16. A man rows a boat "across" a river at 4.0 mi/hr
9. The speed of a plane is 480 km/hr.
air What is (i.e., the boat is always kept headed at right angles
the ground speed of the plane to the stream). The river is flowing at 6.0 mi/hr
(a) with a 32 km/hr head wind? and 0.20 mi across.
is
(b) with a 32 km/hr tail wind? (a) What direction does his boat actually go
relative to the shore?
10. A group of hikers walking at an average rate of (b) How long does it take him to cross the river?
5.0 km/hr walk the following path: (c) How far is his landing point downstream
from his starting point?
20. An airplane takes off due south from an airport (a) What is its change in velocity?
and maintains a ground speed of 4.0 km/min (b) What is its average acceleration during the
while climbing at a rate of 0.30 km/min. After 3.0 seconds?
0.50 min, it turns due east, maintaining the same
ground speed and the same rate of climb. At the
end of 1.0 min after taking off:
(a) How high is the airplane?
(b) What is its direction from the airport? =1 p
22. An ocean liner is traveling at 18 km/hr. A pas- 26. A watch has a second hand 2.0 cm long.
senger on deck walks toward the rear of the ship (a) Compute the speed of the tip of the second
(b) Draw the displacement vectors relative to between 0.0 and 1 5 seconds.
the water surface for his stroll. What was the
total displacement from his starting point? 27. Indicate on Fig. 6-36, the components of A and B
along each axis. Show that the sum of the com-
ponent of A and the component of B along each
23. A navy pilot, in plotting his trip to rendezvous
axis is the component of C
along that axis. Then
with his carrier, learns that he is 600 nautical miles
notice that you can get C either by adding A and
due south of the carrier at the time his position is B directly or by adding the components of A + B.
determined. The carrier is on a course 15° east
of north and is making 25 knots (nautical miles
per hour). The wind at his flight altitude is from
70° west of north at 40 knots. What must be his
heading and air speed to make his rendezvous in
just two hours' time? f
// 1
24. A screw has 24 threads to the inch and a diameter
of 0.25 (See Fig. 6-35.)
in.
// / 1
//
C B
(a) Find the resultant displacement of a point, 1
P, shown on the screw, when the screw "advances" 1
one turn, in terms of displacement up, down,
right, left, into and out of the paper.
(b) Do the same for \ turn.
/-"'\~\
25. An
(c) Do the same for \ turn.
CHAPTER 7
reallv introduced the actors. The stage of the A common clay brick contains a certain amount
world is occupied by matter. The actors are of matter. We expect two similar bricks to-
matter of every kind, in bewildering variety, gether to contain twice as much matter as either
moving and changing before us — the sun and one alone. However, no two bricks are exactly
the stars ; the earth itself with its soil, rock, air, alike; they are crudely constructed. Let us
and sea: and the living world of plants and ani- think of new silver dimes, all closely identical
mals, even you. shiny pieces of the same stuff. It seems reasonable
Contrast this picture with the view of time and to suppose that the simple count of thenumber of
space we have already taken. To be sure, time dimes defines the total quantity of matter in the
and space revealed much novelty as we expanded dimes.
or contracted our view to include the very slow Of course, we could cut some of the dimes in
and the incredibly fast, the tiny and the vast. half and get a different count of the number of
But there is a kind of sameness to time and space pieces, without changing the amount of matter
which we do not see in matter. One second is present. The volume occupied by the metal is
like another, and its million microseconds are not changed when we cut some of the pieces in
much more alike than so many peas. But in the half,and it may therefore seem that volume is a
panorama of matter, there appears no such unity. bettermeasure for matter than the count of pieces.
In all this variety, can we find some sort of But volume by itself is surely a dangerous guide
universal measure for matter as we have for time for measuring matter. We can pump more and
and space? We can compare any length with the more air into an inflated tire; yet air, thin though
meter, and any time interval with the second, and it cannot be left out of our list of material
is,
such techniques have opened up for us the whole things! Thus, more and more matter air — —
of our science. Can we find such a single general is being placed within the tire, which does not
means of measurement for matter, something in change appreciably in volume. Expansion and
terms of which we can compare a grain of sand contraction of metal shapes is also familiar; is
with a planet, a breath of air with a bite of bread? there more steel in a railroad rail when the summer
95
96 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
I
*
•
-
10 Biqa
'?
•
© • 6 B.qt •
ft
' iB.qi •
j 3 S»9U
,
j„ ,
— "j
1
PREHISTORIC EGYPTIAN BALANCE,
1
C. B.C. 5000
• 20 Btm • (Rid Llnnston. Bum. L, n«th. 3 35 in -8 5 cm.)
7-1 (a). This balance, the earliest one known, comes from a 7—1 (b). This wooden balance with its bronze weights was made
prehistoric grave at Naqada, Egypt. It may be 7000 years in Egypt almost 3500 years ago, somewhat more recently than
old. The arm and weights are made of limestone. Other the one mentioned in the text. The main features of the design
limestone masses of different numbers of beqa were also found are still used today. This balance could handle a load of a
in these prehistoric graves. Is there any reason why you should kilogram or so, and detect differences of a few parts in a thousand.
not use the beqa as your unit of mass? (Photo courtesy: Science (From "A History of Technology," Singer, Holmyard, and Hall;
heat lengthens it? We would find no evidence for measure space or time. From Egyptian tombs
the answer "yes," for the rail will return to its several thousand years old the archaeologists
original size on a cooler day. In a heaping bowl have recovered a little balance arm of carved
of whipped cream, there is plainly no more cream stone, with its carefully made stone weights (Fig.
than once filled the bottom of the whipping bowl. 7-1). It was almost surely used then, in the very
The rest is air — pleasant enough, but not nutri- dawn of history, for the careful measurement of
tious nor expensive! gold dust. The goldsmiths knew even then that
Neither counting pieces nor measuring volume the balance was the best way to estimate the
is a sure guide to quantity of matter, but the fact amount of solid gold they could cast from any
that we can often pick out identical pieces and heap of dust or from irregular nuggets.
number and volume go together indicates
find that When an object on one side of a balance is in
that we may be able to find a measure. Many equilibrium with some standard pieces of matter
other common experiences indicate the same thing. on the other side, it will remain in equilibrium
For example, burning two logs will give, roughly, even though there may be severe changes in the
twice as much heat, twice as much ash, twice as form of the object. Sawing apart a piece of iron,
much crackle as burning one log. Evidently, or filing it to a pile of small grains, will not affect
some sign of this simple fact must remain in the the equilibrium of the balance. Let an ice cube
gases that rise up the chimney. Somehow two melt away to water : the equilibrium remains. A
times as much matter is involved. This familiar balance responds to something quite independent
experience suggests to us that there is a quantita- of the apparent form of the object tested. This
tive measure of matter and that, although this is gravitational mass. The use of gravitational
measure is not to be gauged by shape or by bulk, mass will enable us to give as clear a meaning to
it has a determining effect on what happens in the the idea of the quantity of matter as does volume
world. to the notion of the amount of three-dimensional
space. This measure of the quantity of matter is
7-2. Mass in the Balance the third of the great, simple, physical magnitudes:
The simple balance the apparatus — Justice to time and to distance we now add mass.
traditionally carries — has for a long time given Note that if a certain quantity of gold just
men the power to measure the quantity of matter balances a standard piece of matter, and a piece
even more simply and precisely than they could of brass or a piece of wood also balances against
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 97
of matter balances any of the others. This gives is turned, half the weight of the additional links is
* "A pint's a pound, the world around" (to 5%) An electron 9.1 X 10- 31 kilograms
part in a million. In Table 1 a list of a few common perform a balance; we are in fact comparing the
objects is presented to give you some idea of their set and strain of the muscles of the two hands and
masses. A simple form of balance which you can arms. We are comparing masses by comparing
make yourself will easily measure a tenth of a the relative pull exerted on the two masses by the
milligram (or 10~ 7 kilogram), and the best labora- earth.
tory microbalances will measure differences as We know that the pull of the earth for any
-11
little as 10 kilogram (Fig. 7-3), though only given object is not constant. This pull, which we
for postage-stamp loads. Large balances, rigidly call the weight, varies somewhat from place to
built, sometimes using rather more complicated place even on the earth's surface.On the moon,
parts than the simple equal-arm device, will give we all expect to find the pull toward the surface
excellent results for masses up to almost a metric to be much less on earth, for one and the
than it is
ton. On such a balance we can see a person lose same chunk of matter. But the shape, the bulk,
mass with every breath, as he "burns" his food the physical appearance, and the chemical be-
and exhales the gases of combustion, and as water havior of that chunk would be unchanged. A
evaporates from the pores of his skin. hammer, for example, whether it is at home, in
the orbiting satellite, or in a lunar station, is the
7-3. The Meaning of Mass same. It will drive nails into a wall equally well
The balance is to the measurement of mass in all three places. Also its mass, defined by a
what the meter stick is to the measurement of balancing operation, does not change when the
length. It is the direct, defining form of instru- hammer is moved to a new location. Unlike the
ment. what we measure
Gravitational mass is pull toward the ground, the mass remains the
on the balance; that is its definition. But the same along with the other properties that seem
balance is not the only means of comparing to belong to the hammer itself. Two masses that
masses with a standard. We are all able to judge balance on the earth will also balance anywhere
the equality of masses when we "heft" them, one else.
in each hand. Here our senses do not really Mass, then, is an unchanging property of a
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 99
7—3 (a). An ultra-microbalance. Even the delicate analytical The pans are suspended in the cylindrical chambers projecting
balance is not sufficiently sensitive for some purposes. The below the main case. The mass to be determined is placed on
balance pictured above, however, is capable of measuring a one of the pans. This causes the beam to rotate about its point
-11
mass to within 5 X 10 kg, although its load is limited to 2 X 10~ 4 of support. The beam is then restored to its original position
kg. Balances of this type have been made for measuring within by applying a small amount of twist to the supporting quartz
-::
10 kg, but the maximum load is then decreased to 4 X 10
_1>
kg. fiber. The amount that the fiber is twisted is recorded on a
Like a conventional balance, the microbalance consists of a beam dial and the mass is then calculated by multiplying the amount
supported at the middle with a pan suspended from each end. of the twist by a constant, known as the calibration factor, that
In this case, however, the beam (the group of fine lines has been determined for the balance. The entire balance is
near the center of the picture) is made of light quartz and is about 40 cm long, 33 cm deep, and 30 cm high. The humidity
supported by a quartz fiber that extends the length of the case. inside the case is controlled by the device at the left.
body. The weight of a body — the pull of gravity 7-4. These two mineral specimens — pumice (left) and obsidian,
on it — changes very much indeed when the body or volcanic glass (right) — are of the same chemical composition
and the same mass. Their relative densities are inversely related
is moved from the earth to the moon, or to a to their volumes. The obsidian has almost the same density as
Weight and mass are not the same, and
satellite. glass, while the pumice is of such low density that it floats with
we must be careful not to confuse the two terms. about 20 per cent of its volume above water. These two materials,
Their relationship will be a topic of Part which come from volcanic craters, have the same general com-
III.
position as quartz. The rapidly cooled pumice solidified with
Throughout physics we shall find mass more im-
spaces in it created by volcanic gases and steam. The slowly
portant than weight. cooled obsidian has no spaces.
7-4. Density
The notion of density is a familiar one (Fig.
7-4). Lead is denser than wood. A small
volume of lead can have more mass than a larger
volume of wood. Density is defined as the mass
of a sample divided by its volume:
n . _ Mass of sample
^ Volume of sample
7—5. Here are four different materials: (upper left) a slice of about their patchy nature. The average density, for example,
raisin bread; (upper right) clean beach sand, magnified 20X; would tell only a small part of the story. How can we be sure
(lower left) fine-grained granite, magnified 8X; and (lower that an apparently uniform substance such as clean sea water
right) 100X magnified metallographic photograph of an etched is not patchy like these at some small scale? Answering this
specimen of iron. Each of them shows up as a collection of question led physicists to the atom, and later inside it. (Photo-
differing parts, more or less intimately mixed. Nobody would graph of iron: Courtesy British Cast Iron Research Association.)
expect to be able to understand these materials without knowing
For uniform substances the mass of each unit this way we can assign a local density to any
volume is the same and we can find the density small volume within an object.
from a sample of any size. But many substances For a uniform material such as water, the local
are not uniform (Fig. 7-5). The density depends density for any visible volume
v is the same as that
on the particular sample volume you choose. for any other visible volume and is equal to the
The density of a piece of concrete has one value average density. On the other hand, materials
for the whole chunk, which is called the average with non-uniformities do not give the same local
density. It has another value if you chip out a densities everywhere unless the volume v is always
stone from the sample, and still another value if chosen to be large compared with the size of the
the volume you select includes only cement. In non-uniformities. Finally, if you choose a vol-
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 101
ume : of submicroscopic size, it is doubtful if provide an important clue for unraveling the na-
even the local density has any clear meaning. ture of all matter.
The value we get may change radically if we
choose another volume a short distance away or 7-5. Indirect Measurements of Mass
make it a little smaller or a little bigger. Indeed Some objects are too large to put on any
we shall find in Part IV, Chapter 32, that the atoms balance, but if we know the average density of an
of which matter is made consist largely of empty object and its volume, we can find its mass. Con-
space around some small cores of high density; sider as one example the earth itself. We often
and these cores do not stand still. What we regard as a kind of neutral, unchanging, in-
it
really measure with gross, large-scale laboratory definite background to our life and work. But it
apparatus is some kind of average density. So is of course a large and complicated chunk of
we see that the idea of the density of a uniform matter (Fig. 7-6). In some special places, such
substance, a single value good for any sample, as the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River (Fig.
must be greatly modified in order to apply to real 7-7), we can see down into it for a few kilometers
substances. When we extend the idea to the and we discover it to be made of various rocks.
atomic domain, we cannot take it for granted. If we rashly assume that the deep interior of the
Table 2 is a brief table of densities. It is rather earth has the same density as the typical exposed
a surprise that the whole range of density of the rocks, it is not hard to estimate the mass of the
solid or liquid substances we normally encounter earth, using the known volume. The answer we
does not span much more than a single order of thus obtain is about 3 X 10 24 kg. It is interest-
magnitude. Only gases or vapors, like air or ing to compare this estimate with the value of
steam, have values outside this rather small range. 6 X 10 24 kg given in Table IB. The tabulated
As we shall see in Chapter 9, their low densities value is very much more precise; it rests upon
Table 2
kg/m 3 gm/cm 3
kg/m 3
gm/cm 3
The gases of
Lead 1.13 X 10 4 11.3
interstellar (poorly known)
Steel 7.6-7.8 X 10 3 7.6-7.8 space = 10- 18 = io- 21
Titanium 4.5 X 10 3
4.5 The gases of
the space
Diamond 3.53 X 10 3 3.53
between the (poorly known)
Quartz 2.65 X 10 3 2.65 galaxies = io- 21 = io- 24
102 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
7—6. The earth from 160 km up. We get some idea of the are barely and the earth takes on the appearance of
visible
mass of the earth from this photo (right) taken by a camera in a smooth globe. Huge cloud masses appear as small white
a V-2 rocket soaring above White Sands, New Mexico. Several spots. Evidences of man all but disappear. The diagram at
hundred thousand square miles of the United States and Mexico the left indicates some of the features visible in the photograph.
are visible. From the hills seen at the bottom of the photo to the Compare the diagram with the photo to see how many features
horizon is about 1540 km. The width of the area shown is you can actually locate and identify. The presence of the earthi
about 400 km. The Gulf of California, dark area in upper a sample of great mass, makes itself felt by its gravitational
left, is about 100 km wide. Beyond this, the curvature of the pull in every step and breath we take. The gravity which drives
earth is apparent. Notice how the earth's features are smoothed the balance also molds every part of life. (Courtesy: U. S.
laboratory measurement of gravitation, which distance or what pulse was in connection with
you will study in Part III. Comparison of the time. Using the balance makes heft precise and
two values demonstrates that the unseen interior extends our means of measurement much as the
of our earth consists of rather denser stuff than accurate meter stick refines and extends the span
the familiar rocks. of our hands. Mass measurements go far beyond
Whereas the earth is too big to be measured on the reach of our senses. They go beyond the
a balance, an atom is too small. Just as there are balance; yet they are still within the mind's grasp.
gravitational means of measuring the mass of the
earth or the sun, there are electromagnetic means 7-6. Conservation of Mass and
of finding the mass of subatomic particles. (See Conservation of Matter
Part IV.) Such methods of mass measurement In the notion of mass, as found on the balance,
are useful extensions of our mass measurements we have arrived at a way of measuring and com-
with the balance. In Table IB we listed a few paring every form of matter we encounter. There
masses which were measured by methods different arises out of this measurement a simple and won-
from the simple balance. Our knowledge extends derful experimental result. Once we have es-
from the tiniest subatomic masses to the mass of tablished an equilibrium between pans, the equi-
the sun itself. librium is not affected by changes such as cutting,
Notice that we have defined the elements of chipping, shaving, grinding, melting, dissolving,
our subject with simple, immediate means — fading, rusting, burning, flashing, exploding,
heft here has been for mass what span was for within the matter on either balance pan. In none
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 103
7—7. Grand Canyon, Arizona. This view of the Grand Canyon form the Grand Canyon can be gained if we picture how dwarfed
taken from Cape Royal covers a length of about 10 km. A New York's Empire State Building (about 400 m high) would
bend in the Colorado River is visible in the center of the picture. appear if it were transplanted into the canyon floor. In this
At this point, the river is about 220 m wide. From the camera spectacular place, as in the more commonplace scenery every-
position across to the opposite rim of the canyon is about 2.1 where, geologists have demonstrated the earth, at least near
X 10 4 m. This is one of the widest points in the canyon, which its surface, to be a great block of familiar material. (Courtesy:
averages about 1.6 X 10 3 m deep. A good idea of the mass of The Tozier Collection.)
earth and rock that have been eroded and washed away to
of these events, each of which can modify the flash bulb retains mass though it has sent out
its
appearance of a sample of matter beyond recog- much and the fine silvery wire has
brilliant light,
nition by the senses, can we detect a change in burst into a smoky white deposit on the glass.
the mass. The mass of the initial material is just You can check for yourself the conservation of
that of the final material. mass in a flash of that kind to quite satisfying ac-
Of course, account must be taken of the mass curacy.
of air or steam or other invisible vapors or gases The conservation of mass holds to really high
which may enter or leave the balance pan during precision in all ordinary processes. Its validity
the changes that involve evaporation or chemical has been checked to a part in a about billion, to
reaction. The simplest way to avoid such com- one microgram in a kilogram, both for simple
plications is to perform the changes within a chemical and mechanical processes, and for more
tightly sealed container. We all know that a complex ones, like the growth of plants. No
sealed aquarium may be made to sustain a variety balance is more accurate than that.
of living forms. The organisms grow, die, decay, In this work on the balance, we measure the
and rebuild life anew; light and heat enter and quantity of matter on the balance before and
leave. But the mass of the sealed system remains after a chemical or mechanical change and find
the same so far as we can measure it. Indeed, that it is essentially the same. However, the
the earth is just such a system. A photographer's balance is only accurate to within the limits we
104 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
tesy: Lotte Jacobi.) In the next sections we shall look at some of the
chemical ideas about matter. We shall examine the
have indicated. No balances are precise enough idea of elements which are the basic substances
to show directly what we now know. During this from which everything is combined. Then we
century we have learned that the loss of light, shall take up the idea of atoms. These are little
heat, or sound actually does modify the mass. individual units of which everything is built. In
But this modification does not mean that the the early nineteenth century the ideas of elements
totalmass changes; as far as we can tell, the con- and atoms were combined. This led to a single
servation of mass is precise. The total mass is view of all material structure: little individual
always the same, but a slight amount of it may units of a number of different elementary types
escape or enter the matter on the balance, going act as the basic pieces from which everything is
in or out in radiant form. built. These units are the atoms of the elements.
These losses or gains of radiant mass are real, Paint and mountains, hair, skin, and steel beams,
but in ordinary processes they are so small that carrots and planets —
all the wide variety of solids,
they can be neglected. Only in changes that are liquids, and gases — are different collections of
far more and deep-seated than ordinary
violent atoms of elements. We shall look first at ele-
chemical ones (as an atomic-bomb explosion is ments; then at some evidence that everything
more violent than a chemical one) do these effects comes in small particles; and finally we find that
become noticeable. The rise of nuclear physics the idea of individual particles and the idea of
has brought us into contact with processes in elements are combined in the chemist's idea of an
which the masses released in radiant form are atom of an element. The chemist got there some-
unusually large. As a result the prediction of what differently. We shall see how in the next
Einstein that radiant energy is mass has been chapter.
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 105
1. When shelling peas you may find that 12 full pea therefore, he could break the walnut as easily
pods yield 12 empty pods and 91 peas, that is 103 as back on earth. C maintains that the compari-
pieces in place of the original 12. son with other masses proved nothing because
(a) Has the quantity of matter changed? out in space they too are weightless.
(b) Has volume changed?
the Comment on the statements of the crewmen.
(c) Has mass
the —
as determined by weighing Can they crack the walnut?
on a balance —
changed?
5. The mass of the earth has been calculated to
2. Assume you are sent on a South American jungle be 5.98 X 10 24 kg. The radius of the earth is
expedition to analyze ore deposits. On arrival 6.38 X 6
10 m.
you find the laboratory equipment complete (a) What is the
average density of the earth?
except for the standard masses. You do have a (b) Would you
expect the average density of
nugget of pure gold of unknown mass that you the material near the surface to be the same as
estimate to be about one kilogram. the average density near the center of the earth?
(a) Could you use the nugget as a standard State your reasons.
mass for the duration of your work?
(b) It is impractical to have masses sent to you 6. Cork is only one fourth as dense as water. Could
and you are determined to complete the work. you lift a sphere of cork one meter in diameter?
How would you improvise a set of masses that
would give dependable results? 7. During World War I a number of cargo vessels
(c) Your quantitative results are to be mailed
were made of concrete. It is known that any
to the main laboratory in London. Obviously, object which floats must have an average density
own standard mass would
the data in terms of your
less than that of water. How can you account
have limited meaning to them. How would you
for the fact that these vessels floated?
solve the problem of making the data completely
useful for them?
8. A fills a package
quantity of confectioner's sugar
16 cm X 8.0 cm X
cm. 5.0
3. The apparent pull of gravity varies with the altitude
(a) How many packages can be placed in a
and the latitude. The relative amount of this
freight car 22 m X 2.4 m x 2.4 m?
pull at various places is indicated in the following
(b) If the mass of sugar in one of the small
table:
packages is 450 grams, what is the mass of sugar
in the freight car?
A standard station 1.000000 (c) What is the density of the sugar?
(sea level at 45° latitude)
Canal Zone 0.997530
9. A student knows that dense objects sink in water
Denver, Colo. 0.998923
and He undertakes
that less dense objects float.
Worcester, Mass. 0.999652
to find out something about the relations involved.
Greenland 1.001906
He carefully measures the mass, volume, and
submerged volume of several floating objects
(a) At which place would an object weigh the with the following results:
most? The least?
(b) By what per cent would each of these
Submerged
weights differ from the weight at the standard
Volume Mass fraction
station? In general, what would you say about
the variation in weight from place to place? Cork 60 cm 3
10 gm 0.17
(c) Does the mass of the object change from
Wood 36 cm 3
27 gm 0.75
4. The crewmen in a spaceship are discussing (a) WTiat is the density of each material?
whether they could crack a walnut with a hammer. (b) What is the mass of the water displaced by
Man A says that hitting the walnut with the each object?
hammer would be no more effective than hitting (c) What general conclusions can you draw by
it with a feather because the hammer is weightless comparing your computations with the original
out in space. B states that he found the mass of data? Your conclusions should be the same as
the hammer to be about one kilogram by compar- those of Archimedes when he leaped from the
ing it with known masses on an equal arm balance; bath shouting, "Eureka!"
106 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
10. (a) How would you use a sensitive balance to (a) What mass of oxygen do you expect to be
determine whether the local density varies in a released?
sheet of notebook paper? When hydrogen is burned in air, water is
(b) What assumption would you have to make formed. When 10 grams of hydrogen arc burned,
about the paper? 350 grams of air must be used.
(c) How could you check the correctness of (b) What mass of water is formed? (Water
this assumption? Could you use the optical always has the same proportions of hydrogen and
micrometer to check? oxygen.)
(c) What is the mass of the unburned air?
11. One kg of water is decomposed into the elements Note: If you do these experiments, the numbers
hydrogen and oxygen. The mass of hydrogen computed from the conservation of mass agree
released is 1 1 1 grams. with the numbers observed.
7—7. Chemical Analysis and Synthesis salt sink to the bottom. There are as many means
If you "burn" sugar, you will get black char for separation of mixtures as there are kinds of
and some steam, which is of course only water mixtures.
vapor. The wonderful conclusion which every Chemists usually find it most convenient to
cook can reach from his or her own experience is work with pure substances, those of uniform
that no matter what foodstuff he "burns," from properties which have passed through many
beef to pie crust, he is almost sure to get the same processes of purification, of which the above
black, charry product — carbon. Apparently separation of salt and sugar is a simple example.
the black matter, which we call carbon, is con- Pure substances are certainly simpler than mix-
tained somehow in all the variety of things from tures. Once the chemist has purified some of the
which it can be produced by sufficient heating. common substances, he can ask whether they are
In "burnt" sugar, for example, the carbon formed the simplest possible kinds of matter or whether
accounts for about two-fifths of the mass of the they are combinations of a still simpler set of sub-
original sugar; the other three-fifths is accounted stances. For example, he uses heat to break sugar
for by water. This ratio is the same for every into carbon and water. He can break down the
sample of cane sugar. carbon no further, but the passage of an electric
Of course, the sugar has to be pure. Sugar current through the water (or extreme heat) de-
adulterated with sand will not all go to black car- composes it into two gases, oxygen and hydro-
bon and water when heated in the kitchen oven. gen, which he cannot decompose further.
The sand will remain nearly unchanged. Wood, This breakdown of a material into several
rocks, raisin bread — plainly these are not pure others an example of a chemical reaction, a de-
is
substances. The
last example serves as a model composition. Another example which can be
for them There are regions of raisin, and re-
all. demonstrated easily in the laboratory is the break-
gions of bread. Most of the complex substances down of a heavy, red powder called mercuric
of which the natural world is made contain re- oxide. After heating the powder strongly, we
gions of one character interspersed with those of find a silvery, heavy liquid which we can identify-
material from two or more others. Another remain problems of seeing whether there
the
simple experiment will serve to illustrate this type and of finding out which sub-
really are elements
of reaction. If we mix some iron powder or fil- stances are elements. At the time of Boyle,
ings thoroughly with about twice its volume of chemical knowledge was so primitive that Boyle's
powdered sulfur, we shall have a mixture which idea of an element was not immediately useful.
be separated because iron is attracted to a It was not until a century later that Lavoisier
magnet while sulfur is not. We can also separate proposed that any substance not known to be
the two with a liquid called carbon disulfide, in decomposable should be regarded as an element,
which the sulfur will dissolve but the iron will not. and lists of elements were made. As one would
If. however, we heat our mixture of iron and sul- expect, the list of elements had to be revised fre-
fur, we shall soon see it glow. If we then let it quently at first.Not every product of decompo-
cool and test it with a magnet and with carbon sition is an element, and compounds which were
disulfide, we find no separation. hard to decompose were mistaken for elements;
Obviously, a change has occurred in which the but it was not long before the list of elements took
original substances have been put together into very much the form it has today.
something new. We call this chemical reaction a By 1800 about twenty-five or thirty substances
synthesis. In addition to decomposition and had been recognized as elements. We now know
simple svnthesis of single substances, there are that there are approximately ninety which occur
man\ more complicated reactions. The reaction naturally, as well as about ten more that we can
of sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric (muri-
(lye) make in small quantities by the most modern
atic) acid to give common salt and water is a methods of nuclear physics. The number of ele-
simple example of a somewhat different type. ments is large enough to create a real problem of
sorting and identification, but small enough so
7-8. The Elements that the job has been done.
So far we have used the term pure substance to In the examples we have used, it turns out, iron
indicate any material of uniform properties. and sulfur are elements. So also are carbon,
Mercuric oxide, iron, sulfur, water, carbon, and hydrogen, oxygen, and mercury. On the other
cane sugar are all examples. We can break down, hand, the iron sulfide formed from iron and sulfur
or decompose, mercuric oxide into mercury and is a compound ; it cannot be an element because it
oxygen: cane sugar into carbon and water. Some is formed of two things. Similarly, cane sugar is
Table 3 no chemist has put the whole earth into his test
tubes, the result depends on many indirect argu-
Abundance of Elements in the Earth's Crust
ments about whether the rocks and soils have
been properly sampled. Table 3 is to be regarded
Relat ve Abundance
Per Cent of as a good approximation and nothing more; its
(Num ber of atoms per
Element Total Mass 100 atoms of oxygen) improvement and then its explanation is one task
Aluminum 8.1 10.3 curate way, the census of the human body has
Iron 5.0 3.1 been taken. The relative abundance of the most
Calcium 3.6 3.1 common elements which form the living human
Sodium 2.8 4.2 body is shown in Table 4. In Tables 3 and 4 we
Potassium 2.6 2.3 have taken the census both in terms of the masses
Magnesium 2.1 3.0 of the elements present and in terms of the atomic
Titanium 0.4 0.3 population. Later in this chapter and in the next
Hydrogen 0.1 3.4
we shall learn how these numbers of atoms of the
different elements can be determined.
Table 4
7-9. Spectrum Analysis
Abundance of Elements in the Human Body Ifyou hold a piece of iron wire in a gas flame,
an instant. Scatter
the flame will flare yellow for
Relative Abundance some crystals of common salt into the flame and
Per Cent of Total (Number of atoms per
Element Body Weight 100 atoms of hydrogen) the same yellow flare will appear much more
strongly. The salt itself is not necessary; a
Oxygen 60.0 37.9
chemist can analyze salt into two elements,
Carbon 20.2 17.0
sodium and chlorine, the first of which is a soft,
Hydrogen 10.0 100.0
Nitrogen 2.5 1.8
whitish metal. A small speck of sodium makes
Calcium 2.5 0.6 the flame flare even more yellow. The highway
Phosphorus 1.14 0.4 lamps which give off yellow light also contain
Chlorine 0.16 0.05 sodium. Many other substances give the same
Sulfur 0.14 0.04 yellow light; all of them contain sodium. Why,
Potassium 0.11 0.03 then, did the iron wire give this light? A chemist
Sodium 0.10 0.04 can show, by making sure that he has cleaned the
Magnesium 0.07 0.03
iron wire surface well, that it is not the iron that
Iron 0.01 0.002
gives this yellow flame color; the color comes
from the small amount of salt accumulated on
copper, zinc, and nickel. Add to these a large the surface which people have handled with their
number of elements found in special ores and salty fingers. (Taste yours.) The visible yellow
very rarely elsewhere, and finally a few which flame color is a very sensitive test for sodium.
only chemists and physicists know very well, and The eye can pick up the coloring of the flame
the list mounts to about a hundred. These hun- which comes from adding much less than a mi-
dred substances appear to be pure and resist the crogram of the element. To detect such a small
efforts of chemists to decompose them. amount is not easy for chemists without the
The importance of an element in economic use flame method.
may make it Yet many familiar
familiar to us. Sodium is not the only substance which gives
elements, like the gold used by jeweler and den- off a characteristic color when heated. Every
tist, the tungsten in the incandescent bulb and element — heated by flame or by the passage of
radio tube, and the chromium on flashy cars, are the intense current of an arc — radiates
electric
only rarely found among the elements of which a characteristic color. In fireworks a red flare is
the earth is made. It is interesting to take a cen- made with strontium, a green one with barium or
sus of the make-up of the earth as a whole. Since copper, and so on. But for most elements, the
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 109
7—9. The basic idea of spectroscopy. Complex light from a at the bottom of the figure for the two sources shown —a neon
source is broken down into several components of differing light and a flame containing a compound of sodium. The graphs
colors by using slits covered with dyed Cellophane filters. The represent, in a crude fashion, the spectra of the light sources.
radiated light combines many colors and the eye would depend very much on just what dyes were
alone is unable to recognize anything so charac- in your filters, but all three would be conspicuous.
teristic as the yellow of sodium or the red of But if you looked at a sodium flame through your
strontium. filters, the yellow slit would appear much brighter
There is a simple principle which can be applied than the others. With a simple visual matching
with great success to turn the simple judgment of of the brightness of each slit against any standard
a color into a much more powerful and versatile you might choose, or with the help of photo-
measurement. Suppose you prepared a card- graphic film or of an exposure meter, you could
board screen with three parallel slits cut into it describe the color of the light source numerically
and then pasted over each slit a piece of Cello- by giving three numbers, one for each of the slits
phane, a piece of a different color for each slit. of your filter. (See Fig. 7-9.)
For example, one of the slits might be red, one With only three filters, a number of different
yellow, and the third blue. Now if you held this sources might still look the same they might give
;
set of color filters against any source of light, you the same relative brightness through the slits.
would note differences in the brightness of the But it is easy to see how to improve this device so
light coming through the three filters. In sun- that it will distinguish smaller differences in the
light you would see all three colored slits passing light from different sources. You would use not
considerable light; the exact brightness of each three slits, but a dozen or two and find color
1 10 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
neon sign would be seen to contain fainter but of these is a separate projection of the formed
slit
unmistakable light which would come through a in a different color and at a different position from
yellow and a green filter. The greenish-blue glare the others. They are called spectral lines. The
of a mercury lamp contains orange, green, and arrangement of lines typical of any light source
yellow The multiple filters act to sort out
light. is again called the spectrum of the source (plural:
and allow at least a rough
the constituent colors spectra). Even in a spectroscope that is not very
measurement of the amount of each present in elaborate thenumber of distinct slit images which
the source. can appear, the number of possible colors, is not
Colors can be sorted out in other ways. It is the few dozen that could be obtained with filters,
not necessary to use dyed filters chosen somewhat but typically a thousand or two, and it can be
arbitrarily and arranged in arbitrary order. Opti- made many more. How these devices work will
cal instruments called spectroscopes act to sort be studied Here they serve us as would
in Part II.
out the constituent colors of a beam of light by a very large set of dyed filters.
shunting or dispersing one color into one path, a If all colors are present in the light from a
neighboring color into a neighboring but slightly source, the eye observing the output of the spec-
different path, and so on, for the whole range of troscope will see the complete rainbow pattern.
colors. If some color is missing, the picture shows a dark
Take a long-playing phonograph record and line at the position of the missing color. If some
look at the reflection in the record of a small or color is present in unusual quantity, a bright line
distant light. When the angles between the light is seen at the proper place.
and the surface of the disc and between your eye With this instrument, the sodium yellow looks
and the surface are both small, the reflection is like Fig. 7-11. The detail can be great. Now we
colored like a rainbow. The reflected red light see the yellow of the sodium flame is not just any
and reflected blue light are actually seen at slightly yellow. It is a very specific color indeed, made by
different positions. Colors are also separated no other element. This particular pair of lines,
when a light is viewed through a prism from an appearing in the same location as in Fig. 7-1 1 (b),
old glass chandelier. Either the record or the always means that sodium is present. Even if
prism gives you a crude spectroscope. In such the yellow color is masked to the unaided eye by
instruments the order of the colors is no longer many other colors, the spectroscope will show the
whimsical. As we shall find in Part II, the order presence of sodium.
depends on the nature of the light. It follows the In Fig. 7-12 the top line is the spectrum of
color order of the rainbow. calcium metal. Below are the spectra of three
Now place a piece of cardboard with a narrow different compounds of calcium, all taken with
slit between a mercury or neon lamp and
cut in it the same spectroscope. Notice the strong simi-
the record or prism so that the only light reaching larity of the spectra when the same element is
the record or prism from the source comes present. Also notice the complete difference be-
through the slit (see Fig. 7-10). When the long tween the spectra of calcium and sodium. The
dimension of the slit is perpendicular to the di- regions of color of the spectra shown in Figs.
rection in which the colors are spread out, you 7-11 (a) and 7-12 overlap considerably, but this
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 111
1 > 1
Ml |
(a) ^^^^
(b)
7—11. (a) The spectrum of sodium as photographed in a spectro- almost invisible violet lines arise from a potassium impurity,
graph. The line in the yellow is extremely intense. It has been (b) A part of the sodium spectrum has been photographed using a
photographed through an absorbing filter, because otherwise spectrograph that spreads out the light more, enabling us to
the line would be so strong that we could not photograph it see more detail. The yellow sodium line is really two neighboring
and the other lines well at the same time. The close pair of lines known as the sodium D lines.
whole region from ultraviolet through green looks This behavior suggests that they may result from
completely different in the light of calcium, where something that is destroyed by high temperature,
there are many spectral lines, and in that of and such is indeed the case. They are produced
sodium, where there are practically no lines. by groups of atoms which are closely combined
Each element gives out its own spectrum, dif- and not by single atoms. At high temperatures
ferent from that of any other. A particular set these compounds decompose and only the line
of spectral lines means that a particular element spectra of the elements are produced.
is present. Look at the spectra of iron at differ- A glowing source of light may be such that the
ent high temperatures (Fig. 7-13). Although characteristic lines do not appear in the spectro-
these spectra are not exactly alike, many of the scope, even though the element is present. But
lines are present in all of the spectra. At each if the telltale lines are seen, the material must be
temperature there are enough characteristic lines there, for no two elements give the same pattern
to identify iron. of lines. Sometimes a part of the pattern of one
Spectra are not always simple. The spectra of element can resemble or obliterate that of another,
flames sometimes show very complicated patterns but the differences are there, if hard to unravel.
of many These groups of
closely spaced lines. Every substance that can be made to give glowing
lines occur much more often in flames than in gas —
and that means all substances, though for
arcs and sparks, which are much hotter than some the temperatures are so high that special
flames. They are never found in very hot sources. means like big electric sparks are needed can —
Ultra Violet Violet Bl"e Green
7-12. The spectrum of calcium appears whenever calcium is and the bottom with calcium hydroxide Ca(OH).>. A spectrum
present. The top line was photographed with calcium metal was taken with the arc alone to be sure that the pattern of lines
in an arc in the spectroscope; the second line with the salt belongs only to calcium. Note the same pair of violet lines as
colcium fluoride, CaF_; the third with calcium carbonate, CaCO:;; in Fig. 7—11, again arising from a potassium impurity.
112 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
imiiiiiiiiinmHminiiiniiMU
—iiiiiinmiiMtB
IHIHHWHII IIIHHI^H IIIJI
7—13. The spectra of iron in the violet and the blue at different
temperatures. From the bottom up, the spectra show the effect sun and stars which cannot be brought into the
of increasing temperature. The three lower spectra are from laboratory. Nearly a hundred years ago this was
iron in furnaces, the upper one from an arc. Note that new first done and physicists were able to determine
lines appear at higher temperatures, but the lines seen at lower
the key spectral fines of the elements present.
temperatures are still present, in some cases becoming more in-
Everywhere in the visible universe, out to the gal-
tense. (Courtesy: Arthur S. King, in The Asfrophysica/ Journal,
November 1922.)
remote space, the same spectra are found.
axies of
Everywhere the same elements must be present.
be analyzed by its spectral lines. Now we come to In the 1860*s a spectral pattern was seen which
the important point : these analyses of the spec- had never before been found. It was seen in a
troscopist agree in every cross-check with the spectrum taken from the edge of the sun, from
results of the chemist. We find that the same which only a small fraction of sunlight comes.
near-hundred elements account for the observed Because no element was known on earth which
spectra. Thus light becomes a tool for the chemi- gave the pattern, it was attributed to a new ele-
cal analyst, more sensitive than usual chemical ment. Finally the element was found in some
methods. rare minerals here on earth. It is the gas helium,
Spectroscopy is not restricted to visible light. named from the Greek word for "sun."
Beyond the violet end of the spectrum, the normal To see if there were still other elements that
eye sees nothing, but photographic plates or fluo- had not yet been found, ever.' region of the sky
rescent dyes show the existence of many ultra- was examined spectroscopically. Curious spectral
violet fines. All kinds of radiation, X rays and patterns were found in nebulae, in the sun. and
even radio waves, have a kind of spectroscopv. in the glow of the northern fights, but it has al-
These spectra tell us much more about matter ways turned out that these patterns could be made
than we could learn using visible light alone. by known elements under appropriate conditions
Spectroscopic analysis is a powerful and delicate here on earth. Only in helium, the first example,
tool, forged through decades of hard work. In did we recognize a new element before we had any
the visible-light region alone, we have identified sample of it in the laboratory.
nearly a quarter of a million distinct lines and we We have seen that chemist and spectroscopist
know the exact position in the spectrum of more agree: complex as a sample may appear, it will
than a hundred thousand of them. Besides this vield in the end to the attack of the chemist with
careful collection of data, and the use of these reagent and furnace, or to the spectroscopist with
data in quick chemical analyses, spectroscopy has flame, arc. and spark. The sample will be re-
meant more. During the decades from 1910 to solved by the chemist into some of a hundred or
1940, it became the testing ground for theories so unresolvable substances: the elements. It
dealing with the deepest nature of matter. Regu- will present to the spectroscopist a superposition
larities in spectral lines exist; the patterns that of some of the hundred or so typical spectral
they reveal can be unraveled into much simpler patterns which go with these elements.
form, and the story of that unraveling is much of The invariable agreement of the analyses made
the story of our present physics, to which we shall by two such different means —
one with light and
return in Part IV. the spectroscope, one with crucible, balance, and
Finally, spectroscopy opens a path to chemical acid —
confirms our idea that all matter is put
analysis, at least in rough terms, of objects like together out of the same set of elements.
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 113
Three white crystalline substances — silicon chloric acid can be decomposed (see Problem 2)
dioxide (quartz), calcium chlorate, and sodium into hydrogen and chlorine. Can the "salt" be
carbonate (washing soda) are— mixed together. an element?
It is desired to separate each of these substances (c) Using the table of known elements (Chap-
from the others. Using the properties listed in ter 32), which substances mentioned are ele-
the table, describe how you could do this. ments and which are compounds?
(b) Can either of the other two gases be an (b) Whether the mass of a silicon atom is
Solubility (gm/liter)
Density Melting Cold Hot
Substance (gm/cm 3 ) Point Water Water Alcohol
Silicon
dioxide 2.65 1400°C Insoluble Insoluble Insoluble
Calcium
chlorate 2.71 100°C 1777. Very soluble Soluble
Sodium
carbonate 1.44 32.5°C 215.2 4210 Insoluble
C. THE ATOM
7-10. Spelling Out Matter Atoms —
In the time of Socrates, Greek thinkers like 1805, the chemists of Europe were beginning to
Democritus taught that all matter is made from explore the inner nature of matter. They were
very small distinct parts. These small parts were learning, very largely by use of the balance, that
supposed to be identical and to be arranged in the changes they could study left the total mass
many different ways to display to our senses the unchanged and occurred according to some other
marvelous differences and variety of the material rather complicated, but quite definite, rules as
world. No one brought forward very convincing well. These regularities brought the chemists
arguments for these ideas, but through the ages back to the old Greek ideas.
the tradition continued. Finally, in the nine- As indicated at the end of Section 7-6, the con-
teenth century, physicists and chemists found con- servation of matter on the balance allows us to
vincing but indirect evidence for these ideas. suppose that all the changes we see in the nature
When Lewis and Clark made their way west in of matter simply amount to the reorganization
114 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
of the same unchanging fundamental units. In dimensions a few thousand times. An electron
any rearrangement, the number of blocks does microscope uses a beam of electrons in place of
not change, and so the balance remains unaffected light and displays its images on a screen exactly
by dissolving or rusting or even explosion of the like a TV screen. It can magnify linear dimen-
sample. Also, because we are combining units of sions by a million times or more. Its full field of
only a few types, our combinations should ex- view, however, is only about 10 -6 meter across.
hibit some rules of regularity. Many of these To survey fully the area of a single postage stamp
chemist's rules, as we shall see in the next chapter, at such magnifications would require so many
can thus be attributed to the existence of small photographs that, printed two to a page, they
blocks of matter. There are, in short, natural would bind into half a million standard volumes
units for matter, something which we have never and crowd a good-sized library building! But
found for space and time. These natural units careful analysis of a few of these tiny magnified
are the atoms. portions of matter and space can reveal new and
Out of these atoms the world of matter is built. wonderful things.
They occur in great numbers, but there are only a It is true, of course, that before we use such
few hundred kinds of them. All the diversity of instruments intelligently we must learn how to in-
matter arises from the combination, in intricate terpret what we see. We must discover each in-
but repetitive patterns, of these little component strument's limitations and how to correct for the
particles. That is the essence of the idea of the errors which the instrument itself may introduce.
atom, the ancient idea. Sometimes decades of constant research and in-
Whoever knows how to read has before his terpretation are required before an instrument is
eyes an almost perfect analogy: the way in which fully understood and accepted. A few centuries
the enormous variety of printed material in ago the telescope was distrusted. It was thought
English, from "Hamlet" to this physics book, to give a distorted and false picture. As recently
from "The Star-Spangled Banner" to the tele- as twenty-five years ago the electron microscope
phone directory, are but combinations of a few had a similar history. Today, these instruments
dozen letters, figures, and signs assembled in a are fully accepted, and we use them as readily as
vast variety of ways. What is the alphabet of we use ordinary eyeglasses. Careful study, cross-
matter, how are the words spelled, and what do checking, and analysis have made the images of
they mean and origin of all the
for the properties the telescope, of the optical microscope, and of
matter of the world? To answer these questions the electron microscope meaningful.
has been the main task of modern science of — Fig. 7-14 shows a study of a sample of a cer-
physics, chemistry, astronomy, and biology. tain green pigment known to have a somewhat
larger fundamental structure than most sub-
7-11. Seeing Atoms stances. In the last photo, we see layer after
While the nineteenth-century chemists were layer ofatoms lying with the great regularity so
finding cogent evidence for atoms, physicists like characteristic of the arrangement of the funda-
Maxwell and Boltzmann, who studied the be- mental units in solid matter. This may be com-
havior of gases, also found evidence for small pared with Fig. 7-15 taken at a lower magnifica-
units of matter. In their own way, they too ap- tion, which shows a kind of halfway house to the
proached the atom. In this century new methods atom. Here the regular array, like a stack of
of research have made the existence of atoms many cannon balls, is a crystal made from virus
even more evident. Today the units of the chemi- particles. These virus particles are little assem-
cal elements are as real as bricks or chairs. They blies themselves, each with a complex substruc-
are as much a part of scientific thought as are ture containing some millions of atoms. Similar
rocks or stars — and they are often easier to ma- regular piles of atoms, much smaller than these
nipulate. virus particles, make up the crystals of salt or
The most direct way to see that matter has a sugar or metals. It is not hard to believe that the
fundamental structure is to look at its fine detail regularity of such small structures is responsible
through an instrument of high magnification. for the regularities we see in crystals.
The microscope using light can magnify linear We can see individual atoms, too, not simply
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 1 1 5
we now can see another structural pattern that looks like corduroy.
The highly regular pattern is actually an edge view of layers of
-9
molecules. The spacing of the lines is about 10 m. In the
7-15. Crystal of necrosis virus protein. This electron-micro- (about 8 X 10 4 times), the molecules look like so many neatly
graph of a portion of a protein crystal shows the molecules stacked oranges. The actual size of the entire crystal is about
to be arranged in a very orderly way. At this magnification 1.7 X 10-« m. (Courtesy: Ralph Wyckoff.)
crowds of them. The Muller field-ion micro- of seeing atoms; and the result of the X-ray
scope can show the location and even the motions analysis is shown in the contour diagram. Where
of atoms, or perhaps groups of a few atoms, in the contours form dark globs, we "see" the
the tip of a very fine needle of hard metal. As in atoms. There are between 40 and 50 of them in
the electron microscope, the image is displayed an area about 10~ 9 m on a side. In other words,
on a fluorescent screen. In Fig. 7-16 compare the it takes about 7 atoms to span each layer of the
image of the atomic array in the tip of the tungsten corduroy structure. Thus each atom has a linear
needle with the model of the same array. dimension of about 2 X 10~ 10 m. It is common
Neither the moons of Jupiter nor the germs of to give a special name, an angstrom unit, to a
pneumonia can be seen by the unaided eye. To length of 10~ 10 m. In this language we say that
make the distant moons visible, we need a tele- the atoms in the green pigment have diameters of
scope, and only a microscope can show us directly about 2 angstroms.
the tiny germs. So with the atom: man-made in- The size of the atoms in the tungsten needle
struments, whose functioning we can understand, examined with the field-ion microscope turns out
help our eyes to see the very tiny building blocks to be about the same. From the picture on the
of matter. lower right in Fig. 7-16 and the known magnifica-
Let us use our instruments to find the dimen- tion of the microscope, we can tell how far apart
sions of some atoms. Look again at Fig. 7-14, the corners of the atomic planes are in the tung-
the study of the green pigment. The corduroy sten needle. we believe the model
Then, if
pattern repeats every 10 -9 m. This pattern is which shows howatoms are arranged in the
the
formed by groups of atoms, identical groups re- needle, we can estimate an atomic dimension.
peated over and over again. These groups have You will find that it is again an angstrom or two.
been studied with X rays, another indirect means The agreement between the atomic dimensions
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 117
obtained in this way and the atomic dimensions stance called stearic acid is dissolved in a volatile
obtained by the X-ray study of the green pigment solvent like benzene. By repeatedly diluting the
makes us far more confident that both methods solution with more solvent, one can make sure
are giving us the right answer. that there is only a very small, but accurately
Neither of these measurements alone would known, amount of the solid substance dissolved
really convince us that there are atoms. Even the in each cubic centimeter of solvent. If a very
two taken together are not enough, but in fact small drop of this solution is placed on the surface
there are now so many different measurements of of clean water, it spreads quickly, after which the
atomic dimensions —
all of them giving a few solvent evaporates and the stearic acid remains.
angstroms —
that the whole body of evidence ap- A remarkable thing happens. A thin layer of
pears overwhelming. We shall see more of this stearic acid floatson the water surface, but it
evidence before the end of this chapter, but it spreads out only so far and no farther. There is
would take impossibly long to list all the evidence a maximum area: and this means that there must
that physicists can marshal. The atoms are be a minimum thickness. Furthermore, when we
really there, and they are all about the same size. use a different number of drops we find that this
thickness stays the same. It is naturally deter-
7-12. More Evidence of Atoms mined — determined by the dimension of the
The virus particles seen in the electron micro- natural units of stearic acid.
scope are much larger than atoms, and even the The natural minimum thickness of a stearic
corduroy-like layers seen in Fig. 7-14 are many acid layer must be at least as great as one dimen-
atoms apart, but these photographs do show that sion of the natural units of stearic acid. How
there is some sort of repeating pattern deep within small is it? If we dissolve a tenth of a cubic centi-
apparently uniform matter —
a structure which meter of stearic acid in a liter of benzene, we
-4
reflects the orderly stacking of natural units. should have only 10 of the original amount, or
We can approach the problem of revealing this 10 -5 cm 3 of stearic acid in each drop of the solu-
Suppose we
structure in quite a different way. tion. (There are about ten drops per cm 3 .) One
were to try to cut a sample of material into drop of this solution on water forms a layer with
smaller and smaller pieces until we got to its an area- about 50 cm 2 Dividing this area into
.
natural unit. When we approached the size of the volume of stearic acid dropped on the water,
the unit, we would expect the ease of cutting to we get a thickness of about 20 angstroms or
change. Unfortunately, the sizes of the units we 2 X 10 -9 meter. This is the natural limiting
-9
expect are so small (10 meter or less) that any thickness.
such chopping process will soon fail. We cannot Let us imagine a model of the layer. Perhaps
get down to the natural unit with this method. it is made up of small cubes, each one of which is
We have no knives sharp enough, and we could a natural unit of stearic acid, 20 angstroms on an
neither hold nor see the small pieces. edge. It turns out that such a picture is only ap-
There are less obvious ways to break matter proximate. In a better approximation, the layer
down into its For instance, we can
natural units. is a collection of cylinders, each about 5 angstroms
try to flatten out a sample of matter, hammering across and a more than 20 angstroms long.
little
it as thin as possible to see if a limit is set by the All these cylinders stand up obliquely on the water
natural unit. Unfortunately, however, hammer- surface. This more precise picture is based on
ing is a crude process. Even the most skillful detailed studies of the mechanical behavior of the
gold beater, making thin gold leaves for the layer, chemical studies, X-ray studies, electron-
on a store window, must stop
glittering letters microscope pictures, and the like.
when the leaf is about 2000 angstroms thick. Stearic acid can be decomposed into carbon,
This thickness is determined not by the funda- hydrogen, and oxygen. The natural unit of
mental units of gold but by the difficulty of stearic acid, then, an atom of a chemi-
is not itself
acid molecules one layer thick is appropriately layer thicknesses, so that, unless rigid precautions
called a monomolccular layer or monolayer. are taken, the very placing in contact of two
We have been measuring the dimensions of the "smooth" surfaces is a somewhat haphazard
molecules of stearic acid. Can we also use mono- thing. Most surfaces are covered with a patchy
layers to rind the dimensions of the atoms? The monolayer of air, just as a person getting out of
chemist can take the molecule apart, and the X-ray water is for a while covered with a much thicker
expert can look inside it in much the way that film of water.
he looks inside the green copper phthalocyanine The mechanics and the chemical nature of
dve studied in Fig. 7-14. In this way we learn monolayers have been a subject of very detailed
that the stearic acid molecule is a long chain of study for fifty years. It represents one of the sub-
carbon atoms surrounded by hydrogen atoms. jects on the borderline between physics and
Each carbon atom occupies about angstroms H chemistry. The people who study such topics are
along the chain. Actually, there are 18 carbon sometimes spoken of as physical chemists. Their
atoms in the whole molecule; but, because the detailed studies of monolayers add certainty to
chain is not stretched taut, and because it slants a our belief that when we measure the thickness of
little rather than being exactly perpendicular to a monolayer we are measuring a natural unit of
the surface of the water, the length of 18 carbon the substance. We are finding the dimensions of
atoms in a line is a bit greater than the thickness molecules and even of atoms.
of the monolayer.
Stearic acid is not the only acid formed in this
same general way. The chemist can make similar 7-13. Counting Atomic Particles
acids of many different lengths. By studying the Atoms are so small —
about 2 angstroms or so
monolayers of these different acids, we get still in dimensions —
that there must be tremendous
another piece of evidence on the size of an atom. numbers of them in a small piece of solid matter.
Any molecule of a whole series of these acids will Your thumb is probably about 5 cm long, 2 cm
occupy the same area on the surface of water, al- across, and 1 cm thick. With atoms of about
most exactly 22 square angstroms. The thickness 2 X 10- 10 m diameter, this is f X 10 8 (that is,
present on every surface around us. What we visible. Fast-moving atomic particles also leave
call a clean steel surface often contains monolayer behind them trails that can be made visible in
areas of various sorts, some formed by the gases of many ways. The particle sets off a change in
the atmosphere. The tendency for surfaces to the material through which and the it passes,
collect such thin layers is and is
quite general, change can be amplified into a visible mark. The
largely responsible for the somewhat erratic be- bubble chamber is a device which shows such
havior of surface friction and electrical contacts, changes. In it a liquid is ready to boil, but no
for the wetting of solids, and for the properties of bubbles have yet grown. When a fast particle
lubricants. A "smooth" and "clean" surface is goes through the liquid, it disturbs the atoms of
rarely either smooth or clean on the scale of mono- the liquid, and bubbles of vapor begin to form
120 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
along its path. In a short time the bubbles grow fireflies. A magnifying glass will make the flashes
to visible size; and the wake of the particle (its appear sharper and clearer. Each flash signals the
track through the liquid) can be photographed passage of a single fast particle which originated
even though, long before the camera has clicked, in the radioactive material. Each fast particle
the particle has either come to rest or passed comes from the breakup of the very heart of a
completely through the device. Still another single atom —
the nucleus of the radioactive —
method depends upon the fact that the material material. With patience and simple apparatus,
in a photographic plate changes along the path physicists were able by 1905 to detect, identify,
of a fast-moving particle. When the plate is and measure radioactivity by counting scintilla-
developed, the track can be seen. The tracks of tion flashes one by one with the eye. In the years
many fast particles are seen in Fig. 7-17; they just before World War I, the physicists working
originated in a speck of matter so small that no with Ernest Rutherford in Manchester, England,
balance of the chemist could begin to weigh it. counted hundreds of thousands of such individual
The effect of a single fast-moving atom is easy flashes in the famous experiments that led to the
to see for yourself. It can be seen in the luminous discovery of the existence and the nature of the
dial of a watch or clock which glows in the middle atomic nucleus.*
of the night because the paint contains a small There are good reasons for suspecting that each
amount of radioactive material. The dial paint breakup of one atom. Here is
flash signals the
also contains a substance much like that on a one persuasive reason. To get the same count
TV screen. In a TV picture tube a stream of of fast-moving particles, over and over again,
particles strikes and each impact
the screen thereis only one essential condition. We must
causes a momentary glow. In the watch dial the have the same amount of the radioactive sub-
glow arises from the atoms ejected from the radio- stance. It makes no difference, for instance, if
active material that has been mixed into the paint.
Examine the luminous dial of a watch in com- *The eye is a fine detecting device, but is reliable only for
brief periods of time at low counting rates. Scintillation
plete darkness, holding the dial only an inch or counting is now done by using a phototube, which creates
so from your unaided eye. As your eyes become a tiny pulse of electricity every time it sees a flash of light.
dark-adapted, you will see no steady glow, but The electric pulse is very weak and must be amplified by
electronic circuits; but, unlike the eye, the phototube
a continual random succession of individual with its circuits can count 10 6 flashes a second, day after
flashes of light, scintillations, like so many tiny day.
MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS 121
sample of matter. placed in a chamber from which most of the air has been ex-
Now let us describe an experiment in which we hausted. As particles are emitted in all directions, a certain
polonium, there are processes which cause the tenth of a milligram of polonium; 10 24 atoms in
ejection of 3 X 10 s X 10 9 = 3 X 10 17 individual your thumb. We have seen large numbers before,
particles. but they were less striking. Furthermore, they
Each process in which an individual particle involved an arbitrary unit (meter, kilogram, etc.).
is ejected is called a radioactive disintegration. while now we are concerned with the count of a
We have sketched above some of the reasons natural unit, an individual, identifiable thing, like
for believing that one radioactive disintegration a single scintillation. These counts are counts of
is associated with one individual atom. Now we a real population.
are in a position to check up. We can find out Large numbers are hard to count. If you were
how volume of polonium is associated
great a to make a career of counting, working at full
with a disintegration. If this volume is the same speed, all day, every workday, and you had begun
as the volume associated with an atom, we can to do this when you first learned to count, retiring
take this as additional evidence that the radioac- on a well-earned pension at 65, you would be
tive disintegration of polonium is indeed counting judged a star at counting if you had reached
atoms. 2 X 10 9 That is about the human population
.
In order to find the volume associated with each of the whole world. Now, if every man, woman,
disintegration, we shall divide the volume occupied and child in the whole world's population spent
by our sample of polonium metal by the number a lifetime in just such counting, doing nothing
of disintegrations that go on in the sample. How else, they could all together just about count off,
large a volume does the sample occupy? Re- one by one, the atoms in a pinhead. Such a
cently the density of polonium has been measured. human team of counters would, on the other
3 _7
It is 9400 kg/m Therefore, our 10 -kg sample
. hand, be able to count all the leaves on all the
occupies trees of the world within a few months.
10~ 7 kg
F = 7r-A
Volume of sample
X 10 kg/m
9.4
—-,
3
—;— 3
It is this smallness of an atom, this extravagant
Volume r
per disintegration
& =
1
-^
X_..10 -11 m
06
X 10 dismt
3 1 '
,. .
— 3
understand how only atoms so small and so
numerous can make up in their individual motions
= 35 X 10- 30 m /disint. 3
the apparently uniform, smooth, and featureless
dissolving sugar have an atomic explanation, as atoms. We can already be pretty sure that all
do the strange phenomena of radioactivity, the atoms of any single element are highly similar,
magnetism, and the actions of the living cell itself. for neither chemist nor spectroscopist can coax
All these processes appear to go on smoothly any new results from a sample of an element.
because they involve tremendous numbers, the But this is not a guarantee that there are no
all-but-unbelievable swarms of the tiny atoms. differences among atoms of a given element. All
we can say is that any differences do not affect
the work of chemist or spectroscopist. In that
7-15. A Glance at the Chapter sense the differencesmust be small.
The structure of matter, its regular patterns, Matter in bulk is made up of myriads of atoms
the limiting thickness of monolayers, counts of of 100 different species. Combined in various
matter as it changes form in radioactive decay — ways, they produce the almost infinite variety of
all imply that there are basic units of matter. the world. Nevertheless, all matter can be sub-
The electron-microscope pictures, the field-emis- ject to a common measure. Mass, as established
sion pictures, and the scintillation count are some by comparison on a balance, is independent of
of the most direct ways to count these units. All physical and chemical conditions like temperature,
of them agree in their count; all indicate that the position in space, or aggregation of the atoms in
smallest units we thus see are a few angstroms in different molecules. It usually agrees with our
diameter. The chemical and spectroscopic evi- intuitive notions of quantity of matter. Only
dence, on the other hand, tells us that the material when large amounts of radiant mass are involved
things of our world are made up of some 100 does the measure of mass diverge from our
elements. The notion that we have basic units, expectations about a measure of matter. The
atoms of these elements, is immediate: we must conservation of mass (or matter) is basic to the
have 100 different kinds of units of matter — 100 idea that chemical reactions are rearrangements
different species of atoms. In the next chapter of atoms. It underlies the whole of the discussion
we shall examine chemical evidence for these of this chapter.
1. Why are you sure there are more than 200 atoms 3. A cube of aluminum 4.30 X 10~ 2 m on an edge
_1
in a spoonful of water? Use the evidence of your has a mass of 2.14 X 10 kg and contains
senses — not some numbers or sizes someone else 4.78 X 10 24 atoms.
tells you. (a) What is the volume of the cube occupied by
each atom?
2. * A moist project (with a sensitive balance). (b) If the atoms are spherical and just fit inside
After estimating the diameter of several equal- the cube, what is the diameter of the atom in
sized soap bubbles, try to catch the material of the angstroms?
bubbles on a sheet of lightweight plastic such as (c) What is the mass of each atom?
Saran wrap. Weigh it and determine the average
amount of material per bubble. Can you deter-
mine the order of magnitude of the thickness of 4. A student performs an experiment with mono-
the bubble wall? Compare this with the thickness layers. He mixes 5.0 cm 3 of oleic acid with 95
of a monolayer. cm 3 of alcohol. He dilutes 5.0 cm 3 of this solution
Note: You will find the solution easier if you with 50 cm 3 more of alcohol.
use the fact that the inside and outside areas of a (a) What is the per cent of oleic acid in the
bubble are very nearly equal and therefore the solution?
volume of bubble material is approximately given (b) What is the mass of oleic acid in one cm 3 of
by either area times the thickness. solution? The density of oleic acid is 0.90 gm/cm 3 .
124 MASS, ELEMENTS, AND ATOMS
He now finds that 1.0 cm 3 of solution in his (a) Assuming that one particle is given off by
laboratory dropper gives 50 drops. One drop of each atom, what is the mass of a polonium atom?
the solution on a water surface forms a mono- (b) Now, using the approximate density of
layer film with an average diameter of 32 cm after polonium, 10 gm/cm', find the volume occupied
the alcohol has dissolved into the water. by a polonium atom. Check with the number
(c) What is the mass of the oleic acid in the film? computed in Section 7-13.
(d) What is the volume of the film?
(e) What is the thickness of the film? The rate of decay of a sample of radon gas is timed
(f) Can the thickness be obtained without by counting its activity. On the first day, 0.1 milli-
knowing the density? gram of radon emits 4.3 X 10 16 particles. The
following readings of per cent of original acti\itv
5. The natural unit of oleic acid (a molecule of it) has were found for successive days:
a cross-sectional area of about 4.6 X 10 -19 2
and m
a length of about 1.12 X 10~ 9 m. The density of Per cent of Per cent of
oleic acid is 0.90 gm/cm 3
.
Days Original Days Original
(a) How many molecules are there in one milli- Elapsed Activity Elapsed Activity
gram of oleic acid?
100 6 34
(b) What is the mass of one oleic acid molecule?
1 84 7 27
(c) This molecule is made of 54 atoms of different 2 70 8 24
kinds. What is the average mass of these atoms? 3 59 9 20
(d) Give an upper limit for the mass of the light- 4 49 10 17
est atom in oleic acid. (Make this limit as small
5 41
as you can.)
Plot the activity as a function of time.
(a)
6. Fig. 7-1 5 shows a crystal of necrosis virus protein
What fraction of the original quantity of gas
(b)
magnified about 8 X 10 4 times. Measure the
would remain after twelve days have elapsed?
diameters of several individual protein molecules
(c) What fraction of the radon changes in a day?
and find the volume of one molecule. Use the
(d) How many days elapse before only half of
known radius of a carbon atom, about 10 -10 m,
the radon is left?
to find the order of magnitude of the number of
What is the total number of particles that a
(e)
atoms in the virus molecule.
0. -milligram sample of radon gives off? Compare
1
1-/
in all directions.
Here / is the ratio of the second day's activity to
8. From counting we know that about
scintillation that of the first day. You can also approximate
3 X 10 the total by using the area under the curve of activity
18
particles are emitted by a milligram of
polonium in the course of complete decay. vs. time.
FURTHER READING
Boys, C. V., Soap Bubbles. Doubleday, 1959. A American, May, 1952 (p. 58). How the field-
Science Study Series paperback. emission microscope resolves individual atoms and
Gamow, George, One, Two, Three molecules.
. . . Infinity.
Mentor Books, 1957 (pp. 115-128). An entertain- Muller, E. W., "Atoms Visualized." Scientific
ing and authoritative description of the nature of American, June, 1957 (p. 113). A further refine-
atoms. ment of the microscope that projects pictures of
atoms on a screen.
Holton, Gerald, Introduction Concepts and
to
Pauling, Linus, General Chemistry. W. H. Freeman
Theories in Physical Science. Addison- Wesley, 1952.
& Co., 1956. An outstanding and thorough college-
Muller, E. W., "A New Microscope." Scientific level first course.
ATOMS AND MOLECULES
CHAPTER 8
8-1. The Laws of Chemical Composition The law of constant composition holds to high
Chemists have prepared a couple of hundred accuracy for just about all the organic carbon-
thousand distinct compounds containing carbon, containing substances, and for thousands of others.
a few thousand without that element. Every day, For example, suppose that we wish to make some
more are being found in living material and in sodium chloride —
common salt. We find that
soil and rock; still others are being synthesized. 39 grams of sodium will combine with 61 grams
Analyses of all these substances are repeatedly of chlorine to give 100 grams of salt. Now sup-
made, and from these analyses very important pose we try to combine 50 grams of sodium with
general conclusions have been drawn. They came 61 grams of chlorine: we will get just 100 grams
first from John Dalton, around 1800, when the of salt as before. There will be 11 grams of
body of information was far less convincing than sodium left over; the 61 grams of chlorine can
it has become today. combine with only 39 grams of sodium. More-
The first of these general conclusions is the over, when we decompose any sample of pure
Jaw of constant chemical composition. It asserts sodium chloride, we always get 39 per cent sodium
that every sample of a given substance, judged and 61 per cent chlorine.
sufficientlypure by various criteria, always con- The law of constant composition, however, does
tains the same proportions by mass of all the not hold for every material of unmistakable uni-
elements into which it can be analyzed. The formity. A pail of salt water, for example, can
recipes do not change. Water is always one gram be uniform in composition. Every sample taken
of hydrogen to eight of oxygen, common salt from it may prove to contain exactly the same
always one gram of sodium to each 1.5 grams of proportions of water and salt. Stir in a handful
chlorine, and common sugar 1.0 gram of hydro- of salt. After thorough mixing the salt water is
gen to 6.5 grams of carbon and 8.0 grams of again uniform in composition, but the pro-
oxygen, whenever it is resolved into its three portions of salt and water are now different.
elements. Every source of table sugar (the chemist Unlike water or sugar, salt water does not have
calls it sucrose) gives the same analysis; if a a fixed composition. Salt water is a solution,
sample deviates, it is always possible to find that best described in terms of two distinct compounds
it is impure sugar, for its taste or its crystal shapes — salt and water — of which it is made. The
or its color or some other property will dis- same sort of description applies to many alloys
tinguish from samples of the expected constant
it like brass, bronze, steel, dural, coin and sterling
composition. Some process will in the end silver, jeweler's gold, and so on. Brass has a
separate the other components and yield what- wide range of color and other properties, depend-
ever sucrose is there in normal composition. ing on the composition, just as does salted water.
125
126 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
traditional chemistry;
the principal subject matter of
but other substances are
©©©©©©©©
9 10 u
17
19
IS
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19
u
90
IS >4
A
combined according to the same definite "recipes."
These materials are the compounds. In a com-
pound, for each gram of one elementary ingre-
dient, there is always present a definite number of
So So <$b
grams of each other ingredient. 2umjufrtary Ac Sexfentry
the masses of hydrogen and oxygen should always carbon, (4) oxygen, (5) phosphorus, (6) sulfur, (7) magnesia,
occur in the same ratio as the masses of their (8) lime, (9) soda, (10) potash, (11) strontia, (12) baryta, (13) iron,
(14) zinc, (15) copper, (16) lead, (17) silver, (18) platinum, (19)
atoms. On the other hand, if the molecule of
gold, (20) mercury. Note (21), Dalton's formula for water.
water consists of two hydrogen atoms and one He gave it as HO, although we now know it to be H.O. Data
oxygen atom (as we now know it does), then from combining masses alone are not enough to determine a
every sample of water must contain hydrogen and molecular formula. His formulas for carbon monoxide (25) and
oxygen atoms in the ratio two to one. Again the carbon dioxide (28) are correct.
molecules containing only hydrogen and oxygen. How would we decide how many atoms of
For example, if the water molecule is made of hydrogen and how many of oxygen form one
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 127
and rinding the ratio of the masses of hydrogen in different compounds X f gram, 2 X y gram,
1
and oxvgen. The result is that in the peroxide as 3 X f gram, 4 X f gram, and 5 X j gram of
compared with water only one-half as much oxygen. These whole numbers (and the similar
hvdrosen is combined with a given amount of whole numbers for other combinations of ele-
oxygen. In water there are 2 grams of hydrogen ments) are a direct reflection of the atomic nature
for everv le> grams of oxygen, and in hydrogen of matter.
peroxide there is only one gram of hydrogen for The constant proportions and in particular the
is one of the other major pieces of evidence for Chinese puzzles in which a set of separate wooden
the atomic composition of matter that Dalton pieces lock together to form a compact solid.
brought forward. Where you place a particular piece in the puzzle,
Probably the most striking example of multiple or a compound in the table, depends on where
proportions occurs for the combinations of you have placed the others. By comparing the
nitrogen and oxygen. With one gram of nitrogen ratios of masses found in a wide variety of com-
* of a gram of oxygen will combine to make pounds and by using many other pieces of evi-
laughing gas. Exactly twice as much oxygen dence, chemists have gradually arrived at formulas
(=• gram) will combine to make nitric oxide. In of which they can be certain.
other nitrogen and oxygen compounds there are In the story of ascertaining molecular formulas,
just three times, four times, and five times the the chemical reactions of gases play a large part.
128 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
Here we shall not follow the historical develop- ticles; from 1g we get 3 X 10
21
particles. By
ment of the story; but by using some information weighing this amount of helium, we find that the
-24
gained with modern techniques of counting radio- mass is .02 gram, or about 6.7 X 10
active disintegrations and some information from gram per particle of helium.
the traditional methods of gas chemistry, we shall Now, using this information, we can learn
illustrate how chemical formulas can be pinned something about the behavior of a gas. We can
down. The formulas so established agree with find out how many separate helium particles
those worked out from the huge mass of evidence occupy a certain volume at a particular tempera-
accumulated during the past century. They are ture and pressure. We can take a very light plastic
checked by other modern techniques, for instance balloon, a bag which when inflated has a definite
by measuring the masses of individual atoms volume, say 5 liters, and find out at room temper-
and molecules with the mass spectroscope which ature how many particles must be put in the bag
we shall study in Part IV. In order to illustrate to fill it out so that it just barely maintains its
the determination of molecular formulas we shall shape against the pressure of the atmosphere
discuss gases briefly in the next section, and then outside squeezing it in. Of course, accurate
in Section 8-4 we shall determine a few complete experiments are not done in just this way; but
formulas. with experiments which are entirely similar in
principle and which are closely approximated by
8-3. The Number of Particles in Gases the experiment described, we find that 0.89 gram
In Section 7-13 we described an experiment of helium gas occupies a volume of 5 liters
end of this new experiment the tube contains As we saw in the last chapter, this is about a thou-
not only a metal but also another substance, the sand times greater than the typical volume, some
gas helium. Weighing now shows that this 30 X 10 -30 3 occupiedm , by an atom in a molecule.
helium, formed from the emitted particles, Can a helium particle really be so large? To
accounts for almost all the change in mass of the answer this question, let us think of the properties
material. Moreover, in either experiment the of gases. We shall look at them in more detail
metal sample remaining at the end is no longer later, but all of us have certainly observed the
polonium. It has turned into a more common compression of gases. For instance, with some
nonradioactive metal, lead. extra pressure, we can force more gas to occupy
Apparently, when an atom of polonium ex- the same volume in an auto tire. Also we see
plodes, it fires out a particle of helium, and what that gases are mobile; they get out of our way;
is left behind is a particle of lead. The helium they mix easily with one another —
one gas inter-
can be collected, as was first done by Rutherford; penetrating the other; and they move about in a
and we can thus obtain a sample of helium con- volume until they fill it, no matter what its shape.
taining a known number of helium particles. These common observations indicate that gases
From 10 -7 kg of polonium we get 3 X 10 17 par- may consist of many molecules which take up
t
only a small part of the space occupied by the gas certainly like to know whether equal numbers of
as a whole. Between the molecules there are particles of all gases occupv identical volumes
empty regions larger than the molecules them- at the same temperature and at the same pressure.
selves, and it is through these spaces that the Unfortunately, it is not so easy to count the
molecules of one gas move as it penetrates into particles in samples of most gases. We shall have
another. to use a somewhat less direct method of investiga-
A
model of a gas with separate molecules flying tion. This indirect method will show that the
about and spaced widely compared to their own numbers of particles are the same. It will also
size will explain the common properties of gases. allow us to determine molecular formulas.
This model makes it reasonable that each helium
8-4. The Determination of Molecular
particle is much smaller than the 40,000 cubic
angstrom* volume which it seems to occupy at Formulas
normal temperature and pressure. But what then Let us start out by collecting samples of differ-
determines the number of gas particles that occupy ent gases which contain hydrogen. Some of the
a gi\ en volume? Do all gases have the same num- common hydrogen-containing compounds are
ber of particles in identical volumes? Does the hydrochloric acid, hydrogen gas, water, and am-
number depend on the mass of the individual monia. Suppose that we take equal volumes
molecules, or does it perhaps depend on some of the gases of each of these compounds at the
other property? To start answering these ques- same temperature and pressure. Now we tenta-
tions we now turn to a different gas. tively assume that the number of molecules —
The gas radon is the product of the radioactive that is, the number of particles of gas in each —
disintegration of radium, and we can determine sample is the same. This assumption is known
the number of particles in a sample of radon. as Avogadro's hypothesis, after the Italian phys-
By using radon gas we find that 1.34 X 10 23 icist who proposed it in 1811. What conse-
particles of radon would occupy a volume of 5 quences — what observable behavior — can we
;
liters at atmospheric pressure and C. In other expect on the basis of this hypothesis?
words, at the same temperature and pressure, the According to our ideas of atoms and molecules,
same numbers of particles of helium and of radon all the molecules of a particular gas should be
occupy exactly the same volumes. The mass of the same. If the molecules contain hydrogen,
radon in this sample, however, instead of being each molecule should contain the same number of
0.89 gram, which we found for the mass of helium, hydrogen atoms. Furthermore that number must
would be 49.5 grams. The mass of each particle be one hydrogen atom per molecule, or two
of radon is therefore about 55 times the mass of a hydrogen atoms per molecule, or three per mole-
helium particle: but as a gas the particles act cule, etc. It can only be a whole number. Now
the same way. The same number of particles if there are the same number of molecules in each
of either kind give the same pressure when con- of our different gas samples, we can conclude
tained in identical volumes at a given temperature. that there should be the same mass of hydrogen in
4 x 10
r>:
m 3 -=- 10" 3 m A =3 3
40,000 A 3
.
be three times the mass of hydrogen in every gas
with three atoms of hydrogen per molecule. If
fWe take a sample of radium and pump away the radon
formed from its disintegration. Then from the rate at we decompose the compounds and measure the
which the radium disintegrates, we find how many radon masses of hydrogen in our various samples, these
particles are made in any short interval of time. This
masses should be the same or else their ratio
gives us a known number. But in this case we must go
further. The radon itself disintegrates. One-half of its should be a ratio of small whole numbers.
atoms change, each firing out a particle of helium, in a Here a consequence of Avogadro's hypoth-
is
little under 4 days. From the rate at which it is steadily esis thatcan be tested experimentally. By the
formed from the disintegration of radium and the rate
at which it disintegrates itself, we can know exactly how
middle of the nineteenth century the masses of
many radon particles we have in a sample at any time. various elements contained in standard samples
130 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
of gases had been measured. At that time hydrogen is intermediate between the amount
Stanislao Cannizzaro made a collection of the found in hydrochloric acid and the amount found
results. Many
such experiments have been per- in water vapor, and none intermediate between
formed For instance, we find the following
since. that in water vapor and that in ammonia vapor.
experimentally: (1) the mass of hydrogen in a If there were really two atoms of hydrogen in a
particular volume of hydrogen gas is just two hydrochloric acid molecule, we would expect to
times the mass in the same volume of hydro- find other compounds with only one atom per
chloric acid vapor under the same conditions; (2) molecule. These would give us a mass of hydro-
the mass of hydrogen in water vapor is also just gen half that found in hydrochloric acid. We
two times that in hydrochloric acid vapor; and should also find molecules with three atoms of
(3) the mass of hydrogen in ammonia vapor is hydrogen. They would have a mass of hydrogen
three times that in hydrochloric acid. Table 1 between that of hydrochloric acid and water vapor.
Table 1
The absence of any such compounds is strong
a. .p CO %
8 8
•°o
cm «o c* *^ % °c )
+ -
• CD c?
of a water vapor molecule is H_,0. When we of an oxygen molecule is 16 times this much —
decompose water, therefore, each molecule should that is, 5.3 X 10 -23 grams. We could write down
provide one atom of oxygen and two atoms of a long list of molecular masses determined in this
volumes of gases at the same temperature and molecule by measuring the mass in a standard
pressure contain the same number of molecules. volume of C0 2 at standard temperature and
The work of Cannizzaro about 1858 convinced pressure. We find that it is 7.3 X 10 -23 grams per
many that Avogadro was right. As we have seen, molecule. Since we already know that the mass
Avogadro's hypothesis is now amply justified — of 2
is 5.3 X 10- 23 grams, this leaves 2.0 X lO" 23
it has become Avogadro' s law. With modern grams for the mass of one carbon atom. Using
methods we can even count the number of mole- similar chemical methods we can find the masses
cules in a gas sample. of all the different kinds of atoms. Some are
shown in Table 3, and a complete table is included
8-6. Molecular and Atomic Masses at the end of this book. From various methods
Because we know the number of molecules in the masses of some 100 elements are known with
a gas sample and can measure the mass of the considerable precision.
sample, we can easily find the mass of a molecule. When we are dealing with the masses of atoms
The mass of a molecule of hydrogen gas measured and molecules, it is sometimes inconvenient to
this way is about 3.34 X 10~ 24 grams. The mass express them in grams or kilograms. We are
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 133
defining 16.000 atomic mass units as the atomic This number of hydrogen atoms we call a mole
mass of oxygen, and letting hydrogen move to of hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, we call this
1.008 atomic mass units. In the third column of number of identical objects of any kind a mole of
Table 3 we have entered the masses of the atoms those objects, and the number 6 X 10 23 we call
in these atomic mass units. Avogadro's number. From the relative masses of
Once we know the table of atomic masses, or molecules we can foresee what a mole of a given
even just the table of their relative masses, we can kind of molecules must weigh. A mole of hydro-
easily find the combining masses in various com- gen molecules (each containing two atoms of
pounds. For example, nitrous oxide is N 2 0, and hydrogen) has a mass of 2 grams. A mole of
28 grams of nitrogen do combine with 16 of oxygen molecules has a mass of 32 grams, and
oxygen to give the 7-to-4 ratio mentioned earlier. so on. The number of grams in a mole is the
Ammonia is NH 3 and 14 grams of nitrogen
, same as the number of atomic mass units in the
combine with 3 of hydrogen. Nitric acid is HN0 3 ,
mass of the molecule.
134 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
By measuring the masses of moles of different This way of getting to a mole is long-winded —
objects, we learn the relative molecular masses. and even so we have omitted a lot of history in
This gives us a simple way of measuring molecular giving our account. If we were to reorganize
masses on the scale of atomic mass units. In physics now on wc would un-
a rational basis
Section 8-3 and the following sections we learned doubtedly go a different way. We
would begin
that every mole of sufficiently small particles by choosing a nice round number like 10 24 to
occupies the same volume when it is made into a define a mole of identical objects. Then we would
gas at atmospheric pressure and the melting introduce a unit of mass yg that of a mole of
point of ice. As we saw there, 1.34 X 10 23 oxygen. In this way nature would supply a unit
particles occupies 5 liters under these conditions. of mass to replace the gram, and the scale factor
Consequently, a mole occupies between atoms and ordinary objects would be
a power of ten. Unfortunately such a change
6 X 10 23
5 liters X 22.4 liters. would now confront a world-wide set of gram
1.34 X 10 23
masses. Many of our units like those for force
By measuring the mass in grams of a gas which and energy depend on the present units of mass.
occupies 22.4 liters at this temperature and A change is impractical, and we shall continue to
pressure, we therefore determine the number of use the kilogram at Sevres and moles of 6 X 10 23
atomic mass units of the particles of that gas. objects.
Although a mole of any gas made of sufficiently
small particles occupies the same volume, when 8-8. Atomic Masses and Integers; Isotopes
the gases are condensed into a solid or liquid, the The scale of atomic mass units was originally
volumes they occupy They depend on the
differ. set by choosing the mass of a hydrogen atom as
the physicist's hope fof a simple and orderly fun- isotopes, with masses near 16, 17, and 18. Fortu-
damental structure for the whole of matter was nately for our units, the heavier isotopes of oxy-
realized. The answer to the problem of the frac- gen occur rarely: in any natural oxygen sample
tional values came from the study of radioactive more than 99.7 percent is oxygen of mass near 16.
decay, and almost at the same time in other ways. For precision work, physicists nowadays take the
Consider the polonium sample we described in standard atomic mass not to be just oxygen, but
the last chapter. Polonium is an element; its the particular oxygen isotope which is most com-
compounds, spectra, and so on are pretty well mon, and give
it an atomic mass of exactly
known. It is unstable, to be sure, and decays 16.0000 atomic mass units. This requires a small
into lead. From the decaying polonium, a good increase in the values of the atomic masses of the
chemist who can handle very small amounts of other isotopes, but only by about three parts in
material is able to extract lead, by any of a num- ten thousand. The new standard is sometimes
ber of chemical processes. It is real lead; its ap- called the physical scale of atomic masses.
pearance, its melting point, its chemistry, even As Prout guessed, the isotopes are built up of
its spectrum are like those of any other sample of hvdrogen units, and very likely they were formed
lead. But it is not exactlv like ordinary lead. in this way. The physicists and chemists whose
The densitv of lead that results from the decay of work deals with the differences among isotopes
polonium is less than that of ordinary lead by indicate an isotope by writing the symbol of the
about half a per cent; its atomic mass is only chemical element to which it belongs, with a su-
206.04. while that of normal lead is 207.21. perscript giving the number of hydrogen units
The conclusion is not hard to draw. Lead closest to the atomic mass of the isotope in ques-
atoms come in more than one distinct variety. tion. Thus we write for the chlorine isotopes,
Everv atom of lead has the same chemistry, and CI 35 and CI 37 or for oxygen isotopes, O 16
:
,
verv nearlv the same spectrum, quite different from O 17 and O 18 The superscript used is called the
, .
the chemistrv and spectra of other kinds of atoms. mass number of the isotope. It tells what Prout
These identify it as lead, the element. But lead foresaw —
how many hydrogen atoms need be
atoms mav have different masses, all integers or combined to form the atom in question.
verv nearlv so. The elements as we find them in Once isotopes were found, it became possible
nature are not really unresolvable; they can be to see that there are small differences in chemical
resolved, generally not by chemical means but behavior and in spectra among isotopes of the
rather bv means depending on the atomic masses. same element. These differences had earlier been
An element may be a mixture of several of these missed. It has even been found that two samples
atoms, all of similar chemical nature but differing of an element from different sources may differ a
in mass. The measured atomic mass is simply the little in atomic mass, depending on the exact mix-
average. Chlorine, for example, is a mixture of ture of isotopes present. Carbon obtained from
two different types of atoms. Three out of four petroleum is a little lighterthan carbon from
chlorine atoms have the near-integer mass 34.98 natural graphite. This demonstrates that the
the rest have the near-integer mass 36.98. Atoms natural processes which form such substances are
of the same element which differ in mass we call capable of discriminating between the various
different isotopes of the element. An isotope is isotopes of a single chemical element. But the
an atom of a specific mass as well as a specific effects are always small, and it appears that such
chemical character. The units of matter as we geological or biological processes can separate
find it on earth are isotopes. isotopes only very slightly. We can separate iso-
In the early work the average value often con- topes artificially on a large scale. Such separa-
cealed the integer nature of the individual atomic tions are an important part of the atomic-energy
masses. But some elements have only a single industry.
stable —
that is, nonradioactive isotope: an — The element hydrogen has two stable isotopes,
example is iodine. Iodine always showed its inte- found in every sample of water, in a ratio of about
ger atomic mass, 127 amu, because there was no 1 of the rarer one for every 6,500 of the common
need to unravel a mixture of isotopes. Oxygen one. Their masses are 2.015 for the heavier, rarer
itself, the standard of mass, is a mixture of three one, and 1.008 for the common atom of hydro-
136 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
gen. Since these masses differ by such a large one special form, the element hydrogen. Hydro-
relative amount, the chemical and physical prop- gen itself consists of natural units — a proton and
erties of compounds of heavy hydrogen show an electron, the pair assembled into a structure
marked differences from the same compounds which is bound together. We know of no other
with ordinary hydrogen. Heavy hydrogen is permanent sub-units into which we can resolve
produced commercially by distilling water — these simplest of units. Moreow. matter as
boiling it and condensing the steam in a separate we always has very preciseh just one pro-
find it
container. The "heavy water" (it appears to be ton for each electron in its fundamental analysis.
ordinary water; but it costs about $10/kg) distills From this point of view, mass is but the count of
less rapidly than "light water." "Heavy ice" the number of these pairs (electron plus proton)
looks, feels,and tastes just like ordinary ice; it into which any piece of matter can ultimately be
floats on pure "heavy water" but in normal water resolved.
it sinks. Hydrogen of mass 2 is often called deu- Once we fix the constant of proportionality,
terium (from the Greek word deuteros, "second"), by counting how many of these pairs are found
and written with its own symbol, D. in the standard kilogram, we have the simplest
Small discrepancies from integer values still re- measure of the quantity of matter of any sample.
main in the atomic masses of the heavier isotopes; It is the number of protons and electrons into
the values tend to be farther off from whole num- which it can be ultimately analyzed. The unity
bers as the mass number grows larger and larger. of matter flows in a sense from the fact that it can
The mass number for the heaviest isotope found all be resolved into or built up out of such hydro-
in nature, uranium U 238 is 238.12, large by about
, gen units. All of these units are identical. Matter
one part in two thousand. As we go down the measurement is then reduced to the problem of
scale to lighter elements, we find a fairly regular counting the identical component parts.
decrease in the discrepancy, but below elements It seems likely, too, though far from certain,
like iron, with mass numbers in the 50's, the dis- that all the matter of the universe began as hydro-
crepancies begin to increase again, and become gen, or perhaps as separated parts of protons and
somewhat irregular. The biggest discrepancy electrons. It evolved into its present complexity
known among the natural elements is that for by combination in that long history of the galax-
hydrogen which has the precisely known
itself, ies, the stars, the planets, and of life, which we
value of 1.008145, high by almost 1 per cent. have by no means fully unraveled. The actual
These discrepancies, too, have a profound mean- processes of element formation, which went on
ing. We know that they represent what Prout to make our sun and our earth and which go on in
could not guess — that the elements must be built other stars today, appear to begin with the masses
up out of hydrogen and another "constituent" of hydrogen gas that astronomical observation
called energy. These discrepancies are fully ac- finds filling the space within our galaxy and mak-
counted for by the Einstein relation E = mc2 . ing up most of the mass of the stars. These
processes proceed through the binding together
8-9. The Innermost Structure of Matter of hydrogen units into atoms.
Behind the diversity of compounds, chemists In the tiny nuclei of atoms, protons are ac-
found the unity of the hundred elements. Today companied by neutrons and are surrounded by
we have gone still further. Now the units of the far-flung electrons. The neutrons are made from
elements can themselves be analyzed, the atoms hydrogen units in the process of condensation,
transmuted, one turned into another, although but they are unstable. If pulled off from nuclei
this cannot be done with the traditional tools of and isolated, they decay into protons and elec-
the chemist. can be done, according to various
It trons. The nuclei are less than 10
-14
m in diam-
rules and regularities, by such devices as the cy- eter, while the electrons move about at distances
_10
clotron of the nuclear physicist. up to 10 m, the size of an atom. These atoms
Through a long chain of steps, in which we ex- are themselves quite stable units, and they are
pend much energy (and see much energy turn the building blocks for the next-bigger pieces of
into forms which we cannot stop or catch), we matter. They are the fundamental units seen by
could finally resolve any sample of matter into the chemist. The story of how we take apart the
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 137
amounts of mass which radiate away or are sup- the somewhat larger oxygen atoms. The atoms represented
in this model are of the order of 10 -10 m in diameter. The colors
plied when the elements are formed from hydro-
are arbitrary.
gen units. Mass measured on the balance is more
inclusive than the count of the number of mass
units. The balance, or some wonderfully precise of atoms — C, H, and O. The molecules differ
balance of the future, can measure the mass of because the proportions of C, H, and O are dif-
light and of heat as well as that of hydrogen units. ferent.
For this reason, we shall retain it as the defining In addition, molecules may differ even when
method to fix the meaning of mass. they contain the same proportions of the ele-
ments. Just as a different order of the same
letters can spell different words, arch and char,
8-10. Molecules -Structures and Properties for example, so molecules can differ if the same
The chemist's skill and joy is in understanding atoms are put together in different three-dimen-
molecules well enough to take them apart and sional patterns. The molecular clump has a defi-
put them together again. Simple ones, like nite geometrical shape. Not only the number of
HO or CO_ (the carbon dioxide in the gas we atoms and their kind determine the properties of
exhale), are written in the primer of his science, a substance, but even these differences in the ar-
but his range is far wider. We have used stearic rangements of atoms in the molecule are im-
acid to form a tallowy monolayer. The formula portant. Learning the structure of molecules is
for stearic acid is a more complex one than those one of the main goals of the chemist.
we commonly see. It may be written as C 18 H 36 2
. A couple of examples will illustrate the differ-
Common table sugar is written as C^H^On. ences in structure and in properties that can exist
Fig. 8-3 shows a model of still a different sugar. when we have not only the same proportions but
In the English language the same letters, in dif- even exactly the same numbers of atoms in dif-
ferent proportions, spell different words, as you ferent molecules. The butane molecule and the
can see in too, toot, to, tot. Molecular "spelling" isobutane molecule are both described by the
follows similar rules. Properties as different as formula C 4 H lf„ but the atoms of carbon and hy-
those of sugar and of tallow arise from the differ- drogen are put together differently in the two
ences between molecules all built of three kinds cases. The two different structures are illustrated
138 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
H
/\ H
H
H
/ \H isobutane
of organic compounds can boast of ingenious
reasoning which beats any detective story.
1 1
is the final result of chemical analysis. But the
intermediate steps are just as important for un-
H C C H
raveling molecular structure. The chemists
1 1
atoms in the same proportions, but are different compounds. with the same atomic formula are distinguished
Such pairs are called "isomers." by the way in which they can be synthesized. The
different compounds can be synthesized only by
in Fig. 8-4. The properties of butane and iso- quite a different series of steps. Consequently
butane are different. The boiling points, for ex- chemists inferred that atoms appear in molecules
ample, are different. Butane boils very close to in certain definite groups and can be split off in
the freezing temperature of water while isobutane similar groups. Finally, they decided that these
boils at - 10° C. The melting points are - 135° C groups must represent actual arrangements in
and —145° C, respectively; and butane is more space. In this way they mapped out many mole-
soluble in water, alcohol, and ether than is iso- cules, some even in their full three-dimensional
butane. Another example is supplied by the shapes, without knowing any way to determine
molecules in which C, H, and O combine accord- the size of a single atom or molecule.
ing to the formula C 2 H 6 0, ethyl alcohol and di- It became possible to write out molecular
methyl ether. They are shown in Fig. 8-4. Some formulas in ways which more and more closely
people drink the first, but the second is universally suggested the molecular structure in space, such
considered poisonous to drink. (It is not even as these for stearic acid:
4-78.5° C, while dimethyl ether melts at - 138.5° C or by the "stretched" formula, which follows.
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 139
*
8—5. The structure of molecules of stearic acid (bottom) and carbon atoms surrounded by two H atoms apiece. At the right
acetic acid. In the stearic acid on the left-hand end a carbon the chain ends in a COOH group. (The oxygens in the model
atom (black) is surrounded by three H atoms (white). Extending are gray.) Acetic acid has the two end groups linked together
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
i i I i I i i i i i l i i I I I I
J3
h<-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c'
C\V
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
i i i i i i i i I I I
I I I i i I
H
stretched formula
The atoms are represented as balls of definite size. With combined techniques, estimates of the
their
X-ray evidence, for example, indicates that the spacing of atoms can be made as precise as three
spacing of atoms in molecules tends to be charac- significant figures. As a result, we know the
teristic of just which atoms are present, and what actual spatial arrangement of some molecules
neighbors they have. Although there are small more accurately than we can make the models
deviations in actual spacing, balls of definite size of Fig. 8-6. Again the story is an ex-
like those
make a good model. traordinary tale of creative thought, of inspired
For about a century, organic chemists studied conjecture, and of hard, painstaking testing of
manifold analyses and syntheses without any im- ideas.
portant aid from physicists. Physicists could not In some cases, when he knows the structure of
then point out the many paths now known to the the molecules, the chemist can understand their
direct study of molecular structure. Today, the properties. In stearic acid, for example, he recog-
purely chemical method (drawing inferences from nizes the group COOH
on one end as carrying an
the chemical reactions among molecules) and the acid property; it is The
highly soluble in water.
physical ones (using X rays and electron beams other long portion, a chain of seventeen carbon
to demonstrate the actual geometry of the mole- atoms, each bearing two hydrogens, plus one final
cule) are fused. In this domain of science, hydrogen terminating the molecule at the other
chemists and physicists are hard to tell apart. end, he recognizes as a relative of the main con-
140 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
low a certain complex sequence, just as the words Here, we are at the border of our knowledge.
in a book must be properly arranged to make Actually an alternative structure of insulin has
sense. In the very simple protein insulin, the been suggested, compatible with the present e\i-
first of the few so far analyzed (by Sanger and his dence. In many respects it must, of course, be
co-workers at Cambridge University, England, the same, but the differences are significant. Set-
in the years since World War II), the helix is tling the questions about just such structures
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 141
carries us down near the basic mechanism of life. history. Earlier, the tools which made this kind
The formula for CO :
is a few letters long; that of subtle study possible had still to be forged.
for stearic acid, something more like a long word; Today, the puzzle remains to be solved. But in
for insulin, something closer to a long sentence. this generation or the next, this problem seems
For the wonderful molecules of the nucleus of the likely to find its solution.
cell, those we believe carry the inherited traits that
make one cell or one animal or one person differ 8-13. Molecules and Solids
from another, the formulas would fill a big book. We have been discussing molecules, clumps of
Each such molecular ""book" is no less than the atoms in which definite numbers of atoms of
recipe for the full inheritance of a living being. specific kinds are held together in a definite struc-
Here is one of the most exciting branches of ture. When these clumps are far apart as in a
science today; the frontier bevond which physics, gas, we have no trouble recognizing the separate
chemistry, and biology meet: the problem of the molecules. But sometimes, in some solids for
structure and the function of the molecular pat- example, the clumps are so closely tied together
terns of living things. For the men and women that it is hard or impossible to decide to which
who have these interests this is a happy time in clump a given atom belongs. In a piece of com-
mon (sodium chloride), the formula for which
salt
*No= SODIUM
•CI = CHLORINE
ir-7 (b\ P-e diagram shows the relative sizes, positions, and
bono ;s of the atoms that make up a complicated protein
molcule. The symbols C, N, and O represent atoms of carbon, 8—8. In sodium chloride, each sodium atom (smaller) is surrounded
nitrogen, and oxygen, while the small unlabeled circles represent by chlorine atoms (larger) and each chlorine atom is surrounded
hydrogen atoms which bond the structure into its helical shape. by sodium atoms. Is it possible to decide which particular pair
The symbol R represents other attached structures. In which of atoms make up a sodium chloride molecule? (A portion of
direction does this helix wind? (Courtesy: Linus Pauling and R. B. Fig. 4-10 from H. P. Knauss, "Discovering Physics," Addison-
Corey.) Wesley, 1951.)
142 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
Mexico. This group is over a meter high, but even the tiniest
Their uniformity in the face of the apparent 8—11. Crystals are hidden in many common substances. An
jumble of the inorganic world seems to carry aluminum plate (left) was treated with an etching solution to
the museum cases, or the cut gems of the jeweler, length of time before etching. An intricate pattern of crystal
we might defer answering this question. The domains can be seen to extend completely through the 3-mm
thickness of the plate. The larger pattern segments are more
study of crystals would be a small corner of the
than a centimeter in length. The etching process removes entire
studv of matter, to be entered after we knew all
crystal filaments, leaving parallel crystal faces to reflect light.
the rest of the broad sweep.
But this apparent With some metals, the crystals will be large enough to be seen
rareness is an Nature has grown her
illusion. without aids; with others, the crystals must be viewed under a
beauties over the long span of geological time, lens.
in reflected light, and the crystals can be seen, dis- The fanlike group of crystals stands out clearly because, owing
to the natural roughness of the specimen, it is on a plane slightly
torted into long fibrous blocks by the rolling out
above the rest of the material. The basic crystalline form is
of the sheet in the mill which reduced it from a
not apparent in the darker regions because they are in different
thick ingot. If we heat a sheet of aluminum and planes. but one possible
This is illustration of the fact that
allow it to remain very hot for some time, it will metals do occur as crystals.
144 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
and the Danish physician Nicolaus Steno. The ing either plane or stepped, but if the bricks are
angles between corresponding faces on every small enough, the steps will be too small to be
crystal of a given substance are always the same. seen. Any shape can be approximated by piling
Different substances have, in general, different up these natural bricks, but wherever a plane face
sets of angles.For any one substance the angles exists, must bear one of a small number of
it
are always characteristic. Of course, if you knock angles to some other recognizable plane face.
a chunk out of a crystal, you will not recognize How plane faces large enough to be directly
the crystal faces on the irregular chunk. Micro- visible form out of so many tiny sub-units is of
scopic measurements, however, show the charac- course far from obvious. The little sub-units
teristic angles between the many little facets along must somehow tend to fill in gaps and irregu-
the break. Something internal fixes these angles. larities in the process of slow crystal growth. But
Press the edge of a razor blade against the face once the plane face is found, its relation to other
of a soft crystal. There are some directions along such faces depends upon the nature of the units.
which the crystal splits easily, displaying a smooth Moreover, not all angles are possible in such a
plane on each of the two new surfaces. Such structure. To see why, look at Fig. 8-14, repro-
planes of easy cleavage bear relative directions duced from the drawing made by Rene Haiiy and
which again are characteristic of the substance. published in Paris in 1784. The face of the
Mica is a good example. It splits into thin, crystal is always made up of The angles steps.
smooth sheets. Even the hard diamond is usually are determined by the number of blocks making
split along such a cleavage plane by a single blow up the "tread," compared with the number form-
at an early stage of working it into a gem. ing the "riser." On this model, therefore, the
Today we have a theory for crystal structure. crystal angles should show a law of multiple pro-
Two French crystallographers of the last decades portions: for example, one riser unit, two riser
of the eighteenth century put it forward in some- units, or three riser units combining with a par-
ATOMS AND MOLFCUUS 145
made up of about a million atoms of carbon, hy- crystal face, we may go three over and up one, or four over and
up one. However, we never go 7r over and up one, or use
drogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. With less
any other such fractional combination. (From "A Short History
complex crystals, the units of which may be single of Science and Scientific Thought," F. S. Taylor. W. W. Norton.)
atoms as in diamond, or groups of atoms as in
salt, or molecules of modest size as in sugar, the
story is the same. The geometrical grouping of cell is a complete set of the right atoms in proper
the individual atoms determines the shape of the arrangement.
visible crystals. (See Fig. 8-15.) Somewhere the crystal has boundaries. Near
them the internal conditions are a little different,
8-16. Order and Disorder for they lack layers of neighboring cells to sur-
A crystal is a collection of its fundamental round them. So the surfaces of solid matter
atomic or molecular units arranged in a pattern differfrom its interior. Even in the interior, the
in space extending in all directions to its bounda- assembly is not likely to be perfect. Sometimes
ries. Every point of space within a crystal has a stray atom will be included in the lattice. In
its indefinitely repeated images, the correspond- other places, a hole will be found; the needed
ing points within all the other little bricks. At atom is missing. Entire lines and planes will be
any such point, the environment looks just the missing here and there. At such points the forces
same. These repeated spatial units are called are different, and the lattice adjustsand conforms
the unit cells of the crystal lattice. In every unit to what is present.
146 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
2A
(a) B I
(b)
2A + B
edge 1
A + 2B
8—15. The shape of crystals is determined by the relative tween corresponding points in neighboring building blocks in the
placement of the crystal units. In (a) we see a two-dimen- crystal. All the characteristic edge directions are made of some
sional "crystal" made of hexagonal tiles. The figure shows how small whole number of A plus some small whole number of B.
identical small unit "cells" fit together, forming definite angles Edge 1 is in the direction 2A — B; edge 2 is in direction B; 3
between the boundary edges 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the large in direction A + B; 4, A; 5, A + 2B. In (b) unit cells of differ-
crystal. Depending on the nature of the units they can fit to- ent shapes will give the same angle between the boundary
gether only at certain definite distances and directions from edges if the displacement vectors A and B between correspond-
each other. The vectors A and B are the displacements be- ing parts of neighboring cells are the same.
We can even see why the law of constant chemi- With this extension of the idea of crystallinity
cal composition does not apply to all substances. from big single crystals, to the jumble of small
In brass, a substance formed by melting copper crystals in polycrystalline material, to the partial
with zinc, the zinc atoms can fit into the same ordering in fibrous matter, the study of crystals
lattice frame as the copper, for they are quite includes nearly all solid materials.
similar in size and in the attractions they have for Some apparently solid substances do not show
their neighbors. Although a less similar metal such a regular ordering. The forces which tend
atom, say iron, could not be squeezed in without to produce the regular order of molecules are too
bulging and distorting the lattice, and
the zinc weak to enforce it during the complicated processes
copper atoms can fit more or less at random into in which the atoms group to form the solid.
the crystal. A sample of brass can have more or These substances are called amorphous. Lamp-
fewer copper atoms per zinc atom, depending on black is an example. Another common class is
how it was prepared. Consequently, the law of represented by glass. Unlike ice or any crystal,
constant chemical composition does not apply. glass does not melt at a well-defined temperature.
As we remarked at the beginning of the chapter, Instead it first softens, then flows. Some plastics,
alloys like brass frequently have variable composi- many parts of living matter, and a few other sub-
tion. stances like tars fall into this class. The atoms of
Molecules with a long fibrous shape sometimes glass form a pattern rather like a distorted crystal.
tend to form into bundles like yarn rather than Plasticsand similar substances are made of long
into three-dimensional piles (Fig. 8-16). Such molecules which tangle like a plate of spaghetti.
molecules form the muscles and the sinews, and These materials are sometimes regarded as not
the many fibrous structures of living organisms. being solid. Even hard glass will flow, like tar,
In a way these are crystalline, for they exhibit an though only very slowly, over decades. But a
orderly arrangement within their fibrous bundles. swift blow will shatter both glass and tar.
ATOMS AND MOLECULES 147
i
tfr-rf,
m
L
than are the orderly crystals of the solid state occur in spaced layers. From this we can see why graphite is
of matter.
useful as a lubricant — the layers can slide over one another
easily. We would not expect this effect in the case of the
We can now understand the differences between diamond. The structures do not answer all questions, however.
soot (lampblack), graphite, and diamond. In For instance, there is nothing in the structural pattern of graphite
each substance the atoms are arranged differently to indicate why it is dark in color or why pure white diamond is
in space. Soot is the excess of carbon particles transparent and brilliant. The layers of carbon atoms in graphite
are spaced 2 or 3 angstrom units apart. (From "General
left when a substance is burned. In the residue,
Chemistry," 2nd Ed., Linus Pauling. Copryight 1949, 1950,
there are large and frequent spaces, and the tiny
W. Freeman
1953, H. &. Co.)
bits of carbon have no set shape or orientation.
On the average, the carbon atoms are far apart; Graphite, on the other hand, is a highly ordered
groups which are closely tied together contain few array of carbon atoms lying in loosely coupled
carbon atoms, and the weak structure is not or- sheets (Fig. 8-17). Within the sheets the atoms
dered over any long distance even on the atomic lie in a close-spaced regular array, and each sheet
scale of size. stays together and in order despite considerable
148 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
pushing. These sheets are farther apart than the 8-17. Summary
atoms within a layer; and the forces tying layers Let us conclude by looking back at the analogy
together are weaker than those tying atoms to- between printing and the atomic picture of matter
gether in one layer. It is difficult to push one to which we have alluded more than once. It is
layer through another, but it is easy to slide one pretty complete. In printing, the "elements" are
layer over another or even off another. Graphite, the twenty-six letters, with the space and the
therefore, feels (and is) slippery, and we use it to punctuation marks. Every printed character is
lubricate locks. It is also used in pencils because an "atom," and each atom belongs to just one of
the black graphite slips easily onto paper. To the elements. All the atoms of an element are
feel the difference between lampblack and graph- very much alike, but not necessarily identical. A
ite, don't use the graphite in a "lead" pencil; it capitalA and a lower-case a may be regarded as
is mixed with too much clay. You can get reason- "isotopes" of the first element. Some methods
ably pure graphite at hardware stores. Because of analysis — say reading out loud — would not
of its industrial importance pure lampblack is also find any difference between them, just as chemists
easily available. can hardly manage to separate isotopes. Mole-
A sample of diamond is more expensive, but cules of every size are found ; words, sentences,
small diamonds are more common than most even books, all spelled of letters in a particular
people imagine. They are used as the hard cut- and proper order. Crystals go a bit beyond the
ting, grinding, or bearing surfaces in many in- analogy, but it is not hard to imagine how it
1. In sodium hydroxide, the combining masses are 2. Dalton determined the ratios of the masses of
23 grams of sodium to 16 grams of oxygen and 1 carbon and oxygen in carbon monoxide to be as
gram of hydrogen. In water, as you know, there 3/4, of hydrogen and oxygen in water as 18, and
are 8 grams of oxygen to 1 gram of hydrogen. of carbon and hydrogen in the compound methane
(a) If water were HO, as Dalton believed, could as 3/ 1 Without firm knowledge to the contrary, he
.
ratio of numbers of carbon to hydrogen atoms in (b) If one volume of NO is consumed, what
methane as determined by these ideas? volume of O, is consumed?
(c) What volume of N0 2 is obtained at the
3. Copper and chlorine combine in different pro- same pressure and temperature?
portions to form two compounds. No. and No. 1
2, with relative masses of copper to chlorine 0.895 7. Forty grams of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) react
to 1 and 1.79 to 1 respectively. to completion with 36.5 grams of hydrochloric
t,a^ How does this example illustrate the law of acid (HC1) producing water (H 2 0) and common
multiple proportions? salt (NaCl). After evaporating the water, we find
(b) Which of the following pairs of formulas 58.5 grams of salt are left.
may be correct on the basis of the information (a) Using the law of conservation of mass,
given? compute the number of grams of water that was
formed.
Compound 1 Compound 2 (b) Whenever we decompose water we find that
O^Cl, and CUjC^ the ratio of the masses of hydrogen and oxygen
Cu,^ and Cu^ in it is as 1 to 8. Compute the mass of oxygen
Ci^Cl, and CXClj that was contained in our original materials.
C^Clj and Cu^Cl, (c) We decompose some hydrochloric acid and
find that the masses of hydrogen and chlorine are
in the ratio of 2 to 71. How much chlorine was
4. In an experiment with polonium, over a two-year
there in the hydrogen chloride that we used to
period a total of 9 X 10 17 disintegrations occur,
as measured by counting the flashes. make salt?
(a) What was the original mass of polonium? (d) How many grams of sodium were there in
(a) Give the most probable number of oxygen The relativeatomic masses of copper and chlorine
9.
atoms in the molecule of each substance listed
amu and35.5 amu. Which of the pairs
are 63.6
above.
of formulas in problem 3 (b) are correct in the
To try to determine the complete formulas, you light of this information?
now measure the masses of nitrogen that result
when equivalent samples are decomposed.
10. (a) Find the approximate mass in atomic mass
units of a molecule of stearic acid (C 17 H 35
Mass of nitrogen Mass of nitrogen COOH).
(grams) (grams) (b) Using Avogadro's number find the mass of
(1) 2.8 (4) 1.4 the molecule in grams.
(2) 1.4 (5) 1.4
(3) 2.8 11. The results of a monolayer experiment show that
there are 2.1 x 10 21 particles per gram of stearic
(b) What is the most likely number of nitrogen acid (molecular mass 284 amu). Calculate the
atoms in each molecule? value of Avogadro's number from this data.
(c) Give the complete formula for each sub-
stance. 12. Uranium undergoes radioactive disintegration
forming an entirely different element which may
6. Nitric oxide (NO) will combine with oxygen from be separated from the parent element by chemical
the air to form nitrogen dioxide (N0 2 ). means. This new element, thorium, has different
(a) Write the equation for this reaction. chemical properties, and would exhibit a much
150 ATOMS AND MOLECULES
lower density if sufficiently large amounts of it 17. Pcntane, which has the formula C,H 1: consists ,
could be obtained. Its atomic mass is less by of a chain of carbon atoms, with hydrogen atoms
approximately 4 amu, the amount contributed arranged in a manner similar to those of butane
to the other product of each disintegration — in Fig. 8-4. In this molecule each carbon is
one helium atom. bonded with four atoms and each hydrogen with
Within a short time, and at a very predictable one atom.
rate, this thorium undergoes two more disin- (a) Show that there can be three compounds
tegration reactions. No perceptible mass change with the molecular formula CjH u in which these
accompanies these reactions, but the eventual bonding relations exist. (The carbon atoms need
product is a material having chemical properties not be extended in this chain order.) Diagram
which are indistinguishable from our first material, the three compounds. Do you think more than
uranium. This newest element likewise exhibits three compounds can exist?
the general physical properties of uranium, but (b) Do you expect these compounds to have
we know it has lost 4 units of mass and has not, the same properties?
in either of the last two reactions, been able to
18. Red corpuscles of the human blood stream are
recover any mass.
known to be flattened discs approximately
(a) In the light of this evidence, can uranium
in nature consist of a single isotope?
7 X 10 m in diameter and 10 -6 m thick. Blood
-6
CHAPTER 9
Entry solid or liquid can be made into a gas, and of motion than we have yet made, and we shall
all gases can be made liquid or solid. At the take it up again in more detail in Chapter 26.
surface of the earth, at ordinary pressures and The picture of a gas that we are about to describe
temperatures, air is a gas. In other circumstances, was the of the atomic understanding of
first fruit
familiar snow of carbon dioxide, called Dry Ice, forms of matter. Its success is one more piece
turns into the gas as you watch. Upon boiling, of evidence for the depth and the range of the
water becomes steam, which is gaseous water atomic picture.
or water vapor. (What we call vapors are gases
whose liquid form is more familiar.) Out of the 9-1. Physical Models
warm and humid air of summer, water vapor In order to understand the behavior of gases,
condenses to dew on colder surfaces. Even the we are going to construct a model of a gas. What
most heat-resistant metals can be turned into do we mean here when we say model?
gases by sufficient heating. Nearly all flames are By a model we do not mean simply a scaled-
hot gas. glowing and swirling. Such flames come down replica of an object, like a ship model or an
out of every solid that can be burned. airplane model. We mean an idea, a picture, a
From form of matter,
the study of the gaseous system of concepts which creative intuition and
using rather simple means, we can begin to hard work lead us to think describe the things
understand the lines along which physics and we investigate. For example, when we talk about
chemistry have proceeded in solving the problems a model of a cloud, we don't mean that a small
of the nature of matter. How can the grainy scale-model cloud might be made from cotton.
structure of matter, the arrangement of its atoms, We mean much more than this. Our model of a
determine the nature of the material world? It cloud is our description of what happens in clouds
turns out that the atomic and molecular nature — the updrafts, the turbulence, the condensation,
of a gas, which we cannot demonstrate by neat, the rain and snow — terms of what we
all this in
orderly patterns as we can with crystals, goes a can measure in the laboratory and in terms of the
long way in helping us understand the nature of ideas and the tested physical laws which show the
all matter. Here we shall begin the story. Its relations between such measurements. When we
completion will demand more study of the physics make such a model, we hope our model includes
151
152 THE NATURE OF A GAS
structed. Nevertheless, the successful models of As a gas, the molecules are more widely spaced and capable
the physicist are better than we might anticipate. of much motion. Notice that the molecules are of the same size
-10
We have kept those that have withstood close (about 6 X 10 m) in all three states. In a change of state,
the space between molecules changes, but their size remains
examination, those that withstand a push outside
the same. (From "General Chemistry," 2nd Ed., Linus Pauling.
the range of magnitudes for which our original
Copyright, 1949, 1950, 1953, W. H. Freeman & Co.)
picture was formed. Even so, sooner or later,
under scrutiny limitations appear. For example, by the outstanding we want to explain.
facts that
we have given an atomic model of matter: all In Chapter 8, wemake a model for
started to
matter is in terms of fundamental
described gases, and we mentioned some of their most
units — atoms. But we have not described the striking properties: we noted that (1) gases are
inner nature of the atoms, which requires a easily compressed as compared with solids and
different theory, a different model which is an liquids; (2) they move about readily and one
extension of the older one we have discussed. gas even penetrates easily through another; and
Our models, we now
the physical theories that (3) the densities of gases are low compared with
have, describe much of our world. Tomorrow the densities of the liquid and solid forms of the
they will expand they will become more complete
; same substances.
and describe more and more of the natural world We therefore inferred that a gas might consist
as we uncover it through experiment. of a large number of molecules spaced far apart,
while solids and liquids consisted of the same
9-2. The Molecular Model of a Gas atoms and molecules jammed close together
When we invent any model to explain the (Fig. 9-1). Let us now reverse our procedure.
behavior of the world about us, we are guided We shall start with the molecular model and see
THE NATURE OF A GAS 153
observed density of an ordinary gas sample. speed must measure the typical speed of the
Under ordinary conditions, then, the average molecules. In passing through long pipes,
spacing between molecules is about ten times the however, or mixing with another gas, the apparent
diameter of the molecules. This small density speed is much less. Here many molecules are
and large spacing accounts for the insubstantial jostling one another, and the motion is rather
nature of an ordinary gas sample (Fig. 9-2). like that of a crowd of people pushing out of a
If you recall that the molecular diameter is small gate. Because of the bumping back and
only a few angstroms, a few times 10 -10 meter, forth, the speed of mixing is not a fair measure
you will see that although the molecules are very of the speed of individual motion. The mixing
widely spaced on their own scale, they are still speed should be far slower, and it is.
closely spaced on ours. Indeed, there is no Widely spaced molecules, moving every which
basic reason why the molecules should be spaced way in empty space with speeds a bit faster than
so closely. A gas can take on any density; the sound, colliding and rebounding as they move —
mean spacing of molecules becomes larger and that is our model for a gas. It satisfactorily
154 THE NATURE OF A GAS
yW/S£///M///SMS/SSSSSSSS»AWAH>M>*SW/SS/J^
7 *
k
/
v *%
•r
t ,-'*.
i
-.^
^^^7^w^^^;^Jww^;w;;^W/^;^yi
9—3. The continual motion of the molecules of a gas not only
causes collisions between molecules, but also collisions between 9—4. Pressure is the push per unit area. The piston on the left
the molecules and the sides of the container. The push of these has four times the area of that on the right. The left-hand piston
molecules upon the sides is the pressure of the gas. is subject to the same gas pressure, but it holds up four times the
mass because it is struck by four times as many molecules each
second. The same amount of mass is held up by each unit area.
accounts for the low density, the mobility, and
the intermixing of gases. explain many of the familiar events of life, from
That all matter can be vaporized also fits the breathing to the behavior of tires.
model. Every solid or liquid can be taken apart To decrease the volume of a gas sample requires
into its constituent molecules or atoms. When an effort. The gas resists compression. On the
the attractions which cause them to fit into more other hand, any sample of gas increases in
or less close-packed patterns are overcome, the volume until it encounters resistance. Our model
freedatoms or molecules form a gas. Heating nicely accounts for this tendency to expand.
somehow frees the molecules from their neighbors The molecules fly against and rebound from walls
and allows them to fly out in all directions. like hail; they press momentarily against the
Under great heat, all solid or liquid compounds walls (Fig. 9-3). This succession of momentary
break up into gases. When hot enough, the shoves is away
the pressure that pushes the walls
molecules of the compounds break down into and resists compression.
individual atoms of their constituent elements, The push exerted on a wall is perpendicular to
forming an atomic gas, a mixture of all the atoms the wall. The molecules fly at the wall from all
present in the sample. This is why the flame, the directions, so any push of one molecule from
arc, and the spark produce the characteristic right to left is countered by a push of another
spectra of atoms. In even hotter regions atoms molecule from left to right. But all of the mole-
themselves break into their constituents. cules press outward against the wall; and there
Liquefying and freezing are the opposite is no counterforce pressing inward unless the
itsvolume until the molecules touch. When we Does the push on the wall vary from point
remove heat, the newly packed atoms are frozen to point? If the gas is uniform, the average
together. Attractions between the molecules number of molecules striking each unit area will
again bind them close together. be the same everywhere, and the gas will push
impartially outward in all directions. Of course,
9-3. Boyle's Law if more molecules hit one area than another, this
The model we have described is plausible, even area pushed harder, but there are so many
is
appealing. But it must be tested on a hard task molecules hitting any appreciable area that such
before it is really acceptable. The description of effects smooth out in a very short time. Only the
gas pressure will serve to test the model, and to size of the area pushed should matter. In fact,
;
extra height
valve shut
—vValve open
P
^ jB[
•
V (3"u \
J
mercury
— mercury
>
9-5. Apparatus for investigating the pressure of a gas. When 9-6. We have added additional molecules to the space Vo
and closed the valve. The mercury column rises on the left,
the valve is open, the level of the mercury same on both
is the
measuring the extra pressure.
sides of the tube. We can put an additional definite number
of molecules in the space V through the tube on the right.
opens into a gas space V of a definite volume. extra pressure on the mercury should now be
A valve allows us to close this volume off from doubled. Indeed we find that the height of the
the air outside. Furthermore, through the tube mercury on the left has risen again by the same
with the valve in it, we can force additional amount that it did when we put in one plastic-
amounts of gas into the space V . bag load of molecules. We can continue adding
Suppose we take a plastic bag of a definite known numbers of molecules to the right-hand
volume, say for instance the volume Vh When . volume V and measuring the rise of the mercury
the plastic bag is full of air and opened to the on the left. With these measurements we find
atmosphere, it contains a definite number of that the pressure rises in direct proportion to the
molecules (actually Fb /K times the number of number of molecules in a given volume (Fig. 9-7).
molecules already present in V ). We now attach Suppose we do this experiment at the tempera-
the plastic bag to the end of the tube on the right ture of melting ice. At that temperature we know
(Fig. 9-5). We squeeze the gas out of the bag the number of molecules of any gas occupying
until it has all been forced into the volume V . a given volume at atmospheric pressure. In
By closing the valve, we can keepcom- the gas Chapter 8 we learned that a mole (6.025 X 10 23
pressed in that volume which now contains more molecules) occupies 22.4 liters at this temperature
— —
156 THE NATURE OF A GAS
_c
volume V ; we then get the same result in terms of
V the number of molecules per unit volume. In
S 20 this way we are further assured that it is A' V, the
a. number of molecules per unit volume, that deter-
o mines the pressure.
() 1.0 2.0 3.0 X10 25
So far we have worked only at the temperature
Number of molecules per m 3
(molecules/m 3 )
:
instead of 2.81 X
1ft 24
10~ =
(molecules/m 3 )
=
—^ . .
which we
,
of a bag, is 1 liter (that is, 10~ 3 3 ), each bag load m found at the ice point. Again at other tempera-
is 2.70 x 10 25 molecules/m 3 X 10" 3 m =
3
2.70 tures the pressure is proportional to the number
X 10 22 molecules. We also know the pressure of molecules per unit volume but the proportion-
which they exert as measured by the height of the ality factor differs, depending on the temperature.
mercury column on the left. At the temperature In brief, then, from these experiments, we find
of melting ice we find that when we have 2.70 that at a given temperature, the pressure exerted
X 10 25 molecules/m 3 the gas pressure holds up by a gas is proportional to the number of mole-
a column of mercury 76 cm high. And in general, cules divided by the volume they occupy:
since the pressure is proportional to the number
of molecules per unit volume, the pressure can
be expressed by
where 6 is the proportionality factor. This is just
Pressure in cm height of mercury
what we should expect as long as the molecules
76 cm height of mercury
do not get in one another's way too much. As
No. of molecules/m 3
= ' long as they have enough space, the number of
2.70 X 10 25 molecules/m 3
molecules bombarding the walls of the container
In symbols this is depends on the number that are present in the
region next to the wall; and consequently, the
N/V
2.81 X lO- 2 *^, pressure should be proportional to N/V as we
76 2.70 X 10 25
have found. many molecules
If there are twice as
where N/V is the number N of molecules divided per unit volume —
twice as many in the region
by the volume V they occupy, P has the units of near the wall —
then twice as many will hit the
cm height of mercury held up, and the volume V same area of wall in a given time, and the pressure
is in m 3
. will be twice as big. This law of the behavior of
In Chapter 8 we found that the volume occupied gases is known as Boyle's law, after Robert Boyle,
by a certain number of molecules at atmospheric brilliant contemporary of Newton, who first
pressure is independent of the kind of molecule. showed it experimentally.
Now by using different gases we can see whether You can also demonstrate Boyle's law by
the pressure depends on the nature of the gas. experimenting with a particular sample of gas in
With these experiments we find that in general a container closed by a piston (Fig. 9-8). By
the pressure depends on the number of molecules placing more and more mass on the piston you can
THE NATURE OF A GAS 157
(number of books)
apparatus shown in Fig. 9-8, N/V does not become zero when
there is no mass on the platform, because the pressure of the
atmosphere is still pushing down.
water or even of steel really does depend upon these gases rises steadily with increasing tempera-
how hard the molecules are packed in. At a pres- ture. Consequently, 8 is the natural measure of
sure of a thousand atmospheres, like that in the temperature.
deepest abysses of the ocean, water has a density We could choose the values of 6 — that is,
(molecules/m 3/) ,
at melting
c ice,
brought by pressure to a density like that of lead.
cm ° mercury
Normally we do not specify the pressure when we 3.84 X 10- 24
(molecules/m 3 )
^ boiling water,
give the density of liquid or solid because the
single density we state is a good approximation etc. — as our basic scale of temperature. In
even if we change the pressure by a large factor. effect we shall make that choice. Historically,
The gas law of Boyle holds for all gases at low- however, other temperature scales were introduced
enough densities, when the molecules are far earlier. Their relation to the basic scale is shown
apart compared to their own dimensions. Indeed, in Fig. 9-10. As we see there, the Kelvin scale is
it holds to higher densities for gases with simple proportional to this basic scale; it is the same
molecules, like oxygen or hydrogen, than it does scale with more convenient units called degrees
C
for those gases with large, complicated molecules, Kelvin and written K. The centigrade scale has
like alcohol vapor. The investigation of the devia- units of the same size as the Kelvin scale, but zero
tions from Boyle's law is one path toward a more is arbitrarily shifted to the temperature of melting
detailed but more complex study of molecules. cm mercuI7
Here we shall remain in the simple region of low
ice which is 273° K or 2.81 X 10" 24
f
(molecules/m 3 )
densities. on the basic gas scale. Notice that there are
100° C (or 100° K) between the temperatures of
9-4. Temperature and Gas Thermometers melting and boiling water.
ice
Usually we measure changes in temperature by The units on these scales were chosen in this
the changes in volume of a liquid, often mercury way for convenience. Thermometers for scientific
Or alcohol. Each of these substances expands in use are usually calibrated to read the centigrade
its own pattern as temperature rises and water — temperature, but we should remember that the
even contracts a above the melting
little just zero on that scale is the result of an arbitrary
point of ice. But gases which behave in accord choice. It might as well have been set at the
with Boyle's law (that is, all gases in which the temperature of melting gold. The Kelvin and the
molecules are sufficiently far apart) behave gas scales, on the other hand, have a natural zero
exactly alike. These Boyle's-law gases therefore — the absolute zero which we shall discuss briefly
measure temperature in a more fundamental way in the next section.
than does the expansion of other substances, and
a rational definition of temperature can be made 9-5. Temperature and the Gas Model
by using the behavior of these gases. In the last section, we saw that the proportion-
In the last section we found for gases that at ality factor 6 in Boyle's law leads us to a reason-
the temperature of melting ice the pressure in cm able definition of temperature. The factor 6 is
physical
Dry Ice
vaporizes,
Helium Oxygen Oxygen Ammonia Ammonia Ice Potassium Water Lithium
boils melts boils melts boils melts melts boils melts
9-10. The relationship between the basic scale of temperature, the Kelvin scale, and the centigrade (or Celsius) scale.
what 8 is according to our molecular model of therefore, increasing the temperature must mean
eases. Bovle's law is increasing molecular speeds.
Wemust extend the molecular model to in-
clude the idea that higher temperature means
higher molecular speed. A good deal of com-
We have already seen why it is reasonable that the mon experience fits in with this conclusion.
pressure is proportional to the number of mole- For instance, raising the temperature usually
cules per unit volume. Whatever else affects the speeds up chemical reactions. This agrees with
pressure summarized in 9. What then on a
is the idea that the molecules are then moving faster.
molecular model should be contained in 0? Now At the higher speeds they should hit one another
with a given number of molecules in a region near harder and more frequently. The collisions should
a wall, the pressure on the wall must depend on break apart the molecules and rearrange the atoms
how fast the molecules move. If they move very more often; and the reactions should therefore
slowly, only a few molecules will bump into the take place faster.
wall in a second and they will not hit it very hard. Furthermore, the idea that increasing molecular
If, on the other hand, the molecules are moving motion goes with increasing temperature should
fast, many molecules will reach the wall and each not be restricted to gases. A hot gas will com-
molecule that gets there will hit the wall harder — municate its temperature to cold surroundings, in-
just as a fast-moving baseball jolts you harder creasing the speed and vigor of the small motions
when you try to catch it than does a slow-moving of the molecules in liquids or solids and of the
one. The pressure on the wall, therefore, must atoms in molecules.
rise if the speed of molecular motion rises, and Suppose the walls of the container are made
fall if the speed of molecular motion falls. The of metal with its atoms neatly arranged in each
proportionality factor 6 in Boyle's law contains of the little crystal grains. The atoms cannot
this dependence on the speed of molecular motion. in general leave their lattice sites ; but they vibrate
At least one more thing enters the proportional- to and fro in place like so many little balls
ity constant d. A cannon ball and a table-tennis mounted on springs. This incessant motion is
ball moving at same speed do not hit a
the measured by the temperature, no less than the
stationary object equally hard. The more massive motion of the free-flying molecules of a gas.
cannon ball hits far harder than the less massive The flying molecules also vibrate internally, one
table-tennis ball. The molecular mass is also atom against another, and spin end over end,
contained in the proportionality constant 6. tumbling as they fly. Sometimes a gas molecule
But when we increase the temperature we do not strikes an atom of a crystal in the wall, and sets
change the molecular mass. A bottle of gas at it into more rapid vibration. The molecule re-
a high temperature has the same mass on a bal- bounds, a little slowed. Sometimes a slow mole-
ance as that of the same bottle of gas at low cule drifts near the rapidly vibrating atom of the
temperature. On the molecular picture of gases, crystal lattice, receives a kick from the vibrating
160 THE NATURE OF A GAS
atom, and goes away faster than it came in. are no regular patterns, no specific shapes or
This constant exchange of the vigor of atomic and necessary densities. Heat is disorder.
molecular motion is the means by which tempera- Life seems to require just the right mixture of
tures are equalized,and motion continued. each: it cannot function in a frozen state of
When they heat up, solids change by melting complete and rigid order, though it can sur\i\c.
or even by vaporizing, if the temperature is high On the other hand, it cannot even survive too
enough. The molecular motion increases as the great disorder. For the development of life, the
temperature rises until it becomes so great that temperature must be just right. As far as we now
the atoms and molecules can change places or know, life is restricted to the special environment
even fly apart. At the higher temperatures, the we live in, to the range of temperatures from about
molecular motion is so intense that the flying gas 200°K to 400°K. This is a narrow range in a
molecules knock each other apart. The gas is universe where temperatures vary from a couple
reduced to atoms. That is why only the spectra of degrees Kelvin in some parts of space to tens
of the elements, spectra of single atoms, are seen of millions of degrees in the centers of stars.
in the glow of really hot sources of light. When we consider atoms and molecules, speeds
When we shove the plunger of a bicycle pump increase with temperature; order decreases. No
down, the moving plunger hits the molecules of molecular motion is the least we can have, and
gas in the pump and increases the molecular no more perfect order is possible than a completely
speeds. Higher speed means higher temperature frozen crystal pattern. The natural zero of
just as much as higher temperature means higher temperature, 6 = 0, which we get by extrapolating
speed. The gas should become hotter. In fact, the behavior of gases in the Boyle's-law region
it does; the temperature of the gas may rise so down low temperatures, appears to correspond
to
much that the outside of the cylinder feels hot. to zero molecular speed. As there is no lower
Our connection between molecular speed and speed, the zero appears to have an absolute
temperature makes sense again. Higher temper- significance. Zero on the Kelvin scale (which is
ature, higher speed. the same as 6 = 0) is often called absolute zero.
Lower the temperature, and the molecules slow Lord Kelvin, the great English physicist and
down. They fly slowly about. Finally they move electrical engineer, gave different arguments for
so slowly that the molecular attractions may the Kelvin temperature scale and the idea of
cause them to hold together, and not to rebound absolute zero. His reasoning was based on the
after collisions with each other or with the walls. general laws found to describe the operation of
As the temperature falls below 100°K, air, for heat engines. These laws do not depend on the
instance, becomes liquid and then solid, its
first molecular picture. Consequently Kelvin's work
two main components, nitrogen and oxygen, established the temperature scale and the signifi-
undergoing the changes at somewhat different cance of absolute zero independent of the molec-
temperatures. At 5°K and ordinary atmospheric ular interpretation of the gas laws. On the other
pressure, there are no gases, and only helium does hand, the idea that there is no molecular motion
not solidify; it becomes an extraordinary new at absolute zero is not so sure. It is attractive
sort of stuff, rather like a liquid, but with prop- because of our interpretation of the gas laws, but
erties not found in any other known substance. in going to 0°K we extrapolate far outside the
It is called a super-fluid. realm of gas behavior. The motions all become
Low temperatures favor orderliness, regularity, motions of molecules or atoms close together.
the careful fitting together of atoms and molecules. We now believe that for such motions there is a
This is the deep reason behind the crystal and the least amount, and the coldest state is not quite
snowflake. Order is cold. At high temperatures, so motionless as extrapolation from the gas laws
we have the reverse. Everything is in rapid motion, indicates. Extrapolation to absolute zero turns
all is disorder, chaos. Within all of this chaotic out to mean something different from extrapola-
motion, the averages of density, pressure, and tion to absolute rest.
other properties remain predictable. In fact, the One unexpected result has turned up in the gas
revolving
molecules exert the same pressure on the walls 1st slit 2nd slit 3rd slit
cylinder
of given volume at a given temperature. The
pressure depends neither on the molecular mass
.vi the molecular nature: it depends only on
with which molecules of gases at the same temper- burst to enter the revolving cylinder. Because the cylinder is
ature fly through a hole from a gas into vacuum revolving, the molecules do not land directly opposite the slit.
Using the position where they do hit and the cylinder's rate of
(.Fig. *M 1). we find that heavy molecules actualK
rotation, the speed of the molecules can be computed. (From
move with lower average speeds than light mole-
"Introduction to Atomic Physics," by O. Oldenberg, McGraw-
:
cules. Indeed the experiments indicate that nn .
Hill Book Company.)
the average value of the molecular mass times
the square of the molecular speed, is proportional
to the temperature. we count them and average the
at different times
It is easv to see approximately how these results. (See Fig. 9-2.) The same is true for
differences in speed come about. Molecular pressure. The pressure we detect by weight or
motion is not achieved by magic. Molecules with a gauge is also an average pressure, averaged
move because they are struck by other moving over space and over time. A quick-reading tiny
molecules. Massive ones are harder to set in gauge would fluctuate wildly, reading high when
motion, and the same blows will set lighter mole- a molecule struck, low when no molecule was
cules into faster motion. This suggests, though present. With such a gauge we would obtain
it does not prove, the observed result. direct evidence of the chaotic motions of gas
The nature of heat and of temperature is far molecules, but our normal gauges read only
too rich a tale to dismiss with these paragraphs; averages.
later (Chapter 26.)
chapters will go a bit beyond. Is no sign of this chaos that we can
there
When we come to the study of mechanics, we directly perceive? Because it is all on a very
shall give more detailed reasons showing that the small scale, we do not usually see the wild fluc-
temperature of a gas is proportional to mi 2 . tuations. Nevertheless, the chaos of the molecules
Further study, which we cannot go into in this can be directly seen in a fascinating group of
book, indicates that if we wait, the average values experiments. The botanist Robert Brown was
of mi 2 for different kinds of molecules which hit skilled in the use of a simple microscope such as
each other should become the same. The temper- you might well build in the laboratory. In 1827,
ature does tend to equalize in just this way. In using a single lens, a bead of glass, "the focal
the bicycle pump, after compression the motions length of which is about ^> °f an inch," he was
of the molecules in the hot gas slow down while excited to see that tiny particles from the pollen
the other molecules around speed up. After a grains of flowers constantly moved about in the
while the temperatures of the pump and that of water in which they were immersed. "These
its surroundings equalize near the original tem- motions were such as to satisfy me," he wrote,
perature of the larger collection of molecules. "that they belonged to the particle itself," and
were not due, for example, to currents in the
9-6. Brownian Motion and Noise water. He thought that these particles moved
On a sufficiently small scale, the density of a because they were alive, that he had discovered a
gas depends on what little volume you choose to new characteristic of life; but then he found that
consider. Here and there a molecule flies along: even boiled particles continued to move. Finally,
the rest of the space is empty. The constant he found, as we now know well, that any very
density we usually observe must be an average small particle never stands still. This motion is
one: the number of molecules in a small cube if called Brownian motion.
.
-.•'"/*,
« »£>;, v *-' -J
$?>£$&
9—12. Brownion motion. Pictured is the erratic motion of a
particle as photographed once every 20 seconds. In each molecules take as they slowly diffuse, carrying the
time interval, the particle moved from one point to the next. odor of ammonia or cooking gas across a room.
Between photographic exposures, the particle may well have In Fig. 9-13 we see little grains, heavier than
traveled an erratic path similar to the entire path shown.
the liquid in which they are immersed. They are
We can record the Brownian motion of a small kept up against gravity by the effect of Brownian
particle as in Fig. 9-12, where the randomness motion. They behave like the molecules of the
and chaos of way are made plain. About fifty
its atmosphere, which are denser near the bottom,
years ago, when the nature of this motion was and more dilute near the top; but in this toy
understood, it became one of the most convincing "atmosphere" the height extends only a fraction
pieces of evidence for the matter-of-fact reality of a millimeter, while the air extends upward for
of the molecule. a distance of many kilometers. The height of the
Such a small huge mole-
particle behaves like a suspension times the effective mass of the grains
cule. If enough to see in the microscope,
it is big regarded as molecules is equal to the height of the
10
it is big enough to contain some 10 or 10 11 air times the mass of its molecules. Iron filings
atoms; it is really gigantic on the molecular scale. or even nails would also have such an "atmos-
Whether it is in a liquid or in a gas, at any moment pheric" height; but as molecules they are so
such a particle is being struck by swarms of mov- heavy that this height would be quite without
ing molecules. They exert a fluctuating push on meaning — it is less than the size of the filings or
the little grain. Now it is pushed a little harder nails themselves, in fact an extremely small frac-
from one side, now from the other, and it moves tion of the size of one atom.
accordingly. It spins, too, as the molecular chaos Even large-scale objects show Brownian motion;
twists it about. From the fundamental laws of but usually it is too small to detect. It is small
heat and from the mathematical theory of proba- because big objects don't respond fast and be-
bility, it is possible to calculate just what the cause so many molecules strike that their effects
average motion of such a particle should be, and almost exactly balance in small time intervals.
measurements of its path confirm these calcula- With sufficiently sensitive apparatus, however, we
tions. The path is different only in scale from the may see the fluctuations even in moderately large
path of a single molecule as it passes from collision objects. In Fig. 5-14 a small mirror, free to
to collision. It is the same kind of path that turn, is shown mounted in a chamber which is
THE NATURE OF A GAS 163
to vacuum pump
V
-3
mercury
high).
ular collisions
column 4
The effect of the molec-
is
X 10
V
A t fl
S"
4
apparent.
from
carefully protected all vibration, air currents, It is simply another manifestation of the Brownian
and other disturbances. and fro in a
It turns to motion of the materials of the circuit, and it can-
random way — another example of Brownian not be eliminated. A TV receiver in a quiet
motion. Because a small change in the angle of location shows channels a random
between
the mirror can make a large displacement in the pattern called "snow," much of which is simply
position of a reflected light beam, we can detect the effect of the random electrical signals of the
these fluctuations. Johnson noise. It seems probable, too, that the
The Brownian motion plainly sets a limit to the human ear ison the borderline of being able
just
use of small instruments to measure small quanti- to hear the Brownian motion of the air as a con-
ties. The beam of a balance undergoes Brownian stant noise in the quietest of rooms, where only
motion, and this sets a limit on the precision with the random molecular motion exists. Only one
which two masses can be compared. Every way is known to reduce Brownian motion: cold.
pointer on every instrument feels this same gentle At low temperatures, Brownian motion and John-
but irresistible trembling. It sets a general limit son noise diminish. A thermometer has been
to the precision of measurement. In electrical made which works by measuring the noise.
measurements, it puts a random fluctuating signal The size of the Brownian fluctuations can be
into ever) circuit. This signal can be heard as used to measure Avogadro's number N If .
noise, called Johnson noise after its first observer. N were small so that molecules were as big as
164 THE NATURE OF A GAS
sand grains, the fluctuations we observe in the only an inner wall, the surface of the earth. Above
motion of pollen or of little mirrors would be the earth there is no second wall. Gravity holds
large —that is, assuming the pollen and the the molecules of the atmosphere in place. In the
mirrors do not change in size. If N were even relatively dense air near sea level, a molecule flies
rapidly and dissipate. In fact, however, we live worth while recalling that the atmosphere gives
immersed in one. The atmosphere is a gas with us an example of how such things may be.
THE NATURE OF A GAS 165
1. Consider the idea that all matter is made up of 9. To the apparatus shown 9-5 we attach a
in Fig.
atoms. Does the idea that matter is constructed plastic bag of volume Va of gas. We squeeze
full
from 100 different types of atoms lead to a physical this gas into the gas space V on the right side of
model? \Yh\? the apparatus. The height of the mercury on the
left rises about 76 cm. We close the valve on the
right; then we attach another bag of gas of
2. (a) Outline the atomic model of solids that was
discussed briefh in the last chapter.
volume V at atmospheric pressure. Finally we
open the valve and squeeze the gas out of this
(b) How is the volume of a solid related to the
bag into the volume V
volumes of the individual atoms? For instance,
.
11. Every column of water 10 m high exerts a pressure volume? What is the total number of molecules
approximately equal to that of the atmosphere. in thetube?
A diving bell (a cylinder open at the bottom) with (b) The tube is immersed in liquid nitrogen.
a diameter of 2 meters and a length of 3 meters After waiting for a while, the pressure gauge
is sunk in 100 meters of water. connected to it settles down to 2.68 X 10~ 3 cm
(a) Assuming that the temperature of the water of mercury. What is the temperature on the
is the same at all depths, how far in the diving basic gas scale (6)1 What is the temperature on
bell will the water rise? the Kelvin scale?
(b) What must be the pressure of the com- (c) If the helium were replaced by air, how
pressed air pumped into the diving bell to keep it would your answers to (a) and (b) be affected?
entirely free of water? (Look at Fig. 9-10.)
(c) Have you ever made a Cartesian diver?
(Your teacher is not to grade you on your answer
16. Is air containing water vapor denser or less dense
to this question!)
than dry air at the same temperature and pressure?
will rise as long as the mass of the container and particularly insummer, the tires and their inflating
the enclosed gas is less than that of an equal air are heated both from the flexing and friction
volume of the air around it. If a soap bubble 20 on the tires and from the warmth of the road
cm in diameter with walls 10~ 3 cm thick is filled surface. When the daytime temperature is 27 C, C
with neon gas, will it rise or sink through air by what factor would you expect the pressure
(density 1.2 X 10~ 3 g/cm 3 ) of the same temper- to increase with a 30°C temperature rise in the
ature? Consider the density of the bubble ma- tire and air?
has been immersed for some time. The volume of to releasefrom the heated tire to reduce the pres-
He at standard atmospheric pressure is read. sure back to 3 atmospheres at 47 C?
Then the thermometer is moved into a bath of
boiling water. The pressure on the He gas volume
is still atmospheric pressure. By what factor does
19. A gas is made up of molecules of hydrogen and
oxygen.
the volume of He change? (Use Fig. 9-10 to
(a) Which molecules move faster?
estimate the temperature of melting ammonia.)
(b) About what is the ratio of the speeds?
(b) If the thermometer had a constant volume,
by what factor would the pressure of the He gas
change? 20. There is good reason to believe that for monatomic
(c) If we used oxygen gas instead of He in the gases, the speed of sound
always a definite
is
thermometer, how would that affect the answers fraction of the speed of molecular motion.
to (a) and (b)? (Crudely, it is molecular motion that carries
sound; consequently the two speeds must be
15. The pressure in a tube of volume 1.00 X 10~ 3 3
m related.)
containing helium has been reduced to (a) Using the following table compute the pro-
1.00 X 10- 2 cm height of mercury at 0°C. ducts of mass times the square of the speed of
(a) What is the number of molecules per unit sound for each of the monatomic gases listed.
THE NATURE OF A GAS 167
(273 rO
Mass Speed of ,o
j*S "E
(amu) Sound
(m/sec) 9
i.
He 4.00 970
Ne 20.2 435 E
A 39.9 308.5 3
(b) Explain the relationship of your results to
the statements about thermal speeds of molecules
near the end of Section 9-5. Start
net distance in one direction moved in a given time
:i.
9-17. For Problem 22.
Speed of 2
i crop. v
Sound v 9
CK) (m sec) (m : /sec 2 ) the start 27 times, you will plot a point at the
273 308.5 9.55 X 104 center of the horizontal axis 27 units high, etc.
573 446.5 19.9
(c) Examine this plot to see where you (or a
873 551.1 30.0 particle in Brownian motion) are most likely to
1273 665.5 44.3 end up. Should the curve be symmetric about
the starting point? Is it?
This table for argon gas shows the measured (d) Ifyou measure the distances moved without
speed of sound and the square of the speed of regard to direction away from the starting point,
sound at different temperatures on the Kelvin about what is the average distance in paces gone
scale. in 10 flips? Would you expect this average to be
(a) Plot the square of the speed of sound zero?
vertically against absolute temperature horizon- (e) Compare the kind of motion you have just
tally. studied with observations of real Brownian mo-
(b) Assuming that the speed of sound is always tion. See Fig. 9-17 or take your own observa-
the same fraction of the molecular speed, check tions of Brownian motion. Remember that the
vour result against the statement near the end of coin flipping, telling you which way to go, repre-
Section 9-5 that temperature and the square of sents chance bombardment of molecules hitting
the molecular speed are proportional. a Brownian particle.
to the left. Go through this whole procedure Mentor Books, 1957 (pp. 184-219). An entertain-
several times. After 10 flips do you always come ing and informal description of the ideal gas model
out at the same place? and the concepts of disorder.
(b) Pool your results with those of your class- Holton, Gerald, Introduction to Concepts and Theo-
mates and make a plot showing (vertically) the ries in Physical Science. Addison- Wesley, 1952.
total number of times that any of you came to a Chapters 18 and 20 are a review of the ideas and
given final position against (horizontally) the the historical development of the ideal gas model.
final position measured from the starting point. Jeans, Sir James, An Introduction to the Kinetic
For example, if in all the various tries you or any Theory of Gases. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
one of your classmates landed 3 paces to the left More, L. T., Life and Works of Honorable Robert
18 different times, you will plot a point on the Boyle. Oxford University Press, 1944.
graph 3 units to the left of center and 18 units Pauling, Linus, General Chemistry. W. H. Freeman
high. If you and your classmates landed back at & Co., 1956.
:
MEASUREMENT
CHAPTER 10
The delicacy of a quartz-fiber microbalance shows some sort of pattern, appearing in various
(Fig. 7-3) shows how painstaking the precision shades of gray, ranging from near-black to near-
methods of physical measurement can become. white. But an enlargement shows that what is
But the notion that measurement is always some- printed on the page is nothing but black ink, one
thing finicky and precise is foreign to physics. uniform strength of black, on the white paper
Gauging a length of wire at a glance or measuring (Fig. 10-1). Many such dots, around 2,700 per
a stellar distance so roughly that it may be in error square centimeter, form the picture. The dots
by several powers of ten can be valuable measure- vary greatly in size, but not at all in the shade of
ments indeed. Measurement is the means by black. If you divide up the photograph (which is
which we make progress, by which we test and called a half-tone whenever reproduced in this
refine our concepts of how the world works. By way) by a rectangular coordinate mesh so small
measurement, whether the roughest estimate or that several squares of the mesh are found in even
the most precise determination, we confront our the smallest printed half-tone dot. you can de-
ideas with a quantitative test. The lesson that scribe the whole picture in full detail by giving
such a test is necessary has been learned by gen- the successive coordinates of the squares, and
erations of physicists in the dearest of schools: saying black or white as the color of each square.
hard experience. Your long list of simple decisions, black or white,
In the present brief chapter we consider meas- represents the half-tone. You can symbolize
urement itself as a branch of physics. What is black as yes for ink and white as no for no ink, or
measurement, and how does it work? What write 1 for an inked and for a blank square. A
limitations does it encounter, and why? These reproduction made according to your numbers
questions are not easy ones ; they are reconsidered would do justice to the picture. The most com-
by generation after generation of physicists as the plicated scene can be represented by a series of
things they measure and the methods of measure- such alternatives, of such simple choices.
ment change with the growth of skill and possi- We can do the same with measurement. The
bility. The understanding of measurement has most rudimentary measurement of the length of
been greatly clarified even within the last few years. a table, say, would be made by bringing up a
meter stick and making just one decision, one
10-1. Decision — the Unit of Measurement choice. You ask the question. "Is the table longer
The study of measurement has found a natural than the meter stick, or not?" The answer is
unit: the decision or choice between two alterna- simply res or no. This answer tells you very little
tives. Any photograph reproduced in this book it is only the beginning of measurement. Suppose
168
MEASUREMENT 169
jL
1
/
z. =
r
=fa l
the answer is yes. Then you bring up two meter the true length must lie between one and two
sticks end to end, or lay yours out twice, and ask meters. Now you must subdivide the meter, and
the next question: "Is the table longer than the bring up half-sticks, quarter-sticks, and so on.
two sticks together?" Say the answer is no; then With a long series of such questions, you can cite
170 MEASUREMENT
the length to a large number of significant figures. ings within the body. Often some aid is needed,
The more precise a measurement, the greater the most frequently amplification: some small or
number of choices needed; you can check for weak physical event is made to cause a much
yourself, if you like arithmetical games, that it larger one, and the larger one is eventually dis-
takes three or four choices for each significant played directly to the senses of the observer. Am-
figure. If, instead of measuring a simple length, plifiers act as a means of extending our natural
you wish to measure a more complex quantity instruments. They are not in any important way
(e.g., a displacement vector), you must make more different from the senses except that instead of
choices because you need to specify more num- being born with them, men make them. From our
bers (e.g., components of the vector).
the three point of view all means of studying the physical
Even in counting, you make decisions. Is the world stand on an equal footing: all must be used
object one you want to count, or not? When we with care, all have some limitations. A measure-
count the number of particles emitted by a radio- ment starts in some original physical event and
active source, we look at a developed photographic ends in some decisions by an observer. Whether it
plate or at a cloud chamber and decide whether passes directly to the eye or first through a com-
or not various patterns of silver or of water drops plicated radar system may be all-important for
mean that a particle passed. We must decide yes its usefulness and meaning, but it does not affect
or no. Or perhaps an electrical counter collect- the general concept of the measurement.
ing the light from a scintillating plastic says yes,
there is a big-enough fluctuation in the light to
mean the passage of a particle, or no, it is not big 10-3. Signals and Noise
enough. It is not always possible to make a decision.
Any count whatever, any measurement what- That is the origin of the limitations of measure-
ever can be put into these yes or no terms. We ment, of error. The edge of the tablemay be so
can reduce all measurements to a common basis, roughly sawn that some of the wood fibers go past
and we can thus begin to measure measurement the mark, some do not. Each mark on a scale
itself. It seems very reasonable to say that the always has some width, so that there are times
unit of all measurement is the decision, and the when you cannot say whether a pointer is past the
number of decisions required measures what is mark or not. If the mark were infinitely sharp,
contained in the measurement. further decisions would always clear up which
side you were on. Since it is not, there is a limit
10-2. Amplification and Display to what you can do without subdividing the mark
Somehow the final result of all measurements itself. Finally, you come down to the scale on
must be communicated to us. Sometimes we which molecular chaos, the Brownian motion, be-
make the measurements directly with our own comes limiting. The radio operator cannot al-
senses, as when we count scintillations. Some- ways distinguish dot from dash even on the quiet-
;
times automatic equipment presents us with num- est nights, the Johnson noise, Brownian motion
bers on a dial; all we need to do is distinguish the within his own circuits, will cause him confusion.
digits. Sometimes we make a kind of measure- Brownian motion creates "noise" in all measure-
ment on the measuring instrument itself, for ex- ments and results in a constant danger of false
ample, when we carefully read a pointer on a decisions, especially when the measurement is a
scale with the aid of a magnifying glass. In all sensitive or delicate one. The true basis for de-
of these cases, sooner or later we make some de- cision, called the signal-to-noise ratio, is a quantity
cisions. That is really our role in the measure- which expresses how accurately any measure-
ment. The instrument, be it eye or meter or com- ment can be made. If the signal is weaker than
plex rack of electronic chassis, must display some- the noise, not many measurements are reliable.
thing to us or to some other observer so that we Amplifiers increase the signal until it can be
may make at least one decision. displayed to the observer; but they amplify the
Just how we display the result of measurement noise too. A improve
perfect amplifier cannot
is a question of the state of the art. Once the un- the signal-to-hoise ratio any imperfect one
;
—
aided senses would do; they display their read- no perfect one has yet been designed will add —
MEASUREMENT 171
1 1 o • • •
2 10 • o • •
3 11 O • •
4 100 • • •
5 101 o • o •
9 1001 o • • o
Witcher, has ridges to present information to a blind man a machine for preparing these. Many electronic devices
through his sense of touch. Information can be amplified and display their results in lights, turned on or off in a binary number
displayed to the sense of hearing by electronic devices and ear- system. Shown above are decimal numbers, corresponding
phones (above). A fluorescent screen, such as the radarscope (also binary numbers, and combinations of lights representing those
above), is used to transmit to the eye information such as the radar numbers on an electronic scaler.
172 MEASUREMENT
a little noise of its own, and so make the measure- understand from earlier experience. For example,
ment a little less reliable. we can use the split-field range finder of a camera
sound reproduction the signal
In high-fidelity even when we don't know how it works. We
is comes from the texture of
the music; the noise learn by use that when we fit both parts of an
the record or tape, from the amplifier, or from a object together in the viewer, the reading on the
passing truck outside. The display is to the ear range-finder scale gives the distance to the object.
of the listener. The number of choices we make If the range finder has no scale, we can make a
each second as we listen to the music is in the tens scale for it on known distances. Then
by using it
of thousands. Measurement is similar, but it we can use the range finder to measure unknown
usually involves something new, not the repro- distances. The use of a black box in known
duction of something old. physical situations allows us to learn how it per-
forms even we don't find out why. When its
if
10-4. Black Boxes and Calibration performance is known we can use it to make new
Look at an auto radio or, better yet, at the measurements. On the basis of use we can decide
radio rack of an airlines plane. You will see one what display of the instrument (black box or not)
or a collection of black metal boxes. Various corresponds to the value of the quantity we want
wires go in and out of the boxes, interconnecting to measure. This process, learning the perform-
them, or going to the outside world, to antenna or ance of an instrument by measuring what we
ground, to electric lines, or to a point of display already know, is called calibration. Usually we
like a loudspeaker or a dial. Open a box
and lid, calibrate measuring instruments, as you may have
inside you will see a maze of colored wires and done for your microbalance or your range finder.
of little bits and pieces of electronic equipment. Physics is a great enterprise of human beings.
You do not grasp the purpose of each wire ; but No one knows it all or can do it all. All of us use
you can use the black box or radio well enough. some black boxes, and instruments are at least
Such experience has given us a useful and ex- partly blackbox to everyone. The principle of
pressive phrase: we speak of a physical system of the equal-arm balance is clear, but generations of
any kind as a "black box" when we make use of it design and experiment lie behind the shape of the
without analyzing how it functions, without lifting beams made so that they will not bend, the support
the lid. Sooner or we hope to lift the lid on
later of the pans made so that they hang vertically, and
all the black boxes, but we have not done so yet. a thousand other points. For every user but a
The point is that real progress can be made by the skilled and experienced designer of the balance,
use of black boxes. With some care we can some of this remains as a black box. Even the
successfully use an instrument whose operation designer probably regards as black box the agate
we do not understand. bearing on which his knife edge rests. He knows
The eye is a fine example. It is a real black box. agate is hard and durable, but he does not know
But we know from innumerable cross-checks how why. The properties of the agate depend on its
to use it, how to judge light and dark, or large and molecular structure; that remains in a black box
small, or fast and slow. We know its limitations, for the designer.
too. So far in this book the microscope is a black Although we have used the microscope as a
box. Yet it is not likely that the use of the micro- black box, it cannot be all black box to everyone.
scope is deceptive. To measure the size of a hair Most man-made things cannot be complete black
with we simply look at the hair against a finely
it, boxes, for someone has to make them. They are
ruled grating. The experience of ordinary viewing partly black box because we are aware of so much
convinces us that when we see the hair beside the that we have yet to understand.
rule we can measure its size pretty well, even if we Curiosity to open the black boxes is needed for
are looking through a microscope at the two of the understanding of physics. But also one needs
them. We are using the microscope as a black the judgment to know when and where black
box; but we gain confidence in it by use. boxes may be safely used. Confidence in the
Quite generally we find out how to use black black box comes with calibration, use, cross-check,
boxes by using them to study known objects, ultimately with opening the lid and tracing out
objects like the little ruler which we feel we can the method of operation. What remains a black
Ml \Sl Kl Ml \1 173
box today will be opened in a generation; but light pushes them a little out of the paths they
its opening is likely to involve the skillful use of would otherwise take. No sunlight, no meas-
all sorts of black boxes, black boxes which we urements. Radar too could be used, but its
have never seen. signal must strike and return. All this seems
trivial; but consider a single atom. No meter
10-5. Interaction stick can fail to disturb it; even light may push
No measurement can be made without some it or distort it badly.
interaction with the object or the event measured. Wemust be careful to see that our measure-
You can measure a table with a meter stick in a ments do not modify unduly the quantity we want
dark room, but you must touch the table. If you to measure. Guarding against too much disturb-
have light in the room, you can line up the end ance is an easy thing in large-scale physics, for
of the stick with the table edge by sighting, but we have delicate probes, such as light. In the
the light must strike the table and return to your physics of the atom the problems of the interac-
eye. Even the planets cannot be measured with- tion between the means of measurement and the
out disturbing them, if ever so little. The sun- objects measured take the center of interest, for
MEASUREMENT 175
we have no probes that will not disturb these experts in use. But in a dark room, the eye is
its
tins structures. We must trv to allow for the useless. depends on light signals.
It
1. Analvze the series of decisions you make in dis- 5. * Try an experiment on signal-to-noise ratio by
covering that vour watch reads 37 minutes and 23 seating two people 4 feet apart and then turning
seconds past eleven o'clock. How will the set of up the volume of a radio or record player until
decisions change if the watch is turned 90 degrees they have difficulty understanding one another.
from its normal position? If you read the face in They should keep their voices at about the same
a mirror what decisions would you make? level all along. Place them 6 feet apart and repeat
the experiment, then 8 feet, then 10 feet.
2. Which measurement is more complex and why:
measuring a table approximately 2.5 feet long to 6. A camera is a "black box" to many people — to
the nearest sixteenth inch, or measuring the di- all in some degree, because we do not know how
ameter of a hair to the nearest hundredth of a every part of the photographic action works. How
millimeter under the microscope? Discuss the much of a camera is "black box" to you?
decisions required.
4. In the game of "gossip," a leader composes a mes- Bowden, Bertram V., Faster Than Thought. Pitman
sage which he then whispers to the next player, who & Sons, London, 1953.
writes down what he thinks he heard and repeats
Gorn, Saul, and Manheimer, Wallace, The Elec-
itto the next person. Each person (amplifier) in tronic Brain and What It Can Do. Science Research
the path of the message is apt to introduce his own
Association, Chicago, 1956.
ideas (noise) into the original statement (signal).
Trv this game, comparing the final written version Wiener, Norbert, The Human Use of Human Beings:
with the original. What kind of "noise"' does any Cybernetics and Society. Doubleday Anchor Books,
particular amplifier introduce? 1955.
Reflection of water waves. Water waves strike a barrier and reflect,
CHAPTER 11
Most of the information that reaches us comes or fine wire, inside an electric light bulb is non-
to us through the sense of sight. From the very luminous unless it is heated by an electric current
beginning of history, men have puzzled about the passing through it. We can take a cold piece of
nature of the light that affects our eyes. The iron and make it glow with a red, yellow, or white
questions they asked were probably the same that light by heating it in a bed of burning coals or
have occurred to you. What is light? How over a gas flame. When solids and such liquids
does it and how fast? Is seeing always
travel, as melted metals are heated to temperatures above
believing? Why are some objects colored, some 800 degrees Celsius (about 1400 degrees Fahren-
white, and some black? heit), they become sources of light. Such heated
materials are known as incandescent bodies.
11-1. Sources of Light Careful observation shows that the light from
Anyone who has spent a moonless night in the candle comes from many small, hot
flames
country, in a forest, or at sea knows how very particles of carbon that are burning within the
dark it can be when the sun is on the other side flame. When hot they give off the candle light.
of the earth. At early dawn, objects that we Thus the flame is another incandescent source
could not see a few minutes earlier begin to take of light. Many of the carbon particles are not
shape. Then details sharpen, colors appear and completely burned in an ordinary flame. They
brighten, and daylight begins. It is the sun, seen cool off as they are carried by the air above the
to rise above the horizon in the east, that brings flame, become nonluminous, and make up the
with it the light that gives shape, detail, and color main part of the rising smoke.
to our world. Not all light sources are incandescent. Neon
The sun, the stars, lamps, even lightning bugs, tubes and fluorescent lamps, like electric light
give off light. They are called luminous bodies bulbs, give off a bright light as long as an electric
(from the Latin word lumen, meaning light). current passes through them; touching each of
All other objects —
trees, grass, the pages of this them, however, convinces us at once that there
book, for example — are nonluminous. They must be a difference in the way the light is pro-
are visible only when they receive light from some duced. The neon and fluorescent tubes remain
luminous source and reflect it to our eyes. quite cool, whereas the incandescent bulb soon
Whether a body is luminous or nonluminous becomes too hot to touch. Pursuing this differ-
depends as much on its condition as on the ence further, we find that by gradually increasing
material of which it is made. By changing the the current in the filament of the incandescent
conditions we can make many familiar substances bulb we can increase its brightness, but that there
luminous or nonluminous at will. The filament, is also an accompanying change in color. At
179
180 HOW LIGHT BEHAVES
moon rises approximately at sunset and why way. shows a straight stick extending
Fig. 11-1
a new moon rises approximately at sunrise? into a tank of clean water. The apparent bending
of the stick at the point at which it enters the
11-2. Transparent, Colored, and Opaque water certainly indicates that something happens
Materials to the light which passes from the stick to the
When you look through a clean window at a camera. Another illustration of the same effect
brightly illuminated scene outside, you are hardly is shown in Fig. 11-2 (a). The coin on the right
conscious of the fact that the glass is there. is in an empty container, and an identical coin is
Substances that transmit light way are said
in this in a water-filled container on the left. The coins
to be transparent. Later in the day, when dusk were photographed simultaneously with the ap-
has come, look out through the same window paratus shown in Fig. 11-2 (b). The coin in the
from inside a lighted room. In addition to the water looks nearer to the camera and bigger than
world outside, you now see in the glass a reflection the other one. This "floating" coin effect and the
of yourself and of the room. The light by which illusion of the "bent" stick occur because light
you see yourself must have started from within changes direction when it goes from one material,
the room. Instead of going through the glass to such as glass or water, into another material, such
HOW LIGHT BEHAVES 181
glance this may seem like a very difficult question, graphing the "floating" coin in Fig. 11—2 (a).
everything in white light, allowing no light to be reflects light very well, as is indicated by the
transmitted. We cannot see through even quite reflection of the white candle. Why, then, is
thin pieces of metals, wood, cardboard, or heavy the paper brighter than the mirror in the photo-
cloth. Such materials are opaque. Opaque graph? The mirror sends all the light reflected
materials reflect some of the light that falls on from the lamp away from the camera, while the
them and absorb the rest, so that no light passes paper sends reflected light in all directions so
through them. that some of it reaches the camera.
It is the regularity of reflection from smooth
11-3. Reflection surfaces that allows the formation of images.
All bodies, whether transparent or opaque, Fig. 11-4 shows a lake surrounded by trees and
reflect some of the light that falls upon them. mountains. Is the picture printed right-side up?
That is, they send some of the light back to the Turn the book over and examine it again. There
same side of the body as that from which it came. is at least one clue you
in the picture that tells
Most surfaces give a diffuse reflection. They whether it is up or upside down.
right-side
send light off in many directions. It is by the What can you learn about images by simple
help of this diffused light that we see illuminated observation? Look at yourself in a mirror. Is
HOW LIGHT BEHAVES 183
one in your hand and observe the images. Does or of different brightnesses, how the effects of
In Chapter 1 2 we shall try to see if we can find a way that an image is formed on the retina.
something about the laws of reflection that will Chemical changes take place at the retina, and
allow us to discuss "why," as well as "what" as a result electrical impulses are sent along the
happens when images are formed by mirrors or nerves to the brain.
other smooth reflecting surfaces. There are many instruments, other than the
eye, that respond chemically or electrically to the
11-4. Light-Sensitive Devices action of light. These instruments are often
We have not yet mentioned how we know that used in the laboratory to study fight by methods
light is present or what its color may be. We that are more convenient or more satisfactory
have taken for granted that marvelous instru- than is visual observation. The best-known
ment, the human eye. A thorough study of the substances that are photosensitive are some of the
eye would include discussions of how light is chemical compounds containing silver. Such
184 HOW LIGHT BEHAVES
compounds are used in photographic films. The As we shall see later, this guess is correct: heat
full process involved in the exposure and develop- radiation is indeed a form of light known as
ment of the film is complex, but the essential infrared radiation. About one-third of the
thing is that those portions of the film on which radiation that reaches us from the sun is heat
light has fallen are left, after chemical treatment, radiation; most of the rest is visible light.
with a deposit of finely divided silver. In this Like the eye's retina, an ordinary photocell
state the silver does not appear as bright, shiny cannot detect heat radiation. This may be
metal, but as dull, opaque particles, the familiar shown by placing a photocell near a heated
black portions of a film negative. The portions flatiron in adark room. We know from the
not exposed to light become clear and transparent. photographic evidence that the iron gives off
Color film, sensitive to different colors of light, heat radiation, yet the photocell shows no
is made by the addition of various dyes and by response. A different result is obtained, however,
changes in composition. if we use a mercury-arc lamp as a source of light.
There are also a number of devices that give A good lamp for this purpose is one of the small
an electric current when light falls on them, with- sterilizing lamps sometimes used in refrigerators.
out any chemical changes taking place. Chief (These lamps are constructed with a special kind
among these are photoelectric cells, or photocells, of glass, known as Corex.) When a photocell
which we shall discuss later. (Chapter 33.) The is placed near such a lamp, the electric current
electric current that flows through a photocell is passing through the cell increases with the
proportional to the light intensity. intensity of the light striking it. If a piece of
ordinary window glass, which is almost perfectly
11-5. Invisible Light transparent to visible light, is placed between the
Photocells, photographic films, or other de- lamp and the photocell, the current in the photo-
tectors of lightsometimes show the presence of cell decreases appreciably. From this simple
light when none is visible to the eye. For example, procedure we learn several things. We observe
Fig. 11-5 shows a photograph of an ordinary no difference in the light from the lamp when
flatiron, taken in a totally dark room using a looking through the window glass, but the photo-
special kind of photographic film. Apparently cell obviously does. There must be some part
the flatiron is giving off "light" of some sort, of the radiation from the lamp which is invisible
although we cannot see it as a luminous object. to the eye, and which is not transmitted by window
We might guess that the light given off is the glass. It is evident, too, that Corex must be
same thing as the heat which we feel when we transparent to this invisible light; otherwise it
hold a hand a few inches away from a heated iron. would not reach the photocell. As we shall see,
the mercury lamp emits ultraviolet light in addi-
tion to visible light. This radiation is not only
invisible — harmful to the human eye. One
it is
source which is pointed at a piece of paper. We tube or a fluorescent lamp, and you hold your
know that the light comes from the source and fingers parallel to the source. The narrow,
we see it reflected from the paper, but we do not alternating bands of dark and light that appear
see between the two objects. Common sense
it are certainly something different from what you
suggests, however, that the light must travel ordinarily see in the light coming through a large
between the two. In Fig. 11-8 fine smoke opening [Fig. 1 1-9 (b)].
particles have been introduced into the air and These happenings can be partially explained
now the beam shows clearly all the way. The if we supposethat light bends slightly as it passes
straight edges of the beam connect the source the edge of an obstacle. We would then expect
with the edges of the illuminated spot, confirming the edges of all shadows to be slightly fuzzy,
light travels in straight lines. The
our belief that rather than perfectly sharp. When the sources of
fact thatwe saw nothing of the beam until the light are large and the openings through which
smoke was introduced tells us that light enters light passes are large, this fuzziness is insignificant
our eyes only when we are looking directly in comparison with the whole pattern of light
toward a source or when there are illuminated and we do not notice it. When the source is far
bodies that can reflect light directly to our eyes. away and the openings are small, as are those in a
In this case the light was reflected from the paper piece of window screen, or between two fingers,
and from smoke particles, making them act like the effect of the bending becomes important.
new sources to send the light on new straight-line This explanation, however, is not complete. We
paths toward our eyes. shall have to add more to it before it accounts
for the darkand light bands.
11-7. Diffraction The thought processes you have just gone
We have seen evidence that light generally through are a good example of the way in which
travels in straight lines, yet it is easy to find some approach truth in a step-by-step fashion.
scientists
exceptions to this rule. You have probably had For most purposes, the statement that light travels
the experience of looking at a distant light, such in straight lines accounts for many observations
as a street lamp, through a window screen. very well. A closer look at things shows us that
You probably noticed that you saw not only the it cannot always be accepted as completely true
distant light but also two lines of color, at right and that light does bend very slightly around
angles to each other. A related effect may be obstacles. The bending is, however, so slight
observed you hold two fingers in front of your
if that we can neglect it for most purposes. We
eye in such a way that you look at a light through say that the assumption of straight-line travel is
the very fine slit between them when they are not a approximation to the description of the
first
quite pressed tightly together [Fig. 11-9 (a)]. behavior of light. The second approximation
This experiment is most effective if the light to the behavior of light is more complicated and
comes from a long, thin source, such as a neon more troublesome to use, so we shall employ it
HOW LIGHT BEHAVES 187
11-9 (a). A simple way to observe diffraction. 11—9 (b). A diffraction pattern similar to one seen through a
slit formed by two fingers. This picture of a blue light source
was taken with blue-sensitive film. The black lines are supports
holding the filament.
onlywhen the phenomena that we are studying
demand that we do so. We shall find, for example,
certain light effects that seem to be completely
unrelated until we consider their explanation in
terms of this bending of light around obstacles.
The pattern shown in Fig. 11-9 (b) is but one
of the many odd shadow pictures that can be
obtained as a result of the fact that light does bend
around opaque bodies in its path. This bending
is known as diffraction.
Diffraction accounts in part for the fact that
the images of stars in telescopes appear as small
blurs of light instead of sharp points. The blurs
arise from the bending of light as it goes through
the smallest "hole" in the telescope. Fig. 11-10
shows the shadow of a small hole. 11—10. Shadow of a small hole. The lack of sharply defined
edges and the presence of the light and dark bands are caused
11-8. The Speed of Light by the diffraction of light.
All of us have, at one time or another, heard we trust our eyes? We know that sound takes
the roar of a jet plane high in the sky and instinc- some time to travel so great a distance and that
tively looked for it in the direction of the sound. light travels far faster than sound. We did not
We finallysaw it far ahead of the sound. Then in assume that the plane was beyond the point where
deciding where the airplane actually was, we be- we saw it, because we believe that light travels fast
lieved our eyes rather than our ears. Why did indeed!
188 HOW LIGHT BEHAVES
Galileo suggested a method for finding the about Jupiter in just a little over seven days and it
speed of light, similar to the method he used to is eclipsed once during every revolution. Using
measure the speed of sound. Two men with the average time between eclipses as the time of ro-
lanterns were placed at a measured distance apart. tation of the satellite, he found that the eclipses
The uncovered his lantern and started a clock,
first occurred about 11 minutes early when the earth
and the second uncovered his lantern when he was nearest Jupiter and 1 minutes late when it 1
saw the light from the first. When the first man was farthest away, because the light had to travel
saw the second's light, he stopped the clock, across the earth's orbit. Roemer could not find
thus measuring the time for light to travel from a good value of the speed of light from these
the first man to the second and back — or so observations. His measurements were inaccurate
Galileo hoped. This experiment failed to give and also, at that time, the size of the earth's orbit
the speed of light because light travels so fast. was not accurately known. The great contribu-
But it was not It showed that
a complete failure. tion of Roemer's work was the demonstration that
the speed of light was too great to allow its light took a measurable time to cross the earth's
passage to be measured over short distances with orbit and that it therefore travels at a finite speed.
the crude timing mechanisms then available. Later measurements of the delays in eclipse
A satisfactory method of measuring the speed times showed that the interval required to cross
of light was first proposed by Roemer in 1676. the orbit is 16 min 20 sec rather than 22 min as
This method does not need a highly precise Roemer found. The average distance of the earth
measurement of a very short time interval. Longer from the sun is now known to be 1.47 X 10 11
time intervals are easier to measure. Roemer in- meters; hence the speed of light is
measurements to find the time taken for light to The first determination of the speed of light over
cross the diameter of the earth's orbit. What a distance short enough to be practical on the
Roemer did was to observe the times at which surface of the earth was made by Armand
some of the moons of Jupiter went into eclipse as Fizeau in 1848. It required the invention of a
they passed into that planet's shadow. These timing device that could measure very short
eclipses occur at regular intervals. For example, intervals with accuracy. We shall discuss Fizeau's
the brightest of the satellites revolves in its orbit method in Chapter 15.
not reach us. In view of this, why does a dense side, and place it in the center of a large piece of
cloud of smoke overhead appear dark, rather than white paper. View it from a distance of about
light? Write briefly. Be prepared to discuss.
2 feet and under bright illumination.
(a) Describe its color and brightness.
7. We have seen that when light from a white object (b) Move the gray square to the center of a large
falls on a photographic film it produces a deposit piece of bright-red paperand view it under the
of black silver after development. This results
same conditions as before. Again describe its
image on the film. If you
in the familiar negative
color and brightness. Are they the same as be-
shine light through the negative onto another
fore?
photographic film, after development what kind
(c) Finally, move the gray square to a piece of
of an image will you have?
black paper. What happens now?
8. One of the remarkable properties of the eye is
its ability to adjust so that objects at different dis- 11. (a) How long does it take light to reach the earth
tances are seen clearly. To demonstrate this, from the sun?
place yourself about 3 or 4 feet from a window (b) If the light from the nearest star takes 4.3
and concentrate your attention on the window years to reach us, how far away is the star?
itself. You will find that the window is seen very (c) Why is it convenient to express distances to
clearly, that the lineswhere the glass meets the stars in terms of light-years, rather than in meters,
frame are seen sharply, and that even such details kilometers, or miles?
as spots on the glass are apparent.
con- Still
centrating your attention on the window, note the 12. Radio waves travel at the same speed as light in
appearance of objects in the distance, outside. empty space or in air.
Are they sharp or fuzzy? Can you observe their (a) How long does it take a radio signal to
details? Next, concentrate your attention on the travel from New York to San Francisco, a dis-
far-awav objects until you see them sharply. Can tance of about 4.8 X 103 km?
you now see the details of the window clearly? (b) A
radar transmitter, which sends out radio
signals of a particular type, when pointed at the
9. Move this book toward you, with one eye closed moon receives a reflection 2.7 sec after the signal
or covered. When the book has just reached the is sent. What does this experiment give as the
point at which the print blurs, have someone distance of the moon from the earth?
measure the distance of the book from your eye.
Repeat the experiment with the other eye. Are
the two distances approximately equal? Try this
with a few people of different ages, and record
FURTHER READING
the results along with their ages. Bragg, Sir William, The Universe of Light. Mac-
(a) Is there a limit to the ability of the eye to millan, 1933.
adjust itself for clear vision? Minnaert, M., Light and Color in the Open Air.
same for all persons, or for
(b) Is this limit the Dover, 1954. A classic, describing many light
the two eyes of any one person? effects such as rainbows, mirages, sunset colors,
(c) Does it vary, in general, with the age of the blue sky, etc.
REFLECTION AND IMAGES
CHAPTER 12
12-1. Shadows hint about the reason for the less sharp appear-
Examine your own shadow, cast by the sun on a ance of shadows in sunlight. Every point on the
smooth floor or pavement. Notice the difference surface of the sun sends out light, and the shadow
in sharpness between the outline of the shadow as a whole is not really a single shadow but is the
of your feet and that of your head. This differ- combination of a very large number of individual
ence -is even more noticeable in the shadow of a shadows cast by light from each point on the
thin vertical stick or rod as shown in the left half sun's surface. Fig. 12-2 indicates how the shadow
of Fig. 12-1. Apparently the shadow becomes is formed when the source of light has consider-
wider and less sharp as the distance from the able extent, like the sun. Traveling in straight
object to the edge of its shadow increases. The lines, light from no part of the source can reach
fuzziness of shadows also depends on the source the circular region between c and d\ hence this
of light. The right half of Fig. 12-1 shows the region of the shadow is black. In the dotted
shadow cast when the source is a lamp behind region between the circle ab and the circle cd,
a screen in which a very small hole has been light from some parts of the source gets past
punched. This shadow is quite sharply defined the object and onto the screen. Hence the shadow
over its entire length. The shadows cast by tiny is less dark, and it finally fades off to an indistinct
light sources are generally quite sharp, indicating
that light propagates in straight lines. 12-1. Shadows cast by an extended source of light (left) and
The sharp shadows cast by a source of light so by a point source of light (right). Notice the difference in their
190
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 191
12—3. Beams and pencils of light. In the top picture, light beam. Below a second pinhole in line with the first produces a
coming from the source through a pinhole forms a cone-shaped narrow pencil of light.
192 REFLECTION AND IMAGES
allows us to draw on paper lines that represent ences the behavior of the light beam. Can light
the which light is traveling.
directions in A beams also interact with each other? can We
pencil of light can be found in nature; a ray answer this question by letting the light beams
of light is something we have invented to repre- from two different sources pass through a single
sent a very small pencil. pinhole, as is shown in Fig. 12-4. We find that
We often draw a few rays, for example, to each beam passes through the hole as if the other
indicate the limits of the illuminated region, the beam were not there.
umbra and penumbra in Fig. 12-2. The rays we In general, each fight beam from two or more
draw are not distinguishable in the light, which sources behaves as if the other beams were not
apparently goes in all directions from all points present, and this independence of action is very
on the surface of the source. The rays we draw important. The procedure of studying the
are useful like the lines on an architect's plan, pencils or raysfrom different sources or different
but they are no more light than his lines are walls parts of a source would otherwise be of little
or windows. Light does not make rays; we do. value. Tracing the rays that show the directions
They help us describe the way light behaves. of two jets of water, for example, does not tell
We know that light beams or pencils striking us much about where they go when they hit each
reflecting objects illuminate them so that they act other. It is because the light from each of two
as new sources. Light thus interacts with the sources acts as if it were alone that we can trace
material on which it falls, i.e., the light beam rays to find the regions of light and shadow when
influences the material, and the material influ- both sources are present.
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 193
12-4. The Laws of Reflection explain the position of such images? Figure
All that we have said in the last section ap- 12-7 (a) shows a pencil of light falling on a
plies to finding the apparent position of a source polished metal plate; the pencil is made visible
of light. This position, however, need not be by smoke. We notice at once that the reflected
the actual position of the source. If the rays of pencil PR is as sharply defined as is the incident
fight coming from the source have had their pencil IP. Polished metals, liquid surfaces, and
direction changed by reflection or refraction (see mirrors that reflect in such a fashion that the
Chapter 11), when we trace the rays straight reflected pencils are sharply defined are said to be
backward their point of intersection will not be specular reflectors. Materials such as white
the actual point from which the rays started. paper give diffuse reflection. [See Fig. 12-7 (b).]
Nevertheless we shall see the source apparently To study specular reflection we place a sheet
located at the point of intersection. We are seeing of white cardboard on the reflecting plate in such
an image of the source, not the source itself. a way that the two pencils just skim along its
In Chapter 11 we briefly discussed the images surface as in Fig. 12-8. We find that the card-
seen in mirrors. We noted, for example, the fact board must be held perpendicular to the re-
that your image in a plane mirror appears to be a flecting surface. If we do the experiment over
distance behind the mirror equal to your distance and over again, changing the direction in which
in front of it. Can we find laws of reflection that the incident pencil strikes the surface, we always
get the same result — the cardboard (and there- mirrors? In Fig. 12-9 an arrow, HT, is placed
fore the plane of the two pencils) is always near a mirror. We now ask whether light rays
perpendicular to the reflecting surface. starting from any point, such as the head of the
As a further step draw a line through the middle arrow H, and reflected from the mirror to the eye,
of the cardboard at right angles to one edge. seem to come from a common point. The reflected
Then place the cardboard in a position perpen- rays were accurately drawn according to the laws
dicular to the reflecting surface as before, with of reflection. As the figure shows, the two rays
the end of the line just touching the point at which from H
reach the eye as if they came from the
the incident pencil strikes. Since the line is on common point H'. This suggests that the head
the cardboard, it is in the same plane as the two of the arrow appears to be at H'. Similarly, the
pencils of light and also perpendicular to the green rays in the figure indicate that the tail of the
reflecting surface. This observation gives us the arrow T appears to us as if it were at V
first law of specular reflection If we were to draw a third ray originating from
H, would it also appear to come from H' ? What
When light is reflected from a plane specular
about a fourth ray? We shall use the laws of
surface, the incident ray, the reflected ray,
reflection to prove that all the rays originating
and the normal to the surface {the perpen-
dicular) at the point
from H
and reflected from the mirror appear to
of contact all lie in the
come from H'.
same plane.
Consider a ray from H. In accord with the
Now suppose that we measure the angles laws of reflection, this ray, the perpendicular to
between the normal and the two rays, as indicated the mirror's surface, and the reflected ray are in a
in Fig. 12-8. We find that the angle between the
reflected rayand the normal, called the angle of
reflection, equal to the angle between the
is
equal because angles 1 and / are equal and angles point as the image of H.
r and 2 are equal. Therefore, the two right tri- By the same reasoning we can locate the image
angles have all their corresponding angles equal of any point on the arrow, and thus find the com-
and they have a common side LM between cor- plete image of the arrow. Every point on the
responding angles. When folded about LM (the image is exactly opposite the corresponding point
surface of the mirror) the triangles therefore fall on the object and equally far from the mirror
surface. The image and object are exactly similar in one mirror, we can easily locate all the images
and of the same size. where there are several mirrors as in Fig. 12-12.
In our construction we have extended the re- For example, in Fig. 12-12 we see a candle and
flected rays behind the mirror, but it is quite clear its three images formed in the mirrors which are
that we could not find the light from the arrow set at right angles to each other. The location of
by going behind the mirror. Because the mirror the only image difficult to understand is illustrated
causes the rays to appear as if they come from the in Fig. 12-13. By tracing back the "rays" enter-
points of the image, although they actually do ing the eye, using only the laws of specular reflec-
not, we say that a virtual image is formed. We use tion, we do find that they diverge from the candle.
this term to distinguish it from a real image, which
we shall meet later.
We have obtained the location of the virtual
image by a calculation based on the two laws of
reflection. It is easy to verify the results of this
calculation by a simple experiment. A small
mirror mounted perpendicular to a table top,
is
12-6. Parabolic Mirrors light cross there. The pencils of light pass through
On the top of the Pic du Midi in the French the small region of overlap and then diverge from
Pyrenees research workers curious about the effects one another, each going on just as it does when
of ultra-high temperatures are cooking steel in the the others do not cut across it.
sunlight concentrated by a mirror. In India, with We can concentrate the light further if we use
less expensive mirrors, housewives are cooking more and smaller mirrors. Cut each one of our
dinner. To make a photographic image of a star, twenty-five mirrors into four pieces, for example.
we must gather the light that hits the large surface Then each pencil has only one-fourth of the pre-
of the mirror of an astronomical telescope and vious cross-sectional area, and we can make them
concentrate it on a small spot on a sensitive converge into a smaller region. Now cut the
photographic plate. In this way we can gather mirrors again, making them still smaller. The
enough light to see stars in the otherwise blank region of overlap is cut down still more. Do it all
spaces of the night sky. over, time after time. Eventually the mirrors are
We cannot concentrate light with a plane mirror, infinitely small, or at least as small as we can make
for the light always diverges, appearing to come them; but they intercept the same amount of
from the virtual image behind the mirror. But by light that our original twenty-five mirrors did.
using several plane mirrors, we can cause several They reflect the same amount and send it all
pencils of light from the same source to cross each through a single tiny spot.
other in a small region of space. To be specific To carry out the construction of a mirror which
let us assume that the source is far away —a star, focuses a large amount of fight at a single spot by
perhaps — and therefore the pencils of light that and adjusting
successively dividing the orientation
come from it to our mirrors are almost parallel. of plane mirrors hung up in space is easy in con-
The farther the source, the smaller the angles be- cept but difficult in practice. We can illustrate
tween the pencils of light, until for a star all the the procedure, however, with the somewhat easier
pencils reaching the earth are practically parallel. job of concentrating parallel light on a line in-
In Fig. 12-14 twenty-five mirrors
cocked at stead of a spot. Two stages in this process which
slightly different angles are arranged to reflect you can carry out without too much difficulty are
parallel light so that it passes through a single shown in Fig. 12-15. It is easy to imagine the
small region. We see the region because the similar processes carried out in space to produce
smoke there scatters some of the light in the many the single spot.
crossing pencils. Other regions are equally smoke- As we subdivide and reorient plane mirrors in
filled but appear darker because few pencils of space,we construct closer and closer approxima-
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 199
12—15. The converging of light by five plane mirrors (above). the light is converged into a smaller region.
As the number of mirrors is increased to ten, as shown at the right,
figure about the ray through F the parabola tion, be traveling parallel to the axis of the mirror.
would be moved around over the whole surface Many searchlights are constructed on this principle
of the mirror. as shown in Fig. 12-17. All light from the source
When we make parabolic mirrors, we usually that strikes the parabola travels outward in par-
start by making a smooth surface that is approxi- allel paths to form a narrow, intense beam that
mately parabolic; then, if necessary, we improve penetrates to great distances through space. The
it by distorting, grinding, and polishing until light light emitted from the source within the cone
sent in parallel to the axis of revolution is brought AFB, however, never strikes the mirror, and it
to an accurate focus. therefore spreads out. But even this light can be
used if a small spherical mirror, shown gray in
12-7. Searchlights the figure, is mounted in front of the source in
We have seen that all of the light that falls on a such a location that the center of the sphere is at
parabolic mirror in a direction parallel to the axis the source. Such a spherical mirror will reflect all
. 1
\ A .
V
\
\
\ \
^^ \ \
\
^ \ \
*r^
4 ^^ /
12—18. Formation of the image of a star that
of the telescope.
is not on the axis
How narrow is the parallel beam of light sent mirror and some of the rays representing the
out by a searchlight? That depends on the open- propagation of light from a star. By carefully
ing of the parabolic mirror. Furthermore, the constructing the reflected rays so that the angle
construction of the mirror also depends on the of reflection in each case equals the angle of in-
distance between the principal focus and the cidence, we can find out crudely how we expect
central point on the surface of the parabolic the mirror to work. As we see in the figure, the
mirror. Once this distance is chosen, the shape various reflected rays pass through a small region
of the parabola is fixed. The distance from the located near the principal focus on the side of the
focus to the center of the mirror is therefore very axis opposite the star. They do not pass through
important. It is given a special name and called a single point because to make them do so we
the focal distance or the focal length of the parab- would have to have the axis parallel to the incident
ola. We shall use the letter /for the focal length rays ; but very careful construction (or calculation
of any parabolic mirror. based on geometry) shows that they do come close
to one point even when we include those rays that
12-8. Astronomical Telescopes are not in the plane of the figure. The mirror
We know that a parabolic mirror brings to a should therefore form a blurred spot of light at
focus all the light that arrives parallel to the axis the position / where the light almost focuses.
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 201
• •
•
• • • •
•
• •
(a) (b)
position of the image. the same pattern as the stars themselves do in the
sky; they are just turned top for bottom and right
Wecan find the approximate position of / by for left. Also, a photograph taken on a photo-
tracing justtwo rays. These we choose so as to graphic plate placed perpendicular to the axis at F
make the job of ray tracing as easy as possible. shows the spacing of the stars correctly (Fig. 12-
In particular we know that a ray through the 20). The parabolic mirror therefore makes an
principal focus will go out parallel to the axis. astronomical telescope. It gathers light from the
Also a ray that comes in parallel to the axis will stars and concentrates it on near-by spots in
go out through the focus. And finally a ray that positions corresponding to the positions of the
hits the center of the symmetric mirror will leave stars on the celestial sphere. Nearly all modern
it on the other side of the axis going out on a large telescopes use parabolic mirrors.
symmetric path. Two of these rays will always The heart of the Hale telescope at Mt. Palomar
allow us to find the image /. In Fig. 12-19 we is a parabolic mirror 5 meters in diameter. A
locate / by tracing the ray that comes in through metal framework which supports the parabolic
F (and therefore must go out parallel to the axis) mirror is mounted on axles and bearings in such
and the ray that hits the mirror just at the center a way that itcan be pointed at various spots in the
point. / lies at approximately the same distance heavens. Fig. 12-21 shows the actual reflecting
from the center of the mirror as F, but it is at the telescope and gives an idea of the mounting re-
same angle on one side of the axis that the star is quired. This mounting can be controlled so that
on the other. Consequently, the images of several it follows the apparent motion of a star from east
stars as seen from the center of the mirror form to west while a picture is being taken. With such
your hand could not pass through it. lead us to the relations between object and image
The little bulb is an image, the image of an with very little work. A few checks with experi-
honest light bulb located well out of sight about 17 mental results will then show that the laws of
meters in front of the image. The image was reflection are not leading us astray,and we can
formed by a parabolic mirror almost 2 meters be- predict confidently what will happen with any
hind the illusory bulb. parabolic mirror and an object at any distance in
Thus we see that parabolic mirrors do form front of it.
images of extended near-by objects. Indeed, this Suppose that an object is located in front of a
experiment can tell us more. We know that the parabolic mirror a distance S beyond the princi-
genuine light bulb stood upright on its base while pal focus (Fig. 12-23). The height of the object
its image was suspended in space upside down. above the axis is H
Let us consider the light,
.
If we change the distance to the fight bulb, the coming from the top of the object, that hits the
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 203
the two rays tells not only how far away from F focal length and object distance.
the image of the top is but also determines the scale drawing of this set-up shows that the image
length H, of the whole image as it extends down should lie 17.5 cm in front of F, and that it should
from the axis. Any time we want to draw such a be only yq as tall as the object in agreement with
two-ray picture to scale, we can find out what the the experimental facts. With similar drawings
laws of reflection predict about the image. For you can predict the size and position of the image
example, consider the first experiment we dis- for other arrangements of object and mirror, or
cussed in this section. We used the following set- for mirrors of different focal length.
up to obtain the photograph in Fig. 12-22. The The geometry of these two-ray drawings is so
genuine fight bulb was placed 17.50 m in front of simple that it hardly seems necessary to go further
the principal focus of the mirror. The focal But it is a nuisance to
in specifying the relations.
length of the mirror, determined by using parallel draw diagrams and the simplicity of
all the time,
light from the sun, was 1.75 m. So the distance the geometry suggests that we can express our
between source and mirror was 19.25 m. The results in extremely simple forms for numerical
image is seen 0.175 m
in front of the focal point computation. Let's start with the relation of
or 1.925 m
from the mirror. Furthermore an image to object size.
ordinary large electric light bulb 19 cm high was In Fig. 12-24 we have left out everything but
the source; and the image, as measured on the the ray from the top of the object going through
centimeter ruler beside it, is only 1.9 cm high as the principal focus. Because this ray is reflected
well as upside down. Tracing our two rays on a parallel to the axis and passes through the image,
—
the "top" of the image must lie the same distance the square of the focal length. You should work
away from the axis as the reflected portion of this out what S and S, were after we moved the light
ray. Hi therefore has the same height as the in 8.75 m. Use the new S and the equation
perpendicular from F to the reflected ray. Now S, = f 2 /S to find S,. Experimentally the illusory
we can get the ratio of H and HQ immediately { bulb moves 17.5 cm and doubles
little in height.
from the shaded similar triangles. Because /and Does your calculation agree?
S„ are the bases and Hi and H the corresponding
Using Sj — ^-
= 1— and
onH 14—1-
Hi = ft
altitudes, we get Jo Jo
quickly predict the positions and sizes of images
"1 = 1. in any parabolic mirror.
H S
One example of the application of S = f2
Si is
In fact, the base of the little triangle is a bit too attractive to resist. Let us ask: at what
shorter than / because of the curvature of the distance from the principal focus must the object
mirror; but, as long as the object isn't too big, be placed so that the image will be at the same
the ray will cut the axis at a small angle ; and the place? That is, when are S and S> equal? Clearly
point where it hits the mirror will be almost the answer is when both S and S; are equal to/;
exactly the distance / away from the principal that is, when object and image are both located at
focus. In this excellent approximation, then, to a distance 2/ from the central point of the mirror
determine the ratio of image size to object size all surface. Furthermore, image and object are the
we need to know is the ratio of focal length to the
distance of the object from the principal focus.
same size, for H, = -^- H gives Hi = H . When
Using the example of Fig. 12-22 with/ = 1.75 m the object is a tiny light source located on the axis
and S = 17.5 m, we get at this point, the mirror must reflect the light right
7 '^<-rT7// /A
or SiS =f 2
.
H,^
—
- *- /V£>
F
small distance 1
The and object from the focus
distances of image
are in inverse proportion. As the object comes
* »,
toward the mirror, the image must move out so • 5 f
course, is just what we found when we moved the 12-25. between image and object
Finding another relation
fight bulb at the beginning of this section. Origi- size. The ray from the top of the object parallel to the axis is
nallyS was 17.5 m and Si = 0.175 m, giving the used to relate the ratio of the sizes to the ratio of focal length
object-
:^L^Y _ image
\*^
1
/
Small section of mirror
reflecting light from
bottom of object to eye
%z^^^^
12—27. The formation of a virtual image in a concave mirror. sections are indicated. Note that they are oriented slightly
The rays entering the eye from a point on the object are reflected differently. These differences in orientation result in a magnified
by a very small section of the mirror, which can be treated virtual image.
approximately as a piece of plane mirror. Two such small
206 REFLECTION AND IMAGES
12-28. Formation of a virtual image in a concave mirror. The a small section of the mirror reflects light from the
object lies between the principal focus F and the mirror. The
object to us. The small effective section of the
principal rays are used to And the expected location of the image.
mirror then acts like a plane mirror and forms a
virtual image. (See Fig. 12-27.)
By studying parabolic mirrors (or their approxi- A two-ray diagram (Fig. 12-28) now makes it
mate spherical equivalents), we can learn a bit easy to see that whenever the object is between
about the circumstances in which mirrors form the focus and the mirror we get a virtual image.
real images and those in which the images are We use the same two rays — the principal rays,
virtual. The clue is provided by our previous they are called —
the one parallel to the axis,
conclusions. From the relation 5 S
z
=f /S we which must reflect through the focus, and the
find that as we bring the object nearer to the focal one coming from the focus to the mirror and
point, the image runs away. When SQ gets very then going out parallel to the axis. As Fig.
small, Si, the image distance, becomes huge and ; 12-28 shows, after reflection these rays appear to
as the object passes through the principal focus, come from an intersection behind the mirror, and
the real image disappears at infinite distance in the image is always magnified compared to the
front of the mirror. object. Ray work out the details just
tracing will
If we continue to move the object closer to the as before; and you want to check experimen-
if
mirror, we are not surprised to find a virtual image tally, a metal soup tureen or even a large spoon will
approaching from far behind the mirror and reach- do almost as well as a shaving mirror. An accu-
ing the surface when the object does. After all, a rate sphere or parabola will help to get accurate
small-enough section of the mirror is hard to tell measurements, but won't change the nature of
from a plane ; and when the object is close, only your observations.
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 207
1. Fig. 12-2 shows how a fuzzy shadow is produced. (b) If the distance from mirror to camera is 2 m,
How could \ ou produce a sharper shadow of the about how far does the reflected pencil move
same obstacle? across the camera lens? What fraction is it of
the circumference of a circle of 2 m radius?
2. We sometimes see total eclipses of the sun by the (c) What effect does the position of the light
moon, and sometimes annular eclipses. In the source have on the amplification?
latter, a ring of light from the sun is seen around
the edge of the moon. * Place a plane mirror (one about 30-40 cm high
la) By drawing a diagram of the earth, moon, is convenient) with its center approximately at
and sun, explain why two different kinds of solar eye level. Hold a meter stick vertically just in
eclipses occur. Do the distances of the moon from front of your face, with the middle of the stick
the earth and of the earth from the sun remain at eye level; stand in front of and facing the
the same? mirror.
(b) The moon about a quarter of a million
is (a) Move toward and away from the mirror.
miles from the earth,and the sun is about 93 mil- Does your motion change the amount of the
lion miles away. If the moon has a diameter of stick that you can see?
two thousand miles, what is the approximate (b) Formulate a general rule connecting the
diameter of the sun? length of the stick that can be seen with the height
of the mirror. By making a ray diagram, show
3. When we drive down a road that runs squarely that this rule holds for all distances from the
into a valley, we
frequently get the impression that mirror.
the other side of the valley is getting farther away, (c)Clothing stores often have mirrors that ex-
instead of closer. 12-29 shows the light
Fig. tend the way to the floor, designed to allow a
all
ravs that reach the eye from the top and bottom customer to see his or her full length. Is it
of one side of the valley when the viewer is near necessary for this purpose for the mirror to be as
the top of the other side. Draw the rays that long as it is?
reach his eyes when he is halfway down; when (d) If the shortest customer has eyes at a height
he nears the bottom. of 5 ft. in., what is the maximum allowable height
(a) What happens to the angle between these of the bottom of the mirror from the floor if the
rays as he gets closer to the bottom of the valley? customer's feet are to be visible?
(b) How does this help to explain the illusion
that the other side of the valley is retreating from * Construct a diagram similar to the one in Fig.
him as he gets closer to it? 12-13 for two mirrors at 90° to each other.
(a) How does the light reach the eye when it is
placed as in Fig. 12-30?
(b) Set up two such mirrors and see if the ex-
perimental observation checks your diagram.
(a) If the mirror twists through an angle of 12-30. For Problem 6. The black dot is the object and the
.06\ through what angle does the reflected pencil eye is looking at one of its images in the two mirrors. Where is
How can you tell if the light goes the way your
diagram indicates? Try first with an object mid-
way between the mirrors, and then with it close
to one of the mirrors.
12. What will happen if, in Fig. 12-23, the real light
bulb placed at the position where the real
is
image was previously formed?
12-33. The periscope of Problem 10.
(a) Can you state a general rule about moving
REFLECTION AND IMAGES 209
an object to the position of its real image? (c) Rays starting from a fixed point on the axis
(bl What happens if an object is placed at the are reflected in such a way that they seem to come
position of its virtual image? from a point on the axis behind the mirror. The
image is therefore virtual.
13. How large an image of the sun will be formed by (d) The image formed is smaller than the object
the Palomar telescope, whose focal length is 18 m? and is not inverted.
The sun's diameter is about 1.4 X 109 m, and it (e) As the object moves in from a great dis-
is 1.5 X 10
u m away.
tance, the image moves toward the mirror.
(f) There is a limit to the distance of the image
Show image of the sun formed
14. that the size of the
by a concave mirror is proportional to the focal
from the mirror —
that is, this distance can never
tion of an object near the image until we could see height of 6 in. and is 9 in. from the pinhole, how
no parallax (no relative motion). far must the pinhole be from a man 5 ft. 6 in.
(a) Can you locate a real image this way? tall if his image is to extend the full height of the
a piece of paper and by parallax. the sun is -fa in. in diameter, what is the diameter
of the sun? The sun is 93 million miles away.
19. The distances of an object and its image in a
concave mirror are often measured from the 22. In Section 12-9 the question is asked: At what
from the principal
center of the mirror, instead of distance from the principal focus must the object
focus. We call these distances D and D, respec- be placed so that the image will be at the same
tively. We have S = D - f and S = D, - f { place? Show that this question has two answers
where /is the focal length. Using these relations, and explain the second answer, which was not
show that from SJS, = f
2
follows —
1
-
1 1 discussed in the chapter.
7
20. Our discussion of curved mirrors has been limited
to the inner, or concave, surface. The outer, or
convex, surfaces of these curves will also produce
images. Such mirrors are called convex mirrors FURTHER READING
and are often used as side mirrors on a car or as Black, N. H., and Little, E. P., An Introductory
ornamental mirrors in a room. Using the laws Course in College Physics. Macmillan, Fourth
of reflection and assuming the surface to be para- Edition, 1956. (Chapter 42.)
bolic, demonstrate the following facts by suitable Edser, Edwin M., Light for Students. St. Martin's
constructions. Press, 1952.
(a) The area reflected to the eye by a convex Minnaert, M., Light and Color in the Open Air.
circular mirror is larger than that reflected by a Dover, 1954.
plane mirror of the same diameter in the same Robertson, J. K., Introduction to Optics, Geometrical
position. and Physical. Van Nostrand, Fourth Edition, 1954.
(b) Light rays parallel to the axis reflect as Thompson, Allyn J., Making Your Own Telescope.
though they were coming from a point behind the Sky Publishing Co., Cambridge, Mass., 1947.
mirror. This is the principal focus of the mirror. Simple instructions for making a 6-inch reflecting
It is called a virtual focus. Why? telescope.
REFRACTION
CHAPTER 13
13-1. Refraction
In order to make an experimental study of re- such observations, they tell us little about what
flection we up apparatus to observe single
set happens to individual pencils of light. We can
pencils and beams of light being reflected from simplify our study by isolating a single refracted
surfaces. By systematic observations we arrived shown in Fig. 13-1. This photo-
pencil of light as
at two simple laws of specular reflection. These graph shows a rather broad pencil of light passing
laws, in turn, make it possible to explain the for- through air, and entering the water in an aquar-
mation of images both plane and curved mir-
in ium. Notice that the direction of the pencil
rors. We thus see that the reduction of a wide changes abruptly at the water surface and some of
range of phenomena to a couple of straightfor- the light is reflected from the surface, back into
ward laws is a great gain in simplicity and gives us the air.
a powerful tool for prediction. It would be diffi- We may incoming pencil of light the
call the
cult to remember the characteristics of all the incident pencil, as we
did in our study of reflection.
images we can produce with different mirrors In Fig. 13-1 the angle between this pencil and the
and a wide variety of positions for the object. If, normal to the surface is the angle of incidence.
however, we know how two laws we
to use these The light pencil after bending at the water surface
can arrive at a detailed description of the image is called the refracted pencil, and the angle that it
210
REFRACTION 211
incidence and the angle of refraction associated find, as shown in the last column of Table 1, that
with it. The reflected ray is also visible in the when we calculate the ratios they vary from about
pictures, and we can use the measured angle of re- 1.5 at small angles /'to more than 1.9 when i = 80°.
flection to check the accuracy of alignment. The ratio is not a constant, but the angles of re-
Pictures were made with this experimental fraction do vary in a regular way with the angles
arrangement with the pencil of light adjusted to of incidence. This regular relation becomes clear
angles of incidence of 0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, when we plot the graph shown in Fig. 13-3. This
60°, 70°, and 80°. Some of the pictures are shown is the graph of the angle r versus angle i. It was
in Fig. 13-2, and all the data appear in Table 1. made by plotting the experimental points, which
Study this series of pictures carefully. Do you are marked, and drawing a smooth curve through
agree that the following conclusions can be the points.
reached? We can use the graph to predict what the angle
(1) The angle of refraction for light passing of refraction would be for any given angle of
from air to glass is always less than the angle of incidence. For example, we can be quite sure
incidence, except when the latter is 0°. what angle of refraction we shall find when the
(2) The behavior of the reflected pencil is de- angle of incidence is 45°. From the graph we get
scribed by the ordinary laws of specular reflec- 27.8°. A measurement taken with the same appa-
tion. ratus with which we got our original data gave the
(3) The light passing through the glass travels value 27.6°, in close agreement with our expecta-
along a radius and therefore hits the curved sur- tion.
face perpendicularly. It is not refracted at this Now a question naturally arises. Is the graph
boundary but goes straight out as it passes again we have drawn correct for all pairs of materials
into the air. that we might use, or is it true only for the passage
Each of these observations will be important to of light from air into glass? To answer this ques-
.
REFRACTION 213
Angle of Incidence
tion we may try a new experiment with a different 13-3. The Index of Refraction: Snell's Law
pair of materials. The dashed line in Fig. 13-3 It is possible to perform a series of similar ex-
shows the graph obtained from a series of measure- periments, using many different materials, and to
ments made with light passing from air into water. plot a whole series of graphs of the type shown in
Notice that for a given angle of incidence the Fig. 13-3. A book full of these graphs could be
angle of refraction is always greater in water than very useful in describing just how light is refracted
it is in glass. Furthermore, when light just passes in any pair of substances that have been studied.
from air into more air of the same density, the But it is less convenient than having a single law.
pencil of light not bent and therefore r = i.
is We have already tried the relation i/r = con-
This gives a straight-line graph at 45° slope in- stant and found that it does not hold for all angles.
stead of a curve that bends over. Evidently But, as Fig. 13-4 shows, for small angles of in-
different pairs of materials lead to different graphs
of r versus i. 13-4. Graph of i/r versus i.
2.0
1.8
1.6
1
_.«- —
^ _>
1.4
——_ l/
A" to water
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100
Angle of Incidence i
214 REFRACTION
We can explain the discovery of Snell and Des- we have indicated by writing
absolutely precise, as
cartes with the aid of Fig. 1 3-5. In the figure a ray only those figures in the second, third, and fourth
of light is indicated coming
from the upper left. in columns which we think are significant. Our last
It enters the glass at the point P where it is re- written figures are indeed subject to slight ques-
fracted. A circle has been drawn in the plane of tion in each case. Nevertheless the values of
the rays with its center at P; and the normal to AC/FD are very nearly the same for all the angles
the surface of the glass is shown. The arcs AB of incidence; and it seems very likely that AC/FD
and ED
on the circumference of the circle are is a constant. The value of this constant for the
proportional to the angles i and r. Therefore particular kind of glass we used is clearly between
1.49 and 1.51, probably very close to 1.50. If we
AB
assume that we really are dealing with a constant
ED'
and in line with our data try the value 1.50, we
This is the ratio plotted in Fig. 13-4, the ratio find that all our measurements are compatible.
found to be nearly constant for small angles but All agree with 1.50 to within experimental accu-
not for large ones. racy. Better experiments with smaller expert-
:
REFRACTION 215
°
sin AA = - •
AC = FD
and sin r
AP PD' stant is 1.33. We might even have expected this
angles has allowed us to carry through our idea Ethyl alcohol 1.36
We have thus found a simple law of refraction The index of glass depends on its composition. Most
ordinary glasses have indices slightly above 1.5.
describing the passage of light from air to glass at
any angle.
The next question is obvious: when the light The law that sin //sin r is constant for all angles
passes from air into some other substance, is the of incidence is Snell's law. It tremendously
ratio sin //sin r also independent of the angle of simplifies our description of refraction. If we
incidence? For many substances the experimental wish to know how light will be bent on entering
answer is "yes." For water, for example, any material from air, we need have available only
sin //sin r is constant, and the value of the con- the index of refraction of the material. A collec-
216 REFRACTION
air. But measurements made with great precision ing to Snell's law by the equation:
actually show a slightly greater index for light
sin
passing from a vacuum into glass than for air to a
= rtgla
sin 6,glass
glass. For a sample of glass with index 1.50000
in air, the index in a vacuum is 1.50044. where « g the index of refraction of light pass-
i a39 is
The index of refraction of any substance in ing from air into glass (very nearly the absolute
vacuum is called its absolute index of refraction. index of glass). When the light approaches the
The value of the index from air to the substance second surface on its way from glass to air, it is
is so close to the value of the absolute index that incident on the surface at the angle flgi^ because
we rarely need to distinguish between them. the two surfaces are parallel. Furthermore we
refraction in going from glass to air, therefore, a block of glass with parallel faces.
REFRACTION 217
found experimentally that the rays entering and law applies equally well to light entering or leaving
leaving the glass are parallel; and since the two a substance. It is therefore convenient to write
normals are parallel, the two angles in air are the law in the general form
equal. Therefore the rays leave the glass at the
sin flair = nm sin fl m
angle fl. lir . We can therefore conclude that in leav-
,
ing the glass the angles of incidence and of refrac- where n m is the index for light going from air into
tion are related as the material m, and fl m is the angle between the
sin
normal to the surface and the rays in that material.
sin /
gia 1
— "gla 'glass-
Suppose one of us under water and the other is
is
sin 0j
_
_ * 12 '
sTnT2
n r sin o x = n 2 sin p 2 ,
we get n x sin 6C = n2 \
n-,
or sin 0, =
«i
greater than n 2 .
the arrangement shown in Fig. 13-11, in which critical angle is reached. In fact there is no
several pencils of light, diverging from one sudden change. As you see in Fig. 13-11, when
another, enter the left side of a glass prism. the angle of incidence increases, more light (a
After refraction at the first surface, they meet the brighter beam) is reflected and less light (a
surface at the top of the prism at different angles. dimmer beam) is refracted; and as the critical
Notice that the pencils in the right-hand part of angle is approached, we arrive at the point where
the beam do not result in any refracted pencils; all the light is reflected and none transmitted.
instead, they are totally reflected back into the Sometimes light is piped around corners by
glass. This phenomenon is known as total means of total internal reflections. The "light
internal reflection. The smallest angle of incidence pipe" consists of a cylindrical rod of transparent
for which total internal reflection occurs is called plastic. Light enters at one end of the rod nearly
13-8. Refraction by Prisms; Dispersion set up at some distance from the prism. It is
When we send light through a slab of glass found that the light falling on the screen is no
having parallel faces, the rays emerging are longer "white." Instead, a brilliant spectrum of
parallel to the incident rays. We can, however, colors — violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and
change the direction of a light beam by using a red — is spread across the screen. The colors are
piece of glass with two non-parallel faces (Fig. like those that we one
see in a rainbow, with red at
13-13). In fact, whenever the two faces are not end and violet at the other. The red deviates least
parallel, the light will emerge in a new direction. from its original direction, and the violet most.
A careful examination shows that the beam or The deviation produced by a prism is deter-
pencil of light that emerges from a prism diverges mined by the angle between the surfaces through
or spreads out more than the beam or pencil that which the light passes, by the direction of inci-
is incident. (Fig. 13-14.) To investigate this dence on the first face, and by the index of refrac-
spreading, which does not seem to be quite tion of the prism. Of these, the only quantity that
consistent with the laws of refraction, we shall can differ for the different colors of light is the
allow the light to travel a considerable distance index of refraction. We are thus forced to
from the prism and then examine it. We shall conclude that we must give up some of the
use a very narrow incident pencil so that the simplicity achieved in our earlier experiments.
spreading will be large compared to the pencil Having decided that we could describe the
width. A simple arrangement for doing this is refractive properties of any substance in terms of
shown in Fig. 13-15 (a). Light from a distant a single number, its refractive index, we now
white source, such as the sun or an incandescent find that the refractive index appears to depend
on the color of the light! Apparently white
light is made up of light of different colors; and
a material such as glass has different refractive
indices for the different colors.
When a beam of white light strikes the prism
as illustrated in Fig. 13-15 (b), the violet light is
Table 4
trura, we can see greater detail. For example, if experiment by breaking up a narrow beam into a
the dispersion is great enough, this yellow image spectrum by a prism, and then placing in the
proves to be made up of two bright lines. (See spectrum a second prism with a greater angle
Fig. 7-11.) But no matter how much we spread between its faces [Fig. 13-16 (c)]. Because of its
the yellow lines we do not change their color or greater angle this prism deviates the different
analyze them into anything except finer detail. colors more than the original prism and the light
The individual colors of the spectrum cannot be converges again. The pencils of light of different
decomposed; they are simple and basic in a way colors then overlap in some region beyond the
that white light is not. Yellow light from a second prism, and in this region the light on a
spectrum will always deviate the same way screen again appears white. This is what Newton
through a prism. It will deviate less than green found, as you can too if you repeat his experiment
and more than red [Fig. 13-16 (b)], no matter how with two glass or plastic prisms.
many prisms we use. A color-blind man can use The similarity of the prism spectrum and the
the deviation to identify the kind of light. rainbow spectrum suggests that the rainbow is
Our conclusions are supported by a further ex- produced by the refraction and the dispersion
periment of Newton's proving that white fight is of fight. Descartes followed up this suggestion
a combination of many colors. He recombined and thus found an explanation of the appearance
the spectrum to make white fight. We can do the of rainbows. This explanation is discussed below.
The Rainbow
We see a rainbow only when facing away reach the drop, they are striking a curved sur-
from the sun when water drops are in the air face and therefore the angles of incidence
somewhere ahead of us. Hence the sunlight spread over a wide range. We might guess
must be reflected from the raindrops. Re- that after reflection and refraction, the emerg-
flection from the outside of the drops will ing rays would spread over a similar range
not do, for the fight is scattered equally in all and no rainbow would be visible. But when
directions. The reflection that gives the rain- we trace a number of rays passing through a
bow takes place inside the drop, as shown in drop, we arrive at a very interesting result:
Fig. 13-17. A ray of light incident on the almost all of the fight that re-emerges after
drop is first refracted at the surface, then re- one reflection comes off at an angle of about
flected inside, and finally refracted again to 42° to the direction of the sun (Fig. 13-18).
give the emergent ray. To find the direction Far more reflected rays should come out at
of this emergent ray we can use geometry and nearly this angle than at any other angle.
Snell's law to calculate the angles. You can show this effect experimentally by
The direction of the emerging rays depends shining an intense parallel beam of fight at
upon the angles of incidence of the sun's rays. a refractive sphere and seeing that the fight
Even though the rays are parallel when they once reflected inside comes out concentrated
along the surface of a backward cone.
A drop can send an appreciable amount of
fight to the eye only when the angle between
the ray from the drop to the eye and the ray
from the sun to the drop is about 42°. There-
fore, only those drops in certain positions in
the air can take part in forming the rainbow.
The possible positions of such drops are indi-
cated in Fig. 13-19. They all lie near the
surface of a cone that has apex at the eye
its
to come from far away. The lines drawn the drop. Because much of the light is re-
from the ends of a diameter of this circle to fracted out of the drop, instead of being re-
the eye should make an angle of 2 X 42° flected several times, these rainbows are weak.
= 84°. This, indeed, is found to be true for
all primary rainbows.
about 1.333 for red light and 1.346 for violet Note: The angles between red and
violet ore exaggerated
light. Consequently, the once-reflected cone
of violet light makes an angle of about 41° 13—20. Formation of colors in the rainbow.
224 REFRACTION
1. Can you give a reason why the incident ray, re- (a) At what angle with the vertical must the
fracted ray,and the normal should all be in the light have been traveling in the water?
same plane? Can you imagine a material in which (b) Make a drawing, like that called for in Prob-
this would not be true? lem 5, showing the path of the ray. Then draw
another light ray from the point on the bottom
2. (a) What are the sines of the following angles:
at which the first ray started, making its path
4°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 73°, 17.8°, 37.3°, 90°?
in the water about 5° closer to the vertical than
(b) What are the angles that have the follow-
was the first ray. Compute and draw in the path
ing sines: 0.1045, 0.0000, 0.3090, 0.8660, 1.000,
of this ray above the water.
0.5000, 0.5225, 0.9636?
(c) At what depth does the bottom appear to be
(c) Plot sin / versus i from 0° to 90°.
when viewed by the person who is looking into
3. A rectangular tank 8 cm deep is filled with water. the aquarium?
A light ray enters the top surface of the water at
a point just touching the side of the tank. After 7. A meter stick is dipping into a tank of water. It
refraction it falls on a point on the bottom of makes an angle of 30 3 with the horizontal surface
the tank 3 cm from the same side of the tank. of the water and its mid-point is just at the sur-
(a) What is the sine of the angle of refraction? face. Suppose that your eye is located directly
What is the angle of refraction? above the submerged end of the stick. To find
(b) What is the sine of the angle of incidence? how the stick will appear to you, make a scale
What is the angle of incidence of the entering ray? drawing showing a side view of the stick and
(c) Suppose that the same tank were filled with the water. Draw two rays upward from the sub-
a liquid other than water and you found that in merged end of the stick, each being 3° from the
order to fall on the same point 3 cm from the side vertical. Compute the direction of the refracted
the angle of incidence of the entering ray had to rays above the water, draw in these rays, and
be 31 degrees. What is the index of refraction continue them backward into the water until they
of the liquid? intersect. The end of the stick will appear to
be at this point. Draw a line connecting the
4. A narrow pencil of top surface of
light enters the
point just determined with the mid-point of the
the water in a rectangular aquarium
at an angle of
stick and compare your drawing with Fig. 11-1.
incidence of 40°. The refracted pencil continues
to the bottom of the tank, striking a horizontally
How do you account for the bent-stick illusion?
placed plane mirror which reflects it back again
8. In the instructions given in Problem 7 it was
to the surface, and it is again refracted as it
assumed that the portion of the stick that was
emerges into the air.
under water would appear to be straight and that
(a) What is the angle between the incident ray
the apparent position of the stick could therefore
entering the water and the refracted ray emerging
be determined by drawing a straight line con-
from it?
necting the apparent position of the end with the
water in the tank is 10 cm deep, what
(b) If the
place at which the stick entered the water. Sup-
is the distance between the points on the water
11. If the relative index for light going from glass into
diamond and the absolute index of glass
is 1.61
is 1.50, what is the absolute index of diamond?
CHAPTER 14
Optical instruments —
cameras, projectors, tele- figure. The light that passes through the plate
scopes,and microscopes —
usually are built with in the center will continue along its original
lenses; that is, with pieces of refractive materials direction, since the angle of incidence is 0°.
to converge or diverge light according to our Light striking the upper prism will be deviated
design. A whole industry is devoted to the design downward by an amount depending on the open-
and production of such instruments or their ing angle of the prism and on its index of refrac-
components. All these instruments are under-
stood and designed in terms of Snell's law. The
whole field of applications rests on the simple sum-
mary of refraction that we reached in the last
chapter, n x sin X
= n 2 sin 2. Most optical tech-
nology stems from this little bit of physics.
In this chapter, we want to learn how the laws
of refraction are related to the construction of
lensesand optical systems. An extensive treat-
ment of the design of optical systems is, however,
beyond the purpose of this chapter.
226
LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 227
converge the light. It is possible to show that The line passing through the center of the lens
these surfaces are approximated very closely by and on which the centers of the two spheres are
circular cylinders. In other words, the lines located is called the axis of the lens. The point
representing the surfaces in Fig. 14-1 (c) are arcs on this axis at which incident parallel rays focus
of circles. The differences between the ideal or converge is the principalfocus, F. The distance
surfaces and those of circular cylinders are very of the principal focus from the center of the lens
slight whenever both the width of the lens and its is known as the focal length, f
maximum thickness are considerably smaller The two surfaces of a lens do not always have
than the distance from the lens to the line at which the same radius. For example, the lens shown in
parallel light is converged. Fig. 14—4 has a spherical surface of much larger
228 LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
where R x
and R 2 are the radii of the opposing
Fig. 14-7 shows a lens, an object H , and its
14-3. Real Images Formed by Lenses H that passes through F2 from the left must travel
parallel to the axis after it has passed through the
We have thus far concentrated our attention
on the focusing of light by a lens when the light
lens. All rays starting from the top of H will
converge very close to the point at which these
comes from a very distant object. In the practical
two bent rays intersect. This point is therefore
use of lenses, we are commonly interested in the
the real image of the top of H .
*We shall not give the proof of this "lens maker's" formula
We could have chosen any other point on the
here. Although no new physics is involved, the proof is a object and located itsimage in the same way.
long-winded application of trigonometry and Snell's law. Had we done so for a number of points, we would
Later, however, we can use the results of further study to
get the formula more easily. It is therefore discussed at
have found that the image, H„ falls along the
the end of Part II (see pages 302-303). fine that is shown in the figure.
LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 229
s>s =p.
The proof of this equation in the case of convex
lensesis the same as for mirrors (Section 12-9).
14-8. A camera. The rays of light that form the image of the
head of the arrow are indicated.
compared with the focal length ; also, the image
becomes bigger than the object. Consequently,
We can then view the image directly and focus to photograph small objects, a lens of short focal
sharply on the particular object we want to length is useful.
photograph (Fig. 14-8). A projector is just a camera worked backwards.
As long as the object is more than twice the You can make one by taking the back off a
focal distance from the lens, so that S is longer camera, mounting the slides or film where the
than/, the image size is smaller than the object, film usually goes, and shining a bright light
as HilH =f/S shows. When a small object is through the film and out through the lens. The
brought closer to the principal focus, the image lens then forms an enlarged image well in front
moves to distances behind the lens that are large of the camera, where you can place a screen.
In cameras, projectors, and other man-made
retina optical instruments, images are always brought
into focus by changing the position of a lens with
respect to the object.The eye, on the other hand,
is unusual: it focuses images on the retina by
distance of most distinct vision. Try bringing we could best look at the object without the aid
a pencil closer and closer to your eye. You will of the lens, the magnification of the image we
see more and more detail until finally, with a great see is Hi/H . That is, maximum magnification is
forming an enlarged virtual image which we can how great a magnification we can get? The focal
place at a comfortable distance from the eye. length, /, of the convex lens is the determining
We notice in Fig. 14-10 that no matter where factor ; the smaller it is, the greater the magnifica-
the object is placed between the lens and F the tion. In order to get a small/ we use glass of high
2,
top of the image always lies on the line F D, and refractive index to produce sharper bending of
X
the light for a given curvature of the lens surfaces.
H i
= ~ Si as usual. Also we need surfaces of small radius (sharp
Consequently, to make the image look as large curvature). But a small radius of curvature means
as possible we should bring our eye right up to a small lens size, since the lens diameter cannot
H- x
= ^S f
= ^(d+f) = H (j.+ l). placed at the distance of closest
is very close to the
distinct vision.
virtual image
eyepiece
image is too dim to see. The compound micro- distance from the eyepiece (slightly nearer the
scope, described in the next section, circumvents eyepiece than its principal focus) that a virtual
this difficulty and gives sharper and brighter image, Ie , is formed at the distance of most
images, but it, too, has its limitations. distinct vision. The eyepiece is thus used as a
In spite of the limits of the simple microscope, simple microscope to examine the enlarged real
it can give magnifications of 100 or so times; and image formed by the objective.
in one of the most exciting discoveries in the You can make a crude compound microscope
history of science, Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist with two cheap, short-focal-length lenses mounted
of the seventeenth century, used such a microscope in a cardboard tube. Of course, to take full
with a lens only a millimeter or two in diameter advantage of the potential of such an instrument,
to look for the first time upon the teeming life of very carefully ground multiple lenses must be used
microscopic organisms invisible to the unaided for both eyepiece and objective.
eye. He made his lens, as you can make yours, Refracting telescopes are much like micro-
by heating a glass rod until soft and then pulling scopes, but to increase the magnification and to
it, like taffy, into a long, threadlike filament. gather more light, they have a large objective lens
He then slowly fed a piece of the filament into of long focal length. (Recall that H H =
a flame until a spherical, molten globule of the and note that 5 is now large.) As in the com-
right size formed on its end. This sphere he then pound microscope, the real image can be ex-
used as his microscope. amined through an eyepiece.
LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 233
14-13. Distortion by a lens. These three photographs were the focal region; in the middle picture, the page is in the focal
made by looking through the same lens. At left, the lens was region; at right, the focal region lies below the page. Note
held so that the page of the telephone book is slightly below the geometrical distortions.
magnified image of the print. Now slowly raise so that we use only a selected portion of the lens.
the glass from the paper and at the same time The colored edges of images usually arise
increase the distance between your eyes and the because of the dispersion of the light that passes
lens. At some positions the image appears through a lens. The focal length of a lens is
distorted. If your eyes are far enough from the slightly longer for red light than it is for blue
glass, you may also detect some rainbow colors light, because the blue light is refracted more
when looking at a corner of the page. In Figure strongly than the red. This undesirable effect is
14-13 we see three pictures. They were made called chromatic aberration. It can be greatly
by looking through the same lens. In the first reduced by using a weakly diverging lens made of
picture the lens was held so that the page of the glass for which the index of refraction changes
telephone book lies entirely (but slightly) below greatly with color, in conjunction with a strongly
converging lens of glass for which the index of optical phenomena, and therefore we shall not
refraction changes less with color (Fig. 14-14). do it here.
This trick makes the focal properties of the whole There is one limiting factor affecting optical
system of lenses nearly the same for all colors. magnifiers which causes a blur in the image and
The problem of designing a system of lenses is of a fundamental nature. This is the inevitable
with the smallest amount of distortions and diffraction which
from the limited
results size
aberrations is a very complicated one. But the of the objective lens through which the light
complications arise only in the detailed applica- must pass. At high magnification it is this
tions of the laws of refraction; they involve no blurring that prevents us from seeing finer and
new principle. Disentangling these complica- finer detail. We shall learn more about diffrac-
tions will not enrich our understanding of basic tion in Chapter 19.
lens? It is called a Fresnel lens after the French Notice that every individual refraction
Hint:
physicist who first devised such a lens. depends on the relative index of refraction.
LENSES AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 235
7. A lens whose focal length is10 cm is used in a 12. Assume your distance of most distinct vision is
slide projector to give a real image on a screen at a 15 cm. What is the maximum magnification that
distance of 6.0 meters. can be obtained with each of the following convex
(a) What will be the magnification? lenses when used as a magnifying glass or simple
(b) How far isthe lens placed from the slide? microscope?
(a) / = 30 cm,
8. Prove that if two identical converging lenses of (b) / = 10 cm,
focal length 10 cm
are placed 40 cm apart, the (c) / = 1 cm,
combination form an upright image of an
will (d) /= 1 mm.
object that is 20 cm away from the first lens and (e) Graph
the maximum magnification as
the magnification will be 1. a function of "/."
9. (a) Prove that the size of the image of the sun 13. Assume your distance of most distinct vision is
produced by a convex lens is proportional to the 25 cm. A compound microscope has an eyepiece
focal length. What is the constant of pro- of 2.0 cm focal length and an objective of 4.0 mm
portionality? focal length. The distance between objective and
(b) How an image of the sun (diameter
large eyepiece is 22.3 cm. What is its magnification to
1.4 x 5
10 m) will be formed by a lens of focal two significant figures?
length 1.0 meter?
(c) What will be the ratio of the size of the 14. Using the microscope of Problem 13, with the
images of the sun formed by a lens of 10 cm focal same adjustment, we see an amoeba. With a
length and a lens of 10 focal length? m ruler, we measure the size of the virtual image by
looking at it with one eye and at the ruler with
10. How large an image will be formed of an artifi- the other. On the ruler the amoeba appears to be
cial sateUite (53 cm in diameter) passing at an about 10 cm long. About how bigis it really?
altitude of 500 miles, if it is photographed with a
camera whose focal length is 10 cm? Would you 15. For the maximum magnification of an eyepiece, we
expect an actual photograph to show a larger or d
smaller image than the size you have calculated?
found - + 1 where d is taken as the distance of
we should write — cm
15
1- 1
,
as the magnification
.„
CHAPTER 15
the grounds that baseballs or other particles do the same way? To answer this question, we merely
not travel in straight lines ; they move in curved need to throw some ball bearings onto various
paths that bring them down We do
to the earth. surfaces. The balls thrown onto a clean, smooth
know, however, that the path of a baseball curves steel plate bounce off regularly at an angle of re-
less and less as its speed is increased. We can flection approximately the same as their angle of
expect that the paths of light particles which travel incidence (Fig. 15-1). The paths of incidence and
at a speed of 3 X 10s m/sec will hardly be curved reflection are in a plane normal to the surface;
by the earth's gravitational pull. With the particle and also the speed after collision with the surface
237
238 THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT
15-2. Refraction
Can our particle model of light account for re-
fraction as well as for reflection? In refraction
15—1. A time exposure of a ball being reflected from a steel
plate. The angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. the light particles are shoved off their path in air
and onto a new path as they enter the refractive
material. Can we design an experiment in which
is about as great as before. If either the balls moving steel balls are shoved so as to change
or the smooth surfaces are less resilient than steel, their path in the same way?
reflection does not take place with equal angles Suppose a ball rolls along a level surface and
of incidence and reflection. Also, in such cases then down a steep slope onto a lower level surface.
the speed of the balls after reflection is less than While the ball rolls on the upper level surface, it
faces. By restricting our model to such elastic shoved in a direction perpendicular to the edge of
particles and using only surfaces which are elastic the slope. The sloping region, therefore, can
for the particles of light, we can explain specular model the surface region of a refractive medium
reflection. such as glass. In this surface region in the glass,
We have now seen that our particle model can the particles of light are supposed to be given a
account quite satisfactorily for the specular reflec- shove perpendicular to the boundary and toward
tion of light. It can also account for the fact that To find out what happens
the inside of the glass.
light is sometimes reflected diffusely. Fig. 15-2 to the particles of light as they pass through this
indicates how. Individual particles bounce off region we need only look at the photograph in
with equal angles of incidence and reflection; Fig. 15-3 which shows what happens to the balls
but if the surface is uneven, the reflected particles as they roll down the slope. There we see that
will be traveling in a variety of directions so that the ball is speeded up in the direction perpendicu-
the surface as a whole scatters the light diffusely. lar to the edge, and the direction of its path is
We how smooth a "smooth" sur-
might ask just changed. If the ball rolling along the upper sur-
face must be to show specular reflection on a large face meets the slope at an angle, it rolls out from
scale. The answer is that the bumps in it must be the slope along the lower surface in a different
very small compared with the size of the particles direction, closer to the normal. In the same way,
that strike it. A surface that appears quite smooth light passing through a surface region in which it
when ball bearings are bounced from it may be is shoved toward the inside of the refractive ma-
THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT 239
smaller than the height needed to model the pas- successfully explained.
sage of light from air into glass. In each case we So far this model is successful. We therefore
find that the rolling-ball model produces Snell's examine it further. By taking stroboscopic pic-
law; and by adjusting the heights, we can match tures we can find the relation between the speeds
any index of refraction. of a ball on the upper and lower levels (Fig. 1 5-4).
In discussing the rolling-ball model we do not Analyzing many paths of many balls hitting the
mean that light is made of rolling balls which fall same
slope at different angles shows that, for the
down The point of this model (which was
hills. vu on the upper plane, the ball always attains a
devised by Sir Isaac Newton to explain the laws definite speed o on the lower plane. The angle of
t
of refraction) is that refraction can be explained incidence on the boundary does not influence v t.
if at the surface of every refractive material light Furthermore, just as in the elastic specular reflec-
panicles are given a shove. This idea is plausible. component of the velocity along
tion of balls, the
Far inside of a piece of glass or other refractive theboundary does not change in the refraction.
material, a light particle is surrounded by the Only the perpendicular component of the velocity
same material on all sides. It is pushed in no is changed; it is increased in going into the lower
direction; but at the surface the situation is level, which is the refractive region in our model.
240 THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT
upper surface
At
v
'/
V! sin di
sin U
= vi/v*.
sin 61
the same, although the angles of incidence are different in the and Snell's law holds in reverse just as it does for
two pictures. light
THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT 241
We now have a particle model of refraction, and after another, the same distance in front of the
— as usually happens when we have a model — it light meter an otherwise dark room with dark
in
suggests manv experiments. For example our walls to eliminate reflections. If we have a
model says that the speed of light in a refractive large-enough set of light bulbs which are made
material is independent of the angle of incidence closely the same, we shall find several for which
and greater than the speed of light in vacuum. the light meter gives the same display. We try
We should make measurements of the speeds of them over several times. The pointer goes to
the
light in refractive materials and in particular find same place each time, no matter in which order we
out if they agree with examine them. These light bulbs are causing the
same number of light particles to fall on the sensi-
—c — nm ,
tive element of the light meter. They are giving
the same illumination when placed at the same
where vm is the speed in the refractive material, c distance r.
the speed of light in vacuum, and n m the index of The particle theory of light now suggests that if
refraction. We shall discuss such measurements we place two of these equal sources at the same
in Section 1 5-6. Also we should check to see that distance r, twice as many particles of light will
the speed of light in vacuum does not depend on illuminate the light meter. Indeed, using any of
the prior history of the light. According to our our standard light bulbs r away from the meter,
model a light particle slows down in going from a we always get the same pointer reading on the
refractive material into vacuum by just as much as meter; this reading indicates greater illumination
it speeds up in going from vacuum into the ma- than we get with only one standard source at the
terial. The constancy of the speed of light in standard position.
vacuum — regardless of where the light comes Let us make our calibration of the scale for the
from — is a check on this particle model of re- meter by marking the position of the pointer
light
fraction. when one standard source is at the standard dis-
tance. We put the number 1 right on the scale
at that point. We put the number 2 on our scale
at the position of the pointer when two standard
15-3. Source Strength and Intensity of sources are at the standard distance. We can do
Illumination the same thing with three standard sources at
In order to find the ratio of the distances to two the standard distance in front of the meter, and so
similar stars in Chapter 4, we used the inverse- on. Our light meter is then calibrated to read
square law relating the intensity of illumination illumination in multiples of the illumination given
to the distance by / = k/r 2 where r is the distance
, by one standard source placed at the distance r
of the source of light and k must have something to in front of the meter. When we
use the meter to
do with the strength of the source. Now, let us measure the illumination of an unknown source,
investigate the intensity of illumination and the our scale tells us how great that illumination is in
strength of sources a bit more closely. terms of the number of our standard sources that
In order to measure the intensity of illumina- would have to be placed the distance r in front
tion, we can make use of a photoelectric cell or of the meter to give the identical effect.
other light meter such as those used by photog- Suppose that we originally chose the distance r
raphers. These light meters come with a display in front of the meter to be very long compared to
in which a pointer moves over a scale. Higher the size of our light bulb and also long compared
scale readings on the meter correspond to greater to the dimensions of the sensitive element of our
illumination as we by eye, and lower
estimate it light meter. We can now take one of our standard
scale readings are obtained in dimmer light. Our sources and move it to distances in front of the
first job is to discover a sensible way to calibrate light meter which are smaller than r. Thus we can
the meter with a scale of our own that we under- find out how the intensity of illumination at the
stand. sensitive element of the light meter changes as we
We by finding a set of equal sources of
start change r. The results of such an experiment are
light which we can identify by placing them, one shown in Table 1.
242 THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT
40
/ D
D -e (perimental points D experimental points
0-1-5r
'5 20 20
d/
* 5*
f
function of the distance of the source is just what .30 17.7 1.6
which are nearly parallel to each other and per- designed to burn just this way, it should then be
THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT 243
just as bright inFrance as it would be in Alaska. light pressure is so small. Experiments verify the
Of course, happened to other standards,
as has prediction of the particle theory that the pressure
the prescription has been replaced by a new one, of light increases with the intensity of illumination.
but the basic ideas are no different. The standard At the surface of the sun, for example, light pres-
candle now is defined in terms of the light that sure is several orders of magnitude larger than the
comes from a hole of 5 square millimeters area pressure of sunlight here, and at the surfaces of
behind which you see the thorium oxide at the some stars the light pressure is enormous.
solidification temperature of platinum. The new
candle is much more accurately reproducible than 15-5. Absorption and Heating
the old one. but there may be some question as to A good reflector of light does not warm up ap-
whether or not it is easier to set up your own preciably when placed in sunlight, whereas a dark,
standard source. absorbing surface can become quite warm when
The standard unit of intensity of illumination is exposed to the sun. Dirt, shoveled up from a
based in turn on the standard candle. It is the sidewalk along with snow after a snowstorm,
intensity given by one candle one foot away. melts its way down through the snow when the
This unit of intensity of illumination is known sun comes out. The black dirt, a good absorber,
as the foot-candle.* gets warm and snow beneath it faster
melts the
than the white reflecting snow melts by itself.
15-4. Light Pressure Can the particle model account for this behav-
Whenever a baseball or a stone hits us we feel a ior? When particles are neither reflected from a
push. The pushes exerted by the tiny molecules of material nor transmitted by it, they must come to
a gas bumping into the walls of a container or rest. When a piece of matter is hit by particles
pounding on our skin give rise to gas pressure. So that neither pass through it nor bounce off it,
we found in Chapter 9. Do the particles of light does the material heat up? We can easily show
bumping into a mirror similarly give rise to light that heating really occurs with particles by sub-
pressure? The particle theory of light suggests stituting a hammer for the particles and using a
that they do. Unfortunately, the particle theory block of lead for the absorbing material. If we
we have developed so far is not specific enough to strike the block a series of rapid blows (like a
tell us how much from a
light pressure to expect series of particles striking the lead), we find that
given stream of light particles.For example, we the hammer does not bounce back (the particles
do not know what intensity is given by a mole of do not reflect) and the lead gets warm. As a check
light particles passing each second through a to see that this heating is not an effect we get
square meter. with every particle bombardment, let us repeat
But even without this detailed knowledge we do the experiment using a heavy steel block. The
know that if light exerts a pressure at all, it must hammer now bounces back with every blow (it
be very small for an ordinary beam of fight. We reflects), and the steel does not warm up. If light
do not knock over a feather by switching on a particles act like particles of ordinary matter,
bright light. Even experiments with delicate we expect them to heat any material in which
apparatus failed to reveal the existence of light they are stopped. The particle model therefore
pressure until the beginning of our own century, agrees with the observed heating of materials
when Peter Lebedev in Russia and Nichols and which absorb light and with the fact that materials
Hull in the United States succeeded in finding and which reflect or transmit all the light do not
measuring this pressure. From their experimental heat up.
results we know that the pressure of bright noon Absorbing materials are not usually black.
sunlight about the same as the pressure of a
is just They reflect some of the light which strikes them,
monolayer of oleic acid lying on a horizontal sur- and they may transmit some of it. In order to
face. This is a very small pressure, but not all make a model of a substance which reflects some
particles specularly while it absorbs other particles
•You must read this unit as a single word; it does not
from the same light beam, we may imagine that
mean feet x candles. For example, at 1 ft, 3 candles
give 3 foot-candles illumination; at 2 ft, they give (3 foot- the material contains small regions that stop light
candles) (1 ft; 2 ft>* = | foot-candles. particles, producing heat, intermingled with regions
244 THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT
that reflect light particles and produce no heat. of light by supposing that the particles of light had
Even the best reflectors, such as mirrors, warm up properties which changed periodically with time.
a little when placed in the sun, and we conclude What happens to the particle then depends upon
that a mirror surface must contain a few scattered the time at which it hits the surface.
absorbing regions. A transparent substance such Another attempt to explain the splitting up of
as a pane of glass must also contain some absorb- lightbeams might be made by imagining that the
ing regions since we observe a slight decrease in surface is divided into little reflecting regions and
the light intensity while the glass is inserted in a little regions that refract. Either of these exten-
light beam. Furthermore, as expected, the glass sions of our model might account for a definite
does become slightly warm. ratio of reflection and refraction. But they are in
trouble because the ratio of refracted to reflected
15-6. Some Difficulties with the Particle fight decreases as the angle of incidence increases.
Theory Perhaps the difficulty can be overcome, but the
We have found that we can make a particle model is getting complicated. When we have to
model which accounts for specular and diffuse re- fix it up too much, we look on it with suspicion.
flection, which gives Snell's law of refraction, and More trouble arises when we try to account for
which leads to the inverse-square law for the diffraction. For example, there seems to be no
diminution of the intensity of illumination with simple particle explanation for the complicated
distance. The model also suggests that light diffraction pattern observed when light passes
should exert a pressure and that heating should through a tiny hole (Fig. 11-10). In addition, as
be associated with light absorption. Both of we shall see in the next section, there is trouble
these effects, which we had not previously dis- with the speed of light.
question bothered Newton, and he attempted to the same time that the light goes to the mirror and
explain the partial reflection and partial refraction back. By measuring the speed of rotation when
THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT 245
Distant mirror
Light source
light can pass both ways, we can time the light as 15—7. Timing a light pulse with a stroboscope. Light from the
source reflects from the glass plate and goes through the hole
it goes the known distance from the stroboscope
in the strobe disc to a distant mirror. The returning pulse passes
to the mirror and back again. Thus we deter-
through the strobe disc and through the glass plate to the eye
mine the speed of light. of an observer.
Of course no ordinary stroboscope will turn fast
enough. But, by designing a special high-speed For this accurate measurement Michelson used
stroboscope with many holes, Fizeau succeeded a long path. But the same method can be used
in measuring the speed of light in air. Other over short paths to find the speed of fight in liquids,
physicists improved Fizeau's method, among such as water, though with lower accuracy. In
them the French physicist Cornu. His strob- 1862, Foucaultmeasured the speed of light in
oscope had 200 openings and could turn at 54,000 water and found it to be close to 2.23 X 10 8
revolutions per minute. As he increased its speed m/sec. This is almost exactly three-fourths of its
from zero to the maximum he measured twenty- speed in air. Some years later, Michelson deter-
eight successive eclipses and brightenings of the mined the speed of light in carbon disulfide, a liquid
light coming back through the disc from a mirror with an index of refraction of 1.64, and found it
23 km away. By using a rotating mirror to replace to be 1.71 X 10 8 m/sec.
the rotating disc of the stroboscope, Foucault When it encounters these results our particle
in France and later Michelson in the U. S. in- theory of light really strikes a snag. In order to
creased the accuracy of this method still further account for Snell's law, we were forced to assume
(Fig. 15-8). Michelson was able to determine the that the speed of light is higher in refractive ma-
speed of light to an accuracy of about 3 km/sec terials than in vacuum. Using Newton's particle
(1 part in 105 ). model, we obtained v WSiter = n v&t „c; consequently
Distant mirror i
Light source
on the model the speed in water should be about particle theory of light failed it must be either
§ of that in air; and in carbon disulfide the speed abandoned or modified.
should be about § of that in air. The observed We are now in a situation in which physicists
values are almost exactly £ and f of the speed in often find themselves. From time to time a theory,
air. Not only have the experiments failed to show which successfully connects a whole group of
the ratios that we expected — they indicate that experimental results and observations, fails to
the ratios are inverted. Our particle model of account for a new observation. Then we must
light appears to fail. modify the theory, or start over again and try to
invent a new one. It is almost always true, how-
15-8. The Status of the Particle Model ever, that the efforts spent on the old model have
In this chapter we tried to develop a model of not been wasted. The theory has served two pur-
light based on the behavior of particles. This at- poses: it has shown that some of the things that
tempt was successful as long as we chose only were observed can be related to each other; and
some of the optical phenomena we know about it has suggested new experiments. The particle
and as long as we did not always demand precise picture of light, which here appears unsatisfac-
and quantitative agreement between the predic- tory, has played a very important part in the history
tions of the theory and results of experiments. of physics, and it still contributes to our under-
When we included all of the phenomena and standing of light. We shall have more to say
asked for quantitative checks, however, the model about it in Part IV. For the moment we learn
failed in several important respects. Since our to try a different model.
1. The index of refraction of carbon disulfide is 4. What assumptions do we make in using the in-
about 1.63. What should the speed of light be in verse-square law to determine star distances?
this liquid, according to the particle model of (See Section 4-3.)
refraction given in Section 1 5-2?
5. * Make a simple photometer for comparing light
2. Occasionally there occurs in the heavens an explo- sources. Place aluminum foil between two identi-
sion of a star, producing what is known as a super cal paraffin blocks and hold the blocks together
nova. The star suddenly becomes many times with tape. When light falls on this photometer
brighter than before. As you know, the stars are from one side the end of the block of paraffin on
so far away that the light from them takes many that side appears bright. When two light beams
years to reach us. An explosion that we observe of equal intensity of illumination fall on the two
must have occurred a long time ago, and the light sides, the ends of the paraffin blocks appear
has been traveling toward us ever since. We see equally bright.
the explosion as a bright white light, not as a To check that the photometer functions
(a)
series of different colors arriving at different properly we turn it over so as to interchange the
times. positions of the two paraffin blocks. Why?
(a) What does this show about the speed of (b)With such a photometer you can find out
light of different colors in vacuum? when two light beams are of equal intensity; but
(b) Try to suggest a particle model for disper- if the intensity of the Light falling on the two sides
sion in prisms consistent with the single speed of differs, we cannot get a quantitative measure of
Light of all colors in vacuum. the relative intensities of illumination. Why?
3. Can you explain the different strengths of light 6. Devise a procedure for checking the inverse-
sources in terms of particles of different size? How square law with the photometer of Problem 5.
about the decrease in intensity caused by inserting
a partially absorbing sheet of matter in a light 7. It is found that a 40-candle source placed 3.0 feet
beam? Can different intensities at varying from a light meter gives the same scale reading
distance from a source be accounted for in this as an unknown source 1.2 feet from the meter.
way? (a) What is the strength of the unknown source?
THE PARTICLE MODEL OF LIGHT 247
(bl What is the light intensity in foot-candles (d) How many plates are needed to absorb 90%
read on the meter? of the light?
(e) Be prepared to discuss the effect of reflection
8. What does the particle theory predict about the on the accuracy of your results.
intensityproduced b\ an extremely weak light
source —
so weak that only a few particles are 14. Using the data given in Section 15-7 about
emitted per second? How might you test this Cornu's application of the Fizeau method,
prediction? compute the shortest distance from the rotating
disc to the mirror that will permit the returning
9. In the use of radar, a beam of radiation is sent out beam to pass through the opening immediately
from a source. Some of this radiation falls on a following the one through which it started.
distant object, such as an airplane, is reflected by
the object, anddetected when it returns to its
is 15. It might be imagined that on each reflection the
starting point. The radiation used behaves like speed of light decreases slightly. Assuming that
light. Assuming that the source of the radiation you can measure the speed of light (see Section
isequivalent to a point source of light and that the 1 5-7) describe an experiment designed to test the
object reflecting the radiationis a diffuse reflector, assertion that reflection does not change the speed.
can vou convince yourself that the intensity of the
returning radiations varies inversely with the 16. Can you modify your proposed experiment
fourth power of the distance from the source to (Problem 15) to test the assertion that the speed
the reflecting object? of light in vacuum is independent of previous
refractions?
10. A light meter calibrated in foot candles and a
mirror are 2.0 feet apart. A very small 25-candle- 17. In the Foucault-Michelson modification of the
power source is placed midway between them. Fizeau method, rotating mirrors are used in
What is the reading of the meter if the mirror is place of the rotating wheel. (Fig. 1 5-8.) Assum-
(a) a plane mirror? ing that mirrors are rotating 500 times per second
(b) a concave mirror with a diameter of 6 inches and that the distance from them to the fixed
and a focal length of one foot? mirror is 10.0 km, show that a mirror face rotates
through an angle of 12° before it reflects the beam
11. A thermometer placed in the different
sensitive a second time and that the angle between this
parts of the spectrum from a prism will show a reflected beam and the original direction of the
rise in temperature. This shows that all colors of light is therefore 24°.
light produce heat when absorbed. But the
thermometer also shows a rise in temperature 18. Suppose that someone were to propose to you
when its bulb is in either of the two dark regions that sound consists of small, rapidly moving
beyond the two ends of the spectrum. How can particles that are emitted by a source and that
the particle theory account for this? affect your ear when they strike it. What evidence
could you use to support or to refute it?
12. A thermometer is placed in the beam of light com-
ing from a lamp. Its reading increases until it 19. We have said that light particles must be very
becomes steady at 26°C. When a piece of or- small. Suggest an experiment to show that they
dinary window glass is placed between the lamp must also have an extremely small mass.
and the thermometer, the reading drops to 23 °C.
20. Is it possible that the slowing down of light as it
(a) What can you conclude about the nature
of the light coming from the lamp? goes from a vacuum into a transparent material
is some kind of friction effect?
(b) If the window glass is replaced by Corex
glass (see Section 11-5), would you expect the
thermometer reading to be above or below 23 °C?
FURTHER READING
Above or below 26°C?
(c) Can you be equally sure of each of your Einstein, A., and Infeld, L., The Evolution of Physics.
answers? Simon &
Schuster, 1938 (pp. 94-110).
Henry, George E., "Radiation Pressure." Scientific
13. A calibrated light meter shows that one glass American, June, 1957 (p. 99).
plate transmits 80% of the light from a fixed Newton, Sir Isaac, Opticks, or a Treatise of the Re-
source. flections, Refractions, Inflections & Colours of Light.
(a) What fraction of the light will be trans- Based on the Fourth Edition of 1730; Dover, 1952.
mitted by two, three, etc. up to ten such plates? Robertson, J. K., Introduction to Optics, Geometrical
(b) Draw a graph of the fraction of light and Physical. Van Nostrand, Fourth Edition, 1954.
transmitted as a function of the number of plates. Wilson, Mitchell, American Science and Invention.
(c) Plot the logarithm of the fraction of light Simon & Schuster, 1954. (Michelson: pp. 309-
transmitted as a function of the number of plates. 319).
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES
CHAPTER 16
into a quiet pond. A circular pattern spreads out push to a curtain hanging over the window. Such
from the point of impact. Such a disturbance is a wave of short duration is called a pulse.
called a wave,and if you watch the water closely Here is another example of a wave pulse. We
enough, as such a wave moves across the surface, place half a dozen pocket-billiard balls (plastic
you will find that although the water may be croquet balls will work, too) in a straight line
churned and jostled locally, it does not move for- so that each ball is touching the next one. We
ward with the wave. This is quite clear if you then roll another ball so that it strikes one end
watch a bit of wood or a small patch of oil that of the row head-on. The ball at the other end
may be floating on the pond. The wood or oil of the row moves away at a speed equal to that of
moves up and down as the wave passes; it does the ball we rolled in. A pulse like that on the
not travel along with the wave. In other words, water surface or on the flag has traveled through
a wave can travel for long distances, but once the the row of balls from one end to the other. Each
disturbance has passed, every drop of water is left ball has been disturbed; this disturbance has
where it used to be. passed along the entire line of balls; but no ball
If we look around us, we can find all sorts of has moved from one end of the line to the other.
248
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES 249
later, the driver of the third car gets his car under
way, and so on down the line away from the traffic
signal. You can see a "pulse" move down the
line of cars. It is interesting that this "starting
pulse" travels in one direction while the cars
travel in the other direction.
Just how fast the starting pulse travels back de-
pends on how fast the various drivers react, and
how their cars respond. If we were able to hand-
to itself. As they cross each other, the two pulses pulses have different shapes. Thus we can see that the one
which was on the left at the beginning is on the right after the
combine to form complicated shapes. But after
crossing, and vice versa.
having crossed, they again assume their original
shapes and travel along the tubing as if nothing right-going pulse continues to move on to the right
had happened, as is indicated by the pictures at with its earlier form. We can perform this ex-
the bottom. The left-going pulse continues to periment over and over with different pulses.
travel to the left with its original shape. The We always get the same general result.
252 INTRODUCTION TO WAVES
directions, and they hit each other, their motion is position, and at that instant the spring is mov-
violently changed. The crossing of waves and the ing. The motion shows up as a blur in the pic-
crossing of streams of balls made of solid matter tures, just as a snapshot of a rapidly moving
are thus two very different processes. airplane appears blurred.
Let us now take a closer look at the two pulses Our second special case is shown in Fig. 16-9.
crossing each other (Fig. 16-5). Often the shape Here we have two similar pulses, one coming from
of the combined pulse does not resemble the shape the right and one from the left. In one the dis-
of either of the original pulses. We can see its placements are upward and in the other they are
relation to them, however, if we visualize each downward. These pulses differ from those of Fig.
of the original pulses at the position it would 16-7 in that neither is symmetrical, although the
occupy if alone; then we add up the displacements two are alike in shape and size.
of the original pulses to get a new pulse. We Because neither of the pulses is symmetrically
find that the total displacement of any point on shaped, they never completely cancel each other.
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES 253
LUJJUkA^JUUUUJUUUUMAAAAA/.VWl'r' ' V?
1 V^
16-8. The superposition of two equal and opposite pulses. (A)
Before complete cancellation. (B) At complete cancellation.
16-9. The superposition of two asymmetrical but similar pulses.
Notice that the point midway between them remains at rest at
all times.
,11"""
..•..•.•.'.-.-.•.•.•.•.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.'-'
. J+JJJJJWIA.W.:::: ..:;....•.:•.::
.WJ-W/JVWVWVWWVfVVnf^
16-4. Reflection and Transmission
When a pulse moving on a spring comes to an
end that is held fixed, it bounces back. This re-
versal of direction is called refection, and the
halfway point in such a way that the highest point tied down, and (b) the original spring just length-
of one pulse and the lowest point of the other just ened by an additional piece of the same material.
cancel each other out. The same argument applies In case (a) the whole pulse is reflected upside
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES 255
had not been there. (See Fig. 12-4.) Similarly, very light thread. The whole pulse returns right side up.
258 INTRODUCTION TO WAVES
we can see this page despite the light crossing in a wave picture is an adequate model for light.
1. Suppose you look out your window and see your c=0
neighbor across the street sitting on his porch. In
how many ways could you do something to attract
his attention, make him move, or otherwise
influence his actions? Which ways involve mass
transmission and which ways wave motion?
at this moment. Do the same thing for several which points are moving and in which direction
other positions of the pulses. do they move?
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES 259
h,
mv ^^M„ left in Fig. 16-6. Draw the shape it will have after
being reflected at a fixed end.
13. * Hold one end of a long rope with the other end
tied to a rigid support. Stand looking along the
rope and generate a waye by moving your hand
through three fast clockwise circles.
^VlV/VVVYVVYYVYYYYYYYYYrnniYrYYTin (a) Describe the wave generated.
(b) Describe the reflected wave.
(c) Describe the motion of a particle of the rope
as the wave passes forward and back.
^pi^^^^HttVvv^
14. * Investigate how a pulse on a rubber tube at-
^tltrrrrr^,
(.UAAAAAAAAAAMAAAAA.VVVVWAWAV.VAtf/''
CHAPTER 17
waves. A
submarine commander does not fear a
stormy sea as the captain of a surface ship might.
He dives his submarine and travels along unaf-
fectedby the powerful waves above.
If we look
at water waves through the side of
an aquarium, we are able to see their shape. We
notice that, while there are some variations, they
are generally similar and look something like the
illustration in Fig. 17-1. The upper portions are
called crests and the lower portions, troughs. The
waves produced by a boat as it moves through the
paper screen
z
17—1. An illustration of water waves. 17-2. The ripple tank.
260
WAVES AND LIGHT 261
^1
bow waves caused by a passing boat, by dipping I
a ruler into the surface of the water of the ripple
\
_J /
\ circular pulse / /
tank. The motion of the pulse is such that its
1
crest always remains parallel to a marking its
line /
/
original position. The distance between parallel
lines ismeasured along a perpendicular, thus the
direction of motion of the pulse (also called the
direction of propagation) is perpendicular to the the same pulse later
/ segment
'
same pulse later t
direction of
17—3.
straight pulse
A straight pulse
arrow indicates the direction.
1
moves at right angles to its crest. The
V_y
17-5.
though
A
it
tiny
were
segment of a
straight
circular pulse.
proportion
of segment
barrier
reflected pulse
The white diagonal line has been drawn in to show the position
reflected pulse
(later)
the coil, and we can see the waves in a rubber In general/ = 1/T.
hose slow down when we fill it with water. In Let us now concentrate on some point in the
this section we shall learn how to make quan- tank. The pulses produced by the generator move
titativemeasurements of the speed of water toward and they pass the point with
this point,
waves in the ripple tank. There are several the same frequency with which they leave the
ways of going about such a measurement. source. If ten are sent out each second, ten will
One way is to generate a straight pulse and pass each second. The frequency of the wave is
measure with a stop watch the time t the pulse therefore also given by/ = 1/T, and Tis the time
takes to travel a specified distance /. The speed between the passage of successive waves. Fur-
is then equal to the distance traveled divided by thermore, as the waves move, the distance be-
the time taken tween any two adjacent pulses is always the same
and is called the wave length X (lambda). The
v = l/t.
wave pattern which we have been describing is
Another way is to generate two pulses, one called a periodic straight wave (Fig. 17-10).
after the other. By the time the second pulse is We can obtain the speed of a periodic wave in a
generated (after a time /) the first pulse has manner similar to that which we used for a pair of
traveled a distance /. From then on both pulses pulses. We know that the pulses are separated by
travel along, while the distance / between them a distance X and that each pulse moves over this
remains the same. We can measure this distance distance in a time T. Hence the speed of prop-
and would have found the relationship v = fX A and 8 of a stroboscope shutter. In the top diagram the fre-
17-5. Refraction
We mentioned earlier that the speed of prop-
agation of waves depends on the properties of
the medium through which they move. In the
case of waves on the surface of water, the speed
depends on the depth of the water. Therefore
17-13. Passage of waves from deep to shallow water. The
water of two different depths can be considered deep water is at the bottom and the shallow water at the top
to be two different media for wave propagation. of the picture. Note that the wave length is shorter in the shallow
the depth, we now make half the tank shallow by hit the boundary, they remain straight but change
placing a thick glass plate on the bottom of the their direction of propagation. The new direc-
back part of the tank, thereby dividing it into two tion is closer to the normal to the boundary than
sections of different depths with the dividing line the original direction of propagation. We re-
parallel to the waves. Let us look at the waves member from our study of optics that this is what
through the stroboscope. By turning it at the happens to light when it passes from one medium
right frequency we can stop the motion of the to another in which its speed is less (Sections 13-2
pattern in both sections of the tank simultaneously. and 15-7). For light this refraction is quantita-
Hence the frequency is the same in both sections; tively described by Snell's law. The following
it is not affected by the change in depth. But
Fig. 17-13 shows that the wave length X 2 in the
shallow part is shorter than X l5 the wave length in
the deep part.* Since the speed of propagation
is the product of the same frequency and the
appropriate wave length, we see that the speed in
the shallow part (where the wave length is smaller)
is less than in the deep part — that is, v2 < vv
optics by n 12 . Thus
sin
- —=
sin r
/
n, 2 and
,
n,a2
X
X,
= r1,
2
Xj
n 12 = = vjf = vA
X2 v2
/f v2
point. We can measure many angles of incidence measure the speeds of propagation in the two
and angles of refraction in the ripple tank, and media and establish that n l2 = vjv 2 Such .
thus find experimentally whether they are related measurements have often been carried out, and
by Snell's law; or we can find out whether Snell's they do agree with our conclusions.
law can be predicted theoretically from the prop- We now recall that the particle model of light as
erties of waves which we already know. We developed by Newton (1669) also explained the
shall take the second course here. existence of a constant index of refraction for a
In Section 17-3, we proved that the angle of given pair of substances but predicted its value to
incidence is equal to the angle between the inci- be n l2 = v 2 /v 1 and 15-7). Our wave
(Sections 15-2
dent wave crest and the barrier. Likewise, the model, advocated by Huygens (1677) predicts
angle of refraction is equal to the angle between n 12 = v x \v 2 just the inverse of Newton's result.
,
17—16. Refraction of low-frequency waves. The black marker 17-17. Refraction of high-frequency waves. The refracted
is placed parallel to the refracted waves. waves are not parallel to the black marker.
17-6. Dispersion at least one of the two media ; otherwise the ratio
In the last section we studied the refraction of could not show such a dependence. A medium
periodic waves as they pass from one medium to in which the speed of waves depends on the
another. We found the index of refraction to be frequency is called a dispersive medium.
equal to the ratio of the speeds of propagation in In the ripple tank we can measure the speed of
the two media: n. :
= : :
:
. We did not state the periodic waves of different frequencies (Section
frequency of the waves because we had previously 17-4), and thus see directly that the speed
learned that the speeds of propagation depend changes with the frequency, provided we make
only on the media in which the waves travel. our measurements accurately enough. The state-
Accordingly we would expect to find the same ment we so often make, that the speed of waves
index of refraction for waves of different frequency depends only on the medium, is therefore an
provided we repeat the experiment with the same idealization. To be sure, this idealization is a
two media, for example, water of the same two good approximation to the true state of affairs
depths. provided we are not concerned with small changes
What we actually shown in Figs.
observe is in the speed (Section 16-5).
F-16 and 17-17. In Fig. 17-16 we see the refrac- We made a similar idealization in our study of
tion of a wave of low frequency (long wave length). the refraction of light in Chapter 13. You will
To indicate the direction of the refracted waves recall that the index of refraction of light at first
we placed a rod on the screen of the ripple tank. appeared to be dependent only on the two media
It is exactly parallel to the refracted wave fronts. through which the light was passing for ex- —
We then increased the frequency (i.e., decreased the ample, air and Then a closer examination
glass.
wave length), leaving the rod untouched. Notice of refraction, using prisms, showed that the index
that in Fig. 17-17 the rod is no longer parallel changes slightly with color; it is a little larger for
to the refracted wave crests. The wave with the violet than for red.
higher frequency is clearly refracted in a direction The index of refraction of waves depends
slightly different from that taken by the low- slightly on the frequency. That of light depends
frequency wave, although the angle of incidence slightly on the color. Is there perhaps a relation
2. A straight pulse approaches a barrier at an angle 7. A point source in the ripple tank produces circu-
of 30°. What is the direction of motion of the lar periodic waves. By using a stroboscope to
pulse after reflection? Indicate it on a diagram. stop the motion, we measure the difference in
radius between the first and sixth circular crests
3. Describe the wave motion that results when you and find it to be 10 cm.
dip your finger into the center of a circular tank (a) What is the wave length?
of water. What would be the motion under ideal (b) Why didn't we calculate the wave length by
conditions? using the radius, say, of the fifth pulse only?
(c) Why do we use this method of measurement
4. Suppose we place a barrier in a ripple tank in the rather than take the difference between neighbor-
shape of an ellipse as in Fig. 17-21. When a ing crests?
circular pulse generated at point A, it reflects
is
8. (a) In a ripple tank when one pulse is sent every 13. The ripple tank is arranged so that the water
^5 sec, we find that X is 3 cm. What is the speed gradually becomes shallow from one side to the
of propagation? other. Because of this, on one side of the tank
(b) In the same medium we send two pulses, the speed of a wave crest is different from that on
the second one i sec after the first. How far the other side. As a result, straight waves become
apart are the/? curved (Fig. 17-23). In the picture the pulses are
moving toward the top of the page.
9. What is the index of refraction in passing from (a) Which is the shallow side?
the deep to the shallow water in Fig. 17-13? (b) Does a similar phenomenon occur with
light? Be prepared to discuss this in class.
10. Measure the index of refraction in Fig. 17-14 by
themethod you used in the previous problem, and
by finding the ratio of the sines of the appro-
priate angles. Compare the results.
17—25. The wave pattern with periodic waves and an arrange- 17-26. The same wave pattern as in Fig. 17-25 but with a
ment as in Fig. 17—24. shorter wave length.
14. Water waves traveling in the deep section of a 17. Suppose the oval region in Fig. 17-24 is deep and
ripple tank at 34 cm/sec meet a shallow part at an the surrounding region is shallow.
angle of 60°. In the shallow part all waves travel (a) What will happen to the straight waves?
at 24 cm/sec. When the frequency is increased (b) Of what optical arrangement is this a
slightly, the waves are found to travel at 32 cm/sec model?
in the deep section.
(a) Compute the angle of refraction for each
18. How do we know that the wave length of light
must be very much less than a centimeter?
case.
Considering the ripple-tank conditions, is
(b) 19. Imagine our eyes were sensitive only to light of
it measure the two speeds and find their
easier to wave length 0.1 mm. How would this affect our
difference directly or to measure it indirectly by ability to see? Could you thread a needle?
the angular difference found in (a)?
(c) How can we detect small differences in the 20. If sound is a wave phenomenon, how would you
speed of light? explain the common experience of hearing sounds
from around corners?
15. We set up the ripple tank as shown in Fig. 17-24
21. Sound waves in air usually travel at about 330
and generate a periodic straight wave. The result- meters per second. Audible sounds have a fre-
ing wave pattern is shown in the photograph in
quency range of about 30 to 15,000 cycles per
Fig. 17-25.
second. What is the range of wave lengths of
(a) Explain what is taking place.
these sound waves?
(b) Of what optical arrangement is this a model?
CHAPTER 18
18-1. Introduction
In Chapter 17 we studied the properties of through each other. The point P halfway between
waves to see if they can account for the common the two pulses remains undisturbed because add-
We had already learned how
properties of light. ing the displacements of the individual pulses at
light is from a mirror, and we found that
reflected this point produces a cancellation at every instant
waves obey the same law of reflection. We had during the crossing. This behavior of two op-
how light is refracted when it passes
also learned posite pulses is somewhat difficult to see because
from one medium to another, and we found that you have to look at the pulses exactly at the mo-
the refraction of waves follows Snell's law just as ment they cross. However, if we use periodic
light does. waves, we can observe the cancellation more
In the last section of the preceding chapter we easily.
recalled that light propagates in straight lines and When a periodic wave travels along a spring
produces sharp shadows. We then experimented which is tied down atone end, every individual
with waves in the ripple tank and found they were pulse is reflected upside down. Now we know
diffracted when they passed through an opening. that a reflected pulse superposes with every on-
We could reduce the amount of diffraction by coming pulse it meets. Thus, suppose we first
decreasing the wave length but could not com- consider only two of the pulses, a and b, a wave
pletely eliminate it. Therefore we changed our length X apart as they travel toward the reflecting
approach we went back to light, and found that
; end (Fig. 18-1). Some time after the first pulse
light is also diffracted when it passes through a
very narrow slit. This was a rather convincing
demonstration of the wave nature of light. In
this chapter we shall follow the latter approach.
That is, we shall continue to study in detail the L
properties of waves and in the next chapter do the
corresponding experiments with light.
273
274 INTERFERENCE
18—2. The spring after one of the pulses has been reflected.
The reflected pulse a is upside down and traveling toward the
incident pulse b. A third pulse c is approaching at a distance X 18-4. The circles represent the crests of waves from two sources
behind b. S and S. a distance d apart. The sources are periodic and are
in phase. The green arrow points out a region we will examine
more closely later (Fig. 18-7).
X <Z
<>
*/,
sources overlap? Let us try to predict the result- 18—5. The pattern we predict by applying the principle of
superposition to the waves from the two point sources shown in
ing wave pattern by using the principle of super-
Fig. 18—4. Darkened areas show where crest meets crest;
position. Where two crests cross each other, a
dotted areas represent undisturbed water, where crest meets
"double crest*' will be formed. Such "double trough; places where troughs meet are left blank. In (b) we
crests" will produce bright regions on the screen have omitted the construction lines used in drawing (a).
18-8. The nodal lines from fwo sources. Between the nodal
lines are moving double crests and moving double troughs.
between the moving wave trains? Here crests lie With different wave length or different separa-
on troughs at all times and the water surface is tion of the sources, the interference pattern
not wavy. To see why, let us examine the line changes in detail; but the general structure of
between two wave trains at any given instant. In such patterns is the same. Another pattern with
Fig. 18-5 (a) pick one of the dotted gray regions. a longer wave length is shown in Fig. 18-9.
Start at the crest of a wave from Sv Because it Again you can see the nodal fines, and the waves
lies on a trough from S 2 there is no net dis-
, moving out between them. The waves are
placement of the water surface. It is practically slightly blurred because the photograph was ex-
undisturbed. Now move out from the
let us posed ^j of a second, and in that time the waves
sources along the gray line. As we do, we descend moved an appreciable fraction of a wave length.
from the crest of the wave from S and we go up x Although we considered water waves in our
from the trough of the wave from S2 As long as . investigation, we really have not used any special
the waves are nearly symmetrical — so that a property of water waves to obtain our result.
trough looks like an inverted crest — the addition We used only the principle of superposition,
of the displacements of the two waves continues which is common to all waves. The results of
to As we look
give zero total displacement. this entire chapter apply equally well to all waves.
we come to a trough from S at the
farther out, x
upward and downward displacements still cancel; 18-3. The Shape of Nodal Lines
and we can see that by continuing out along the If we examine the pictures (Figs. 18-6 and 18-9)
line through the intersections of crests and for a while we notice that, although the nodal
troughs, we shall find practically undisturbed lines are slightly curved near the sources, they soon
water. Looking at Fig. 18-6 (or, even better, at become quite straight. Another striking fact is
the surface of a ripple tank), we can see these that the number of nodal lines decreases as the
lines of undisturbed water extending outward wave length increases.
from the region of the sources and separating In order to facilitate further discussion of these
the moving wave trains of reinforced crests and patterns, let us number the nodal lines so we will
iMiRMRiMi 277
^> -r^^\
i 7-
1 IN
Ml X-
~ J__.
syj -"
I III \ V
J"S; J
18—10. The first nodal line. For any point P on the line the dif-
ference in path length from P to Si and P to S» is half a wave
PS, - PS = 2
(n - £)X.
Consequently,
d(.x L)
or X =
d[x L) 10(0.6)
X = = 2.4 cm.
18-5. Phase
Two generators with the same period are in
phase when they always dip into the water to-
gether, producing crests at the same instant.
However, it is not necessary for two sources with
the same period to be in phase. For example,
one of the sources may always dip into the water
somewhat later than the other, after a time delay t.
not dip together we say that they are out of phase. Sin 6a = Xn/l.
280 INTERFERENCE
y X/
7 \ -»** ^s^
^r^N^
\ 1
( Si
\
•
.
] 4
A,
1
1 U
when there
s
.
18-14. The waves from two point sources out of phase. S? has 18—15. The pattern of nodal lines is a phase delay
a phase delay p with respect to Si. The difference in the radii
p is always between and 1. dip in phase while in Fig. 18-15 there is a phase
Let us now use two point generators of waves delay p = \.
operating so that S2 has a phase delay of p with The photograph in Fig. 18-16 was taken with a
respect to Sv What will the interference pattern phase delay p = \ between the sources. We can
look like? We
can again try to discover this see, for instance, that there is now a nodal line
graphically by drawing two sets of concentric along the center where in Fig. 18-6 (and Fig.
circles representing the wave crests from each 18-9) there are reinforced crests.
source. As in Fig. 18-4, the crests in each set are We have given examples of the interference
always one wave length X apart however, this time ; pattern for two particular choices of the phase,
the sources are not in phase, and the radii r 1 p = and p = \. Actually we could have
and r2 of corresponding crests from the two chosen any phase from to 1, and in each case
sources are not equal (Fig. 18-14). The radii the interference pattern would have been different.
of the delayed crests from S2 are smaller than The series of pictures in Fig. 18-17 shows the in-
those of the corresponding crests from 5 by X
a terference patterns in the ripple tank for different
distance / equal to the fraction p of a wave length phases of S2 Changing the phase causes the
.
of the sources is half a period behind the other. justwhat we see in the photographs. By including
Then the distance / is half a wave length, and the the distance 1 = p\ in our computation of the
phase delay p is £. In Fig. 18-15 we have drawn difference in path lengths from any point on a
the wave crests for such a situation and con- nodal fine to the sources S x and S 2 we can develop ,
INTERFERENCE 281
^^m
a general formula describing the nodal lines with
any phase delay p. It is
PS, - PS = 2 (p + n- £)X,
line of double crests which result when S? has a phase delay. The that the nodal lines are bent away from 5\ and
delayed waves from S; are represented by dashed circles. swing in closer to S,; and the pattern becomes
asymmetrical. Only for p = \ do we again get
duced. In particular, with no phase delay there a symmetrical pattern. Then one nodal line
is a wave train along the center line perpendicular covers the center line and there is an odd num-
to the line through the sources. When S 2
is de- ber of nodal lines.
S2 . All the other wave trains have a similar shift. fixed and we generate waves of one particular
wave length, the interference pattern depends—
18-6._Summary and Conclusion on the phase delay between the sources. Conse-
The interference pattern from two point sources quently, to maintain a fixed interference pattern,
in the ripple tank is characterized by a set of lines the phase delay must also remain constant. For
where the water surface remains undisturbed — two sources which run continuously at the same
the nodal lines. When the sources are in phase frequency, the phase delay will remain constant.
these nodal lines are distributed symmetrically But if each of the two sources is turned on and
about the center line, the perpendicular bisector off in an irregular fashion, the phase delay will
of the line SjS, joining the sources. In the im- vary and with it the interference pattern. This
mediate neighborhood of the sources the nodal shifting of the interference pattern will be of
lines are curved, but not very far away from the great importance in the next chapter, where we
sources they become nearly straight. If the shall discuss the interference of light waves.
straight portions are extended back toward the
sources, they pass through the center point be- FURTHER READING
tween the sources. The number of nodal lines Huygens, Christian, Moments of Discovery. Edited
and the angle between any of these lines and S^ by G. Schwartz and P. Bishop, Basic Books, 1958.
INTERFERENCE 283
15. One red and one blue car are going around a
km in circumference. They
circular race track 5.0
move at constant speed. Each car takes 2.5
minutes for each lap. The blue car always comes
around 0.50 minutes behind the red.
(a) What is the phase delay p of the blue car
with respect to the red car?
(b) What is the speed of each car?
(c) If the track were only 4.0 km long, would
this change the answers to (a) and (b)?
10. Two sources 6.0 cm apart operating in phase pro- 19. A point source of periodic waves is placed a
duce water waves with a wave length of 1.5 cm. distance 3X in front of a reflecting barrier. The
Draw the nodal lines far from the sources. Deter- superposition of the incident and reflected waves
mine the position of each line by means of inter- produces an interference pattern. (Fig. 18-22.)
secting arcs of circles drawn from the two sources. Describe this pattern. Examine such a pattern
Measure the angle between the second nodal line experimentally in a ripple tank. What is the
and the center Une of the pattern. Compare the phase of the image of the source?
sine of this angle with (n — %)\ld.
12. (a) From Figs. 18-6 and 18-9 find the ratio of
\/d by using the equation sin n = (n — %)\ld.
(b) The dimensions of the photographs are one-
fourth the actual size. By measuring d on the
photographs estimate the actual value of X. 18-22. For Problem 19.
,
LIGHT WAVES
CHAPTER 19
285
286 LIGHT WAVES
ference in a ripple tank. But with separate sources of light Si millimeter (Section 17-7). Consequently, [-. for
J
and S2, we cannot find interference. No pattern appears on the
screen. any practical sources will be a very small fraction.
However, we can choose a very large distance L
source emits waves of the two different wave to the screen; therefore, it should be possible to
lengths which give the patterns shown in Figs. see the bright and dark bars.
18-6 and 18-9. The total pattern you would then In reality, we use the arrangement we have
if
observe would be a combination of the patterns just described we never see an interference pat-
shown in the two photographs, and there would tern. No matter how we vary d or L, the screen
be no places which remain undisturbed in the is always uniformly illuminated.
total pattern. Does our failure to observe an interference
In the following discussion assume that we shall pattern prove that the wave model of light is a
the light we observe contains a narrow-enough failure? Not necessarily. On the basis of the
range of wave lengths so that the nodal lines, al- evidence we have discussed so far, the wave model
though they may become somewhat fuzzy, are not may have failed, but another explanation is also
wiped out. possible. As we have just mentioned, the inter-
Imagine that we have two very small light ference pattern produced by two sources depends
sources placed a small distance d apart and that on X, on d, and also on the phase delay p. If the
a screen is placed at a large distance L away from phase delay between the sources changes rapidly,
them, as shown in Fig. 19-1. This arrangement the nodal lines and the dark bars on the screen
seems similar to that of a ripple tank in which must shift position rapidly. Our eyes cannot
there are two neighboring sources of circular follow these rapid shifts ; so the screen will appear
waves. Consequently, from the results of Sec- uniformly bright. In other words, the interference
tions 18-4 and 18-5, we might expect to see a patterns may possibly be produced, but we fail
pattern of bright and dark bars on the screen. to see them because they move too rapidly.
The bright bars should be the regions where light We can show that the rapid shifting of phases
waves from the two sources reinforce, and the is probably the explanation of our inability to ob-
dark bars should occur where the waves cancel. serve interference in the last experiment. To do
Just as in the ripple tank, if the two sources emit this we must modify the experiment so that the
waves in phase there should be a bright region phase delay between the two light sources is
(that is, a large wave) hitting the middle of the forced to remain constant. When the phases of
screen. On each side of this central bright re- two sources are locked together in this way, we
gion, there should be dark bars where the first do observe the expected interference pattern.
nodal lines meet the screen; and as we go away
from the center, bright and dark bars should 19-2. Interference of Light Waves:
alternate. Young's Experiment
In this pattern of alternating bright and dark In 1801 Thomas Young described some of the
bars the nth dark bar on each side should be a dis- first interference experiments with light. He
found a simple way to lock the phase of two light
tance xn = from the center of the
-**(?)
(,
sources together. The trick is to use a single
LIGHT WAVES 287
barrier
barrier
white light
central
maximum
have stopped radiating, so we shift our attention This shifting of phase therefore goes on in each
_Q
to another pair of atoms which happen to be source in about 10 sec and the interference pat-
radiating at that moment. Since we have no way tern moves violently in this length of time. No
of influencing their behavior, these atoms will wonder we cannot see any interference pattern.
also be out of phase, but this time in all proba- When we use Young's method to obtain an in-
bility by a different fraction p 2 They will, there-
.
terference pattern, the light wave emitted by each
fore, produce a different interference pattern. atom in a single source passes through two slits.
Still later we consider a third pair of atoms, and These slits are so far away from the light source
so on. A typical time during which an atom that the waves from any atom in the source travel
emits light has been found to be about 10 -9 sec. the same distance to each slit (Fig. 19-5). As a
If we consider only one atom radiating at any result the lightwaves passing through the slits
moment in each source, we must change atoms and going on beyond them always leave the slits
every 10 -9 sec to have the radiation continue. in phase. The slits, therefore, act as sources of
Then the interference pattern would also change waves, and these sources are locked in phase. On
in an irregular fashion every 10
-9
sec. Since this the screen beyond them we see the interference
is certainly much too fast for our eyes to follow, pattern that we expect.
Notice that the bright bar in the center (called 19—5. Because the source is far from the slits, the paths from any
the central maximum) white, but the edges of atoms in the source to the two slits are almost parallel and the
is
distances almost equal.
the bright bars on the sides are colored.
We know that white light is a mixture of all
know the distances d and L, the separation of the
colors, and the colored edges of the bars suggest
bars in the photograph tells us the wave length of
that different colors are deflected at different
the light. As we saw in Section 19-1, the separa-
angles in the interference pattern. The idea that
tion Ax of neighboring dark bars is given by
different colors interfere at different angles im-
plies that the
with its
wave length of light is associated
We already had some reason to
color.
Ax -*©
suspect an association of color and wave length On re-arranging this equation we get the wave
when we studied dispersion. Now we can settle length as
the question by further interference experiments.
Let us, therefore, look at the interference pattern X = (0A,
of light of one color. In Fig. 19-6 we see the in-
By measuring across a large number of bars we
terference pattern for red light alone. It is a
can get an accurate value of Ax to use in comput-
series of alternating bright and dark bars. The
ing the wave length X. For red light this turns
spacing of the bars in the photograph depends
out to be
on the separation d of the two slits, the distance
X red = 6.5 X 10- 7 m.
L from the slits to the photographic plate, and the
wave length of the light. Consequently, when we We can go through the same procedure with
light of any other color. If, for example, we use
Table 1 . Wave Lengths of Light in Vacuum a blue-violet filter to select the light, we obtain a
wave length
A. The wave lengths in angstrom units of the colors
X b .v = 4.5 X 10- 7 m.
of the spectrum. The visible spectrum ranges
from about 4,000 A in the deep violet to about Other typical wave lengths, similarly measured,
7,500 A in the deep red. (1 A = lO -10 m.) are given in Table 1. Our early conjecture that
Violet < 4,500 A color is associated with wave length is borne out
Blue 4,500-5,000 by experiment.
Green 5,000-5,700 The colors associated with definite wave lengths
Yellow 5,700-5,900
are known as spectral colors. They are the same
Orange 5,900-6,100
ones seen in the rainbow. Not all colors we see
Red > 6,100
are of this kind. For example, purple is not a
B. The wave length of some of the strongest visible
Lithium Sodium
Neon y
6,103.6 5,890
y
6,707.8 §\ 5,896
5,400.6
Mercury 5,832.5 Potassium
4,358.4 5,852.5 4,044 x 19—6. Interference pattern produced with red light. This is
5,460.7 6,402.2 4,047 shown in color in the upper port of Fig. 19—7, opposite page 290.
290 LIGHT WAVES
accurately in terms of wave length. Thus inter- wave length in vacuum. We have measured the
ference patterns extend our knowledge far beyond wave length of light of one color by measuring
what we can learn with our unaided eyes. the spacing of the bars in the interference pattern
The experiments we have been describing are from two slits. We therefore have a primitive
ones that you can do yourself. Indeed, you can spectroscope (see Chapter 7) whose operation
check up on our evaluation of the wave lengths of we understand.
red and blue-violet light just by making some A much more efficient spectroscope that sorts
measurements of Fig. 19-7. This photograph out the colors of light by interference can be made
was taken with a single source of white light and by using many equally spaced slits. With many
two slits. We made the different patterns that slits, we get sharp, well-separated maxima for
you see, one above the other, by placing a red- light of different colors. Such grating spectro-
colored filter above a blue-violet-colored filter scopes are commonly used to analyze light into
in the horizontal path of the light between the its component wave lengths. For some purposes
source and the photographic film. The ratio of these spectroscopes are superior to those that
the spacing of the bars in the two halves of the use a prism to spread the light out into a spectrum.
picture should correspond to the ratio of the
wave lengths of red and of blue-violet light. By 19-5. Diffraction: An Interference Effect in
Use your eye in place of the camera, and make intense regions of light.
19—4. Interference pattern produced by white light passing 19-9. White light passing through a single slit produced
through two narrow slits. this pattern.
19-10. With the same set-up as in Fig. 19-9, red light pro-
duced this pattern. Both patterns are called diffraction
patterns.
light made with exactly the same set-up used to make the
white light interference pattern above.
-
LIGHT WAVES 291
wide.
In Fig. 17-19 we saw how straight waves travel-
ing through a narrow slit in a ripple tank spread
out or The waves on the far side of the
diffract.
19—11. A diffraction pattern of straight waves passing through
barrier arise from the propagation of the parts of a slit and, below, an interference pattern of a line of equally
the crests and troughs that enter the slit. Instead spaced point sources extending across the slit. Near the sources
of producing the crests and troughs in the slit by the effect of source separation leads to some difference in the
letting a straight wave fall on it, it seems possible patterns. Far away the two patterns are the same.
slit are the same as the patterns formed by the at distances great compared to the slit width. We
waves from a large number of point sources evenly start with the total wave produced by the sources
spread through the width of the slit. We shall at a distant point directly in front of the slit. The
now assume this equivalence, and try to explain path lengths from all the sources to that point are
292 LIGHT WAVES
Beyond the node at sin = 2 X/w, as sin 6 We now have a theory which connects the ap-
increases, the intensity rises to a still weaker pearance of the diffraction pattern of a slit with
maximum near f X/w, and falls to zero again at the width of the slit and the wave length of light.
3 X/w. It continues its rise and fall with increas- Does the theory account for actual observations?
ing angle while the maxima get progressively To be sure, we must construct slits of accurately
weaker as shown in Fig. 19-16. known width and measure the distances from the
294 LIGHT WAVES
barrier
point sources
point sources
pinhole
x/L = sin 6 = X/w, diffraction that light from a point source passing
we find values of X for light of various colors. through a small slit or pinhole spreads out to give
These values are the same as those found by an image larger than the size of the hole. We
using two slits or a many-slit spectroscope. Our also learned that small holes spread the fight more
LIGHT WAVES 295
which reflected light is clearly visible. Still lower that produces the bright and dark bars in the re-
down, at greater thickness, a dark bar appears in flected light of a single color and the color effects
the photograph; the reflection is absent. Then when white light is incident.
continuing farther, bright and dark bars succeed To understand the interference patterns in more
one another as the thickness gets greater. detail, let us start with a very thin film like that
That the observation of a bright or a dark bar at the top of the soap film in Fig. 19-20. As we
really depends on the thickness of the film is know from experiments with monolayers (Sec-
borne out by watching the bars while a newly tion 7-12), even if the film in this region is many
formed film is draining. When the top has molecular layers thick, it is still very thin com-
drained to a certain thickness, a bright bar forms pared with the wave length of visible light. For
-7
there. As the draining continues, the bar moves yellow light the wave length is about 6 X 10
down and a dark bar forms in the thin-
the film, meter, while the thickness of a film 100 atoms
ning region above. Bar after bar moves down thick is only 10 -8 meter. Our thin film is illus-
the film, each staying with its appropriate thick- trated in Fig. 19-23. Because its thickness is
ness. Finally a dark region spreads down from much less than the wave length of the light, the
the top when the film is very thin. path difference between the two beams is very
Experiments with wedges —between plate
air small compared to a wave length, and we might
glass, for instance — show the dependence on expect that the two reflected beams add together
thickness even more clearly (Fig. 19-21 opposite so that a reflected crest in one and a reflected c r est
page 291). As the angle of the wedge is reduced, in the other are almost superposed. The reflected
the bars, which in this case are equally spaced, light should then be appreciable. we see
Instead,
move apart so that each bar stays exactly at its that no net reflection occurs. The whole top of
own thickness in the wedge. the soap film is dark. Apparently the waves in
How can we explain these alternating bright the two reflected beams cancel each other instead
and dark bars? They are very similar to the al- of reinforcing.
ternating bars in Young's interference pattern, This cancellation may seem puzzling; but when
and their explanation is almost the same. When we recall the behavior of waves reflected on coil
light passes through a sheet of refractive material, springs, it is less astonishing. When a pulse
some of the light is reflected at the first surface it traveling along a spring from a heavier
is reflected
meets, and some is reflected at the second surface. spring in which the speed of waves is smaller, it
Take a look at Fig. 13-7, or think of your reflec- turns upside down. When a pulse is reflected
tion in a glass window when you sit in a lighted from a lighter spring where the speed is greater,
room on a dark night. If the glass is thick, the it stays right-side up (Section 6—4). Here in the 1
two reflections are sufficiently far apart to be ap- light we have an analogous situation. The light
parent. Of course, a small part of the light that beam reflected from the outside of a soap film is
has been reflected at the bottom of the glass will reflected from a more refractive material in which
LIGHT WAVES 297
19-22. Rays 1 and 2 represent the two most important reflec- 19—23. Although there is negligible path difference between
tions from a thin film. beam No. 1 reflected from the top of a very thin film and beam
No. 2 reflected from the bottom, the two reflected beams cancel.
the wave moves slowly, while the light beam re-
trates back and forth through the soap film, has is A/4 thick. Because of the extra path length A/2 in beam
No. 2, and because the waves in beam No. 1 are turned upside
a longer path than the beam reflected from the top
down on reflection, the two reflected rays reinforce.
surface. In beam No. 2, therefore, the crests fall
farther and farther behind as the thickness is in-
creased. When the thickness becomes one-
quarter of a wave length, the path in the soap
film is a half wave length long: and the crests in
this beam have dropped behind by a half wave
length. (Fig. 19-24.) Instead of coinciding with
troughs in beam No. 1 as they do for a very thin
film, they have now been delayed until they coin-
in Fig. 19-26 add up for two different thicknesses We thus see that when there is no reflected light
of the film, a thickness at which there is no reflec- from the film, the transmitted beam is more in-
tion and a thickness at which there is maximum tense; and when there is a maximum in the re-
reflection. There is no reflection when the film flection from the film, the transmitted light is less
is \X thick. In this case (Fig. 19-27) the twice- intense. If we work through the details quantita-
reflected wave b is delayed by a whole wave length tively, we find that the sum of the intensity trans-
with respect to the unreflected wave a because of mitted and the intensity reflected is, indeed, equal
its extra journey back and forth across the film. to the intensity of the incident light.
LIGHT WAVES 299
film interference patterns, and in fact to any other We can study more about light, and we can
interference pattern. also study more about waves in general. The
relation of wave height to intensity is really a
19-12. Conclusion general question. So are many others. To illus-
In this part of the course, we have examined trate we shall take a last example.
the behavior of light. We started with its sim- You may have noticed that some rooms (usu-
plest properties, propagation through vacuum, ally those with large, unbroken wall areas) have
reflection, and refraction. These we tried to ex- "dead spots" where it is very difficult to hear a
plain with a particle model. We have gone on to note of a certain pitch. Near same note
by, this
the characteristic wave behavior of light, examin- may be clearly audible. You can easily demon-
ing diffraction and interference. With the aid of strate this effect with a high-pitched whistle. It
the ripple tank, we have seen this kind of wave occurs because of interference between direct
behavior directly. waves from the source and waves reflected from
We now see that light behaves like waves. Not the walls. At some frequencies the nodes and
only does it reflect and refract like waves; it also maxima form a fixed pattern in the room, com-
exhibits interference effects. Reflection and re- monly referred to as a standing wave pattern.
fraction may be explained on a simple particle In the ripple tank you have undoubtedly seen
theory, but interference is the identifying charac- waves hitting a reflecting barrier head on and
teristic of waves. Since the demonstration of in- traveling back in the opposite direction. If the
terference in light, the wave nature of light has incident and waves are of about equal
reflected
never been doubted. height, close to the barrier you can see regularly
Although light is an old interest, new aspects spaced regions of no motion alternating with
are still being discovered. Just in our century, zones where the water appears to move up and
we have shown that X rays are light waves, and down. In this region we do not see the traveling
we have measured their wave lengths by observ- waves propagating in either direction. Here
ing interference patterns. But we have also dis- again we have an example of a standing wave in-
covered that light exhibits some particle-like be- terference pattern. Standing wave patterns occur
havior. In certain circumstances we can even for all kinds of waves. We shall return to them
count these particles, as we shall see in Part IV. briefly in Part IV when we study matter waves.
300 LIGHT WAVES
Where now do we stand? We have learned partial answers) are known. In addition to an-
enough about waves to recognize their behavior. swered questions about always a
light, there are
We know why we believe in the wave nature of few unanswered, and there are probably many
light. But there is a great deal about waves and questions about light and waves that we have not
light that we can still study. In this concluding yet learned to ask. Asking the right new questions
section we have mentioned further questions is often the key to new and interesting physics.
about light and waves to which answers (at least Perhaps you will formulate a key question.
1. Why can't we see interference from two independ- 7. Calculate the period of yellow light. About how
ent light sources? many wave lengths are included in a light wave
during emission of a light burst by a single atom?
2. In an interference pattern produced by white light
passing through two narrow slits, the distance 8. What happens to the diffraction of a single slit
between the black bars is 0.32 cm. The distance when vou turn the slit as in Fig. 19-29 instead of
between slits is about .02 cm, and the distance to holding the opening perpendicular to the path
the screen on which the bars are observed is 130 of the light? Why?
cm. Find the average wave length of white light.
9. (a) When yellow light passes through a slit 1 mm
3. A source of red produces interference
light wide, at what angles are the first three nodes in
through two narrow slits spaced a distance d = .01 the diffraction pattern?
cm apart. At what distance from the slits should (b) If the slit is10 times as wide?
we place a screen so that the first few interference (c) If it is jL as wide?
bars are spaced one centimeter apart? What will
be the spacing of the bars if we then use violet 10. When two identical fairly wide slits are used to
light? make an and when they are
interference pattern
separated by a distance comparable to their width,
4. What will happen to the interference pattern in the resulting pattern combines the features of a
Young's experiment if the source is not exactly single slit diffraction pattern and the pattern of
on the center line between the slits? interference between the two slits. A photograph
of such a pattern is shown in Fig. 19-30. Identify
5. When a source of light of wave length X is used in the dark regions arising from the diffraction
a two-slit experiment with narrow slits separated pattern of each slit and the dark bars arising
a distance d, at what angles do you expect to find from interference between the slits.
the maxima in the light intensity in the interference
pattern?
11. When a source of wave length X is used with three 19—31. For Problem 12. Light emerging at different
slits, each separated from its neighbor by the angles from four slits spaced a distance d apart.
distance d, show that you get maximum intensity
at the same angles as for two slits only. (b) How many bright bars are seen per centi-
meter if the incident light is red?
12. (a) For four narrow slits spaced d apart, find out (c) Is the light reflected from the end where the
at which of the angles given by sin = 0, \/4d, plates are in contact a maximum or a minimum?
X 2d, 3X 4J, and X d you expect maxima and at (d) Can you tell experiment which
from this
which of the angles you expect nodes in the reflected waves are turned upside down?
intensity of light in the interference pattern. The
diagrams (Fig. 19-31) and the idea of pairing 18. Lenses are often coated with a thin film to reduce
may help you. the intensity of reflected light.
(b) Which of these angles is a node of the two- (a) If the index of refraction of the coating is
slit pattern? Which a maximum? 1.3, what is the smallest thickness that will give
minimum reflection of yellow light?
13. Microscopes in which the object is illuminated by
(b) Such lenses often show a faint purple color
ultraviolet light can give higher magnifications
by reflected light. Why?
than microscopes that use visible light.
(a) How do you explain this? 19. Two loudspeakers emit a steady pitch
3-inch
(b) How are the images seen if no visible
whose frequency is 1,000 vibrations per second.
light isused?
These sources are in phase and are 2 meters apart.
(c) Since glass is opaque to ultraviolet light
(a) At what angles would you expect to hear no
how can such a microscope be made?
sound? (The speed of sound is about 300 m/sec.)
14. Two images can just be resolved when the central (b) What do you think would happen if you
tried this experiment in a room with hard-surfaced
maximum of one falls on the first node of the
other. walls?
depends upon X w where w is the slit width. 20. Can you suggest reasons why no interference is
(b) About how close together can two line seenwhen light reflects from the two surfaces of a
sources be placed and be resolved if they are
still
windowpane?
viewed through a .01 -cm (about the smallest
slit
When light from a source is focused by a almost all the way. The distance it moves
lens, the various portions of one wave crest is /, +/+ 8 so the time it takes to get to the
must converge at the focal point at the same focal point is
same time will result in cancellation. Suppose the other hand the portion of the wave mov-
that in the set up illustrated in Fig. (a) there is ing through the center of the lens tra\els
h+f+s h + h
{
f-h
On multiplying both sides of this equation
by i'
a and collecting similar terms, we obtain
-.£--)* + «. (i)
To find the relation between the shape of Since/ + 8 is the distance from the edge of
the lensand the focal distance/, we shall con- the lens to the focal point, 5 is the excess of
sider two paths. It is possible to trace the this distance as compared with the focal
motion of the wave crest on all the paths length. The last equation, therefore, relates
through the lens, but two are enough to de- this extra distance to the thickness /x + l2
P + 2/8 + 8
2
.
And on 2
subtracting/ from both sides of the
equation we obtain
5(2/+ 8) = r\
As long as l is small compared to R so
As long as the radius of the lens is small x x
CHAPTER 20
Automobiles move down highways or wind in matter. In Part IV we shall use the same law of
and out of traffic, passenger planes fly high above motion to study electrical forces and to enter the
us; jet planes and artificial satellites streak across submicroscopic world. With law we
this single
the sky; the stars perform their regular pro- shall investigate motion throughout all this range.
gression. What makes each of them go? What Amid the complex motions of complicated
makes anything move? Is there a single cause bodies, flying, tumbling, and vibrating, we shall
common to all motion? Is any cause necessary? find certain aspects of simplicity. With the aid of
So far in our study of physics we have been con- Newton's law we can find in all these various
cerned almost entirely with building up a system- motions some properties which remain unchanged,
atic way of describing and analyzing physical new quantities which are conserved while all else
phenomena. We have measured the sizes of changes. The conservation laws eventually carry
atoms, the distances to stars, and the lengths of us outside the range of mechanical behavior. We
time intervals; we have learned to recognize the can change mechanical energy into electrical
angles in reflection and the patterns of interference energy. But to understand energy we start with
of waves. In the study of motion this systematic Newton's law.
description of observations is called kinematics
(Chapter 5). It is the description of motion with- 20-1. Ideas About Force and Motion
out regard to the causes of the motions. But de- Questions about the causes of motion arose in
scription alone can never enable us to satisfy our the mind of man more than twenty-five centuries
desire to do something new, to control motions, ago, but our present answers were not found until
to go beyond the mere description of what occurs. the time of Galileo (1564-1642) and Newton
In this part of the book we shall take the next (1642-1727).
step: we shall examine the causes of motions or Let us start in terms of our own personal ex-
of changes in motion. This study is called dy- perience. What sort of thing do we associate with
namics. the "cause of motion"? The answer is muscular
Newton's law of motion, on which we now base pulls or pushes (Fig. 20-1). To move a piano
our understanding of dynamics, does go beyond across a room you have to do a lot of pushing.
kinematic description. For example, we make To move a sheet of paper off your desk takes very
use of it when we design rockets and launch man- little push. These pulls or pushes we ca\\ forces.
made satellites. In this part of the book, once we The notion of force as used in physics certainly
have understood Newton's law, we shall apply it started this way. Later, as understanding grew,
to the motions of the moon and planets. Like the idea of forcewas extended to include all causes
Newton, we shall find the connection between the of motion. The pull of a magnet on a nail is a
time it takes a planet to move around the sun and force; it can change the nail's motion in the same
the gravitational attraction between chunks of way that a muscular force can.
307
308 NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION
slope downward
motion downward
speed increases
single model, as simple as we can make it. Like- so different from everyday experience, that con-
wise, we try to explain all motion on one theory stant motion requires no force? He was studying
rather than three. the motions of various objects on an inclined
A modern would hardly explain the
Aristotle plane. He noted that "in the case of planes that
unceasing nature of celestial motion by invoking slope downward there is already present a cause
a distinct kind of matter. We
can send our own of acceleration, while on planes sloping upward
earthly matter into the celestial realm. The world there is retardation." (Fig. 20-3.) From this
of motion on earth and the unceasing motions of experience he reasoned that when the plane slopes
the planets are now united. The artificial satellites neither upward nor downward there should be
offer us an excellent demonstration that we need neither acceleration nor retardation. ". mo- . .
assume no difference between earthly matter and tion along a horizontal plane should be constant."
celestial. Our understanding of the motion of Of course Galileo knew that such horizontal mo-
falling bodies, of heavenly bodies, and of bodies tions were not in fact constant, but he saw that
which we ourselves push and pull along the sur- when there was less friction, bodies moved for a
face of the earth is now described in a single longer time with nearly constant velocity. Be-
fundamental law of motion. The satellites were cause of his arguments he was convinced that
designed, built, and fired according to this law. friction provided the forces which stop bodies in
Their behavior one of many pieces of evidence
is horizontal motion, and in the absence of all forces
that Newton's law of motion encompasses the the bodies would continue to move forever. He
three types of motions described by Aristotle. therefore stated his result for the idealized situa-
tion in which no forces act.
20-2. Motion Without Force In a second series of experiments, Galileo
For two thousand years after the time of Aris- showed that if he placed two of his inclined planes
totle, the apparent difference between celestial facing each other (as in Fig. 20-4, top), an object
motions and motion on earth halted significant starting from rest would roll down one and up
progress in dynamics. Then in the seventeenth the other until it almost reached its original height.
century Galileo took the first big step toward Friction prevented from attaining this height,
it
creating a single explanation of both these types but Galileo saw that this height was the limit to
of motion. He asserted that . . . "any velocity the motion. He reasoned that if the slope of the
once imparted to a body will be rigidly maintained upward plane is decreased, as in the middle of
as long as there areno causes of acceleration or Fig. 20-4, the distance that the object will travel
is approached only
retardation, a condition which to reach its original height will increase. If, as in
on horizontal planes where the force of friction the bottom portion of Fig. 20-4, the slope is finally
has been minimized." This statement embodies reduced to zero, so that the second plane is a
Galileo's law of inertia. Briefly it says: When horizontal surface, the object will never attain its
no force is exerted on a body, it stays at rest or it initial height. It should travel on forever. "From
moves in a straight line with constant speed. this," Galileo again concluded, "it follows that
How did Galileo reach the startling conclusion, motion along a horizontal plane is perpetual."
310 NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION
20-4. Galileo observed that a ball tends to rise to its original the original height can never be reached. Therefore motion
height regardless of the slope of the incline. With zero slope, along a horizontal plane should be perpetual.
Galileo's experiments are not difficult, nor is With modern equipment we can do experiments
there any evidence that he performed them with that almost realize Galileo's idealized experiment
exceptional skill. Some, like the extension of the on motion without force. To get the flash photo-
experiment at the bottom of Fig. 20-4 to the graph of Fig. 20-5 (b), we used a disc sliding across
idealized case of perpetual motion, were not "real" a metal plate on a layer of gas. The gas bearing
experiments. They were experiments in thought almost eliminates friction. In Fig. 20-5 (a), you
alone. But they were based on solid fact. It is can see a disc of the kind we used. The top of the
just this combination of thinking and fact that disc is painted black and white to make it easy to
distinguishes Galileo's work. It was this combina- locate the center. Underneath there is a white
tion which allowed him to pick out the useful layer of Dry Ice. This frozen carbon dioxide
idealization despite the great variety of observed changes slowly into gas; it continuously provides
motions. His principle of inertia was the great the gas bearing on which the disc rides. The
break-through which enabled Newton to build photograph in Fig. 20-5 (b) was taken by flashing
up our present understanding of dynamics. a light every yV sec as a disc coasted over the
Many of the motions Galileo analyzed, and smooth aluminum plate. As you can see, the dis-
those which Newton later studied, were so highly tance traveled between flashes is almost constant.
idealized that they seem to have very little to do The velocity hardly changes at all. From such
with motions of real systems as we observe them. experiments we can calculate that if this disc were
But it was only by careful consideration of these set going at about 10 miles per hour on a long-
idealized situations that Galileo and Newton made enough horizontal plate, it would coast for about
their great contributions to mechanics. In the 2 miles.
same way, we must look hard at very simple and
idealized motions to obtain a real understanding 20-3. Changes in Velocity When a
of the basis of dynamics. Then, and only then, Constant Force Acts
will we be ready to apply dynamics to the ordinary Galileo's law of inertia tells us that an object on
complex world. which no force acts moves with unchanging ve-
NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION 311
20—5 (b). The motion of a disc with a Dry Ice bearing. The disc
moved from left to right while the light was flashed every yg sec.
The scale at the fop is in centimeters. Here is a close approach
to the ideal situation of motion without force. The disc moves
nearly equal distances in equal time intervals.
Table 1
1 5.68 28.4
19.0
2 9.48 47.4
20.1
3 13.5 67.5
19.0
4 17.3 86.5
20.0
5 21.3 106.5
20.0
6 25.3 126.5
20-6 (b). The spring extended. Whenever this spring is We began our measurements with interval 1, since it
stretched the some definite amount, we seem to get the same is doubtful that the light flashed at the instant the disc
force. started moving. All time intervals were + sec. The
average-speed column was therefore made bx dividing
the second column by j sec. The last column shows
the same force. We shall assume that the force how the speed increased in \-sec intervals. It was
exerted by our spring is the same whenever it is
made bv finding the differences in speed during suc-
cessive intervals. For example, the difference between
stretched the same amount [Fig. 20-6 (b)].
the speed 28.4 interval 1 and the speed
cm,' sec in
We now pull our disc in such a way that the
47.4 cm/ sec in interval 2 is 19.0 cm sec. Within the
spring is always stretched the same amount, and
limits of our experimental accuracy, the change in
record the motion of the disc by flash photography. speed Av is constant (*« 20 cm sec) in equal time
The result of such an experiment is shown in Fig. intervals At of 0.20 sec.
20-7. In this experiment the light flashed at inter-
vals of one-fifth of a second. We can see the The particular value 100 cm/sec 2 occurs in this
successive positions of the disc, and we can see experiment because we pulled with a particular
that the extension of the spring remained con- force on a particular object. When we pull with
stant. The disc started from rest and moved in other forces or pull on other objects, we usually
the direction of the force we applied. Clearly, in obtain other values of the proportionality factor.
each time interval the distance traveled by the But all experiments like the one just described
disc increased. Therefore the speed v = Ax/At in- show that under influence of a constant force the
creased. By measuring the successive changes in speed changes in direct proportion to the time the
position,we can establish quantitatively how the force acts.
speed changed. As Table 1 shows, in each f In this example the disc moves in only one direc-
second after the motion started, the speed changed tion without reversing. But if the disc were slowed
by almost exactly 20 cm/sec. Dividing the change down and its direction of motion reversed. :
of 20 cm/sec by the time interval of § sec, we would become negative. Consequently we see
see that the speed changed at the constant rate of that tis the velocity, rather than just its magnitude,
100 cm/sec/ sec. The change of v in any interval the speed.
At of time is
20-4. Dependence of Change of Velocity
Av = lOOAf,
on Magnitude of Force
where the speeds are measured in cm/sec and the What happens when we apply a different con-
time in seconds. stant force to the same body? Let us apply twice
newton's law of motion 313
springs side by side, we triple the rate at which the These are the results of an experiment in which the
velocity changes. From many measurements of applied force was twice that used in the first experi-
this kind we conclude that the change in velocity ment (Table 1). The pictures were taken every -nj
of a body in a given time interval is proportional sec. Note, therefore, that the change in speed occurred
in a time interval half as great as before. The rate of
to the force F that acts on the body.
change of speed is therefore about 200 cm sec/sec.
We have now found two things. The change in
(Intervals 1 and 2 were not used because the over-
velocity Av increases with the length of time in-
made
lapping of the successive exposures the picture
terval At, and it is greater the greater the force.
too hard to measure in this region; interval 3 is still
We can combine this information in one state- somewhat more dubious than the others used.)
ment: Av is proportional to FAt.
which the force acts. Applying equal forces for
20-5. Inertial Mass the same time to a baseball and to an elephant
The change Av produced by a given force Fad- produces less change in the velocity of the
ing for a given time At depends on the object on elephant.
.
Because larger bodies are less easih accelerated one spring. This is half the previous force; and
b\ forces, it is convenient to write the proportion- from what we know already, we expect that the
als between FAt and A; in the form: double disc will gain speed at only half the previous
FAt = mA: rate. Again experiment confirms our expectation.
The proportionality constant m depends on the In other words, when we apply one standard force
object. Its value increases with the size of the to two standard discs, the doubled disc speeds up
body, at least for objects made of one uniform just half as fast as a single disc does.
substance. In all experiments with a double disc the ratio
The constant m is called the inertia! mass of the F a is doubled. But this ratio is defined as the
body. By rearranging the above equation, we de- inertial mass of the body; so we have doubled the
fine m as FAt A: for a given object. This ratio is inertial mass by using two identical discs. These
experimentally constant and it tells how difficult experiments indicate that mass is directly pro-
it is to change the velocity of the body. As you portional to the size of bodies made from the same
already know. A: At is the rate of change of material. Further experiments, using various
velocity, or the acceleration a. in the direction of numbers of pieces of the same substance, all agree
the force. The inertial mass can therefore be with this conclusion.
written m = F a. The greater the force needed There is nothing magic about discs and Dry Ice
to produce a given acceleration, the greater the bearings. We can investigate the dependence of
inertial mass of the object. inertialmass on the number of pieces by joining
Naturally we wish to know whether inertial together numbers of identical well-loaded model
mass, this measure of the difficulty of accelerating railroad cars, with carefully made bearings so
a body, is a new property of a body. Is it unrelated that there is little friction in the wheels. Such ex-
to anything we know already, is it some familiar periments are not quite so close to the ideal of
property in a different guise, or is it some combi- eliminating all forces except those we apply on
nation of familiar properties? To answer these purpose, but the proportionality of the inertial
questions, we investigate the relation of the inertial mass to the number of cars is still clearly evident.
mass to the shape, size, composition in fact to — Our results for identical bodies are not astonish-
any other known property of an object. ing. The real questions about inertial mass arise
Of course, we do not look about at random. As when we consider objects made of different ma-
the example of the elephant and baseball shows, terials. We cannot have a piece of silver identical
our experience already indicates that size is a with a piece of gold. But we can find pieces that
reasonable place to start. But volume alone will have the same inertial mass, pieces for which F/a
not do. A hollow elephant, on a float in the Mardi is the same. Such pieces are certainly not identical
Gras parade, is not so hard to accelerate as a real in size or composition. Inertial mass is, then, not
elephant: so let us start with objects of uniform entirely a matter of size.
composition. Let us try the effect of doubling What happens when we join together a piece of
the size of an object while keeping its composition silver and a piece of gold of the same inertial mass?
uniform. One easy method is to use two identical To find the inertial mass of the new body we pull it
discs. We can decide whether two discs are identi- with various forces F for certain times At. We
cal by subjecting them to the same force for equal find that F/a, the inertial mass of the new body, is
times. If each gains the same speed, they have just twice the inertial mass of each original piece.
identical inertial masses. Thus when we add the pieces together, we also add
Let us pull the two identical discs side by side, their inertial masses. In fact, we can take any
applying the same force to each with identical piece of gold and any piece of silver and measure
springs. The two discs travel along together, each their individual inertial masses, m 1
and m 2 When
.
gaining the same A: as they progress. Next we we join these bodies together we find that the
join the discs rigidly together and pull them with inertialmass, m, of the combination, again
both springs yoked side by side. Again, we would measured as Fa. is now equal to the sum of the
expect them to gain speed in the same way. Ex- two original inertial masses: m = m 1 + m2 .
periments show that this is so. Now let us try The same is true for bodies made of any other
pulling the connected discs with the force of only substances. Inertial masses are additive.
316 newton's law of motion
carbonate (an insoluble white solid) and a solu- mass does not change in chemical reactions.
say that we have equal masses on each side. The The additivity of masses of each kind and the
masses thus measured are called gravitational conservation of each kind of mass in chemical re-
masses because at equilibrium the gravitational actions suggest that the gravitational and inertial
pull of the earth on each mass is the same. Actu- mass may be proportional for any object. This
ally the earth is not important; the property we proportionality can be tested by measuring the
measure is a property of the body alone. The inertial and gravitational masses of many different
balance works just as well at the top of a mountain objects, objects of different compositions. In fact
where the pull of the earth on each object is such experiments have been done many times over.
weaker. It would work as well on the moon To within our best experimental accuracy, the
where the masses we compare would be pulled inertial masses of all objects are proportional to
still more weakly. The only important thing in their gravitational masses.
measuring gravitational mass is that we compare The equivalence of inertial and gravitational
gravitational pulls on the objects when they are in mass —their experimentally revealed proportion-
the same place in relation to the other pieces of ality —
makes it convenient to use the same
matter in the universe. standard of mass for both. The kilogram that —
In terms of the measurements by which we carefully protected cylinder of platinum alloy at
determine them the gravitational mass and the Sevres — is the standard unit of both gravitational
inertial mass have no connection. To measure and inertial mass. To find the inertial mass m of
inertial mass we apply a force to an object and an object in kilograms, we accelerate the object
NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION 317
and accelerate a standard kilogram mass m, with showing explicitly that the force is proportional to
the same force. Then we know that m = F/a the acceleration. form the cause of the
In this
while m, = F a t therefore : motion is on one side of the equation and the
inertial mass of the body and its motion are on the
m
other.
m„ L2
Suppose that we observe the same object in two
Because m =
s 1 kg. the mass m in kg is given by differentexperiments. Perhaps we see that it
the ratio aja. For example, if a certain force ac- speeds up three times as fast in the second experi-
celerates a kilogram mass at £ m/sec- and another ment as in the first. We can then conclude that
object at 2 m sec
:
the mass of the other object is
, the force acting in the second experiment is three
forces influence the resultant motion. But we need equality of the forces exerted by two identical
not measure the inertial mass of every object in springs when they produced equal acceleration
which we are interested in this direct way. Be- on the same object.
cause of the equivalence of inertial and gravita- We now have a dynamical method to determine
tional mass, a measurement of gravitational mass both inertial masses and forces. We start with a
us the inertial mass. We need not normally
tells kilogram mass. We use the force which accel-
worry about the distinction between them, and erates it at the rate of 1 m/sec 2 as our unit of force.
we usually use the word "mass" alone to refer to It is called a newton. To measure another mass
either one. we determine its acceleration when acted on by
our 1 -newton force. By definition its inertial mass
20-7. Newton's Law: Dynamical is F/a; and in this case where the force is 1 newton,
Measurement of Force; Units the mass in kilograms is m = (1 newton)/a, where
The relation FAt = mAv tells us how the change a is expressed in meters/sec 2 . In this way we have
in velocity Av is mass m, to
related to the inertial used one standard mass to give us a standard
the cause of motion F, and to the time At that the force. Then we have used the standard force and
force acts. This relation embodies Newton's law the relation m= Fja to measure the masses of
of motion.* other objects that interest us.
When we know the mass of an object, we can We can also use the same relation to find other
use Newton's law in either of two ways. We can forces. From F = ma we can determine any
predict the change in velocity of the object if we force which acts on one of our known masses by
know the force F and the time At that it acts; or measuring the acceleration it produces. The ac-
we can determine the force by observing the celeration in meters/sec 2 times the mass in kg
change in velocity it imparts to the object. When gives the force in newtons.
accelerate it: a — Fjm. We need not con- are acting on a Dry Ice disc. The net force is zero, and the
sider what velocity the body now has, nor what observed acceleration is zero.
lated the needed extension for ultra-high speeds. newtons pulls to the right on a Dry Ice disc, the
This modification does not overthrow Newton's disc accelerates to the right in just the way it
law: it includes and extends it. does when a single force of 2 newtons acts on it.
The net force of 2 newtons is the sum of the
20-9. How Forces Add; the Net Force individual forces taken as indicated in Fig. 20-12.
So far we have studied the motion of an object Furthermore, when any number of individual
acted on by a single force. What happens when forces act on an object, we find that Newton's
two or more forces on the same object?
act law of motion holds and the observed accelera-
Recall, for example, the Dry Ice puck pulled by tion arises from the net force.
two identical springs yoked one next to the other. Two forces need not pull in the same or in
As we learned, with this arrangement the force on opposite directions: they may be pulling at an
the puck is twice that of the single spring; and the ansle to each other. What is then the direction
nfwton's law of motion 319
F,
* _»
F.
-> »
F
the line dotted in the figure. Apparently we have the angle between the directions of the two forces. We conclude
that the net force acted along this line.
applied a net force along the dotted line. It is
the opposite direction to prevent it from blowing friction that led the Greeks to conclude that
away. Even if the air is still, when we move the force was needed to maintain a constant motion.
balloon through it, the air gives rise to a force The force needed is equal and opposite to the
opposing the motion. When the balloon is in forces of friction and air resistance. The net
motion its acceleration is not given by the force force is zero.
we apply. It is given by the net force. If the The idea of force as a cause of motion is valu-
net force is zero the acceleration is zero and the able because it enables us to predict what motion
balloon moves at constant speed. will occur in a given situation. The same forces
Wecan measure the force exerted by a steady occur over and over again whenever the same
wind going past the balloon by measuring the situation arises. Some forces are independent
extension of a spring in a string holding the of motion ; for example, the force of gravitational
balloon still. This force increases with the speed attraction, the weight of a body. As we shall
of the wind. As we all know, when the wind see in the next chapter, this force is the same,
blows faster, it blows harder. When we then whether the body moves or stands still. If we
pull the balloon through still air, we must sub- know our geographical position, we know what
tract this force from the force we exert to get the gravitational force to expect, and we can make
net force that is responsible for the acceleration. predictions about the motions of a falling object.
Frictional forces become evident when we try Other forces depend on the relative motion of
to move an object along a surface. Unlike the one body with respect to another. One of the
retarding force which arises when we pull a bal- essential jobs we face is to learn about the forces
loon through the air, frictional forces are often in nature. Then we can use the observed forces
nearly independent of the speed of the object. to make predictions about motion and to design
It was undoubtedly the common occurrence of mechanical apparatus.
A ball is released from rest on the left-hand in- 2. Why is it dangerous to step from a moving vehicle
cline of Fig. 20-4 at a height of 10 cm above the onto the ground? In what direction would you
lowest point. tend to fall?
(a) If there is no friction, how high vertically
will it rise on the right-hand incline? 3. Why is it particularly dangerous to drive on an
(b) If the right-hand incline rises 1 cm for every icy highway?
10 cm of horizontal distance, how far will the
ball travel horizontally on it? 4. A certain force exerted for 1 .2 sec raises the speed
(c) If the incline rises only \ cm for every 10 of an object from 1.8 m/sec to 4.2 m/sec. Later,
cm of horizontal distance, how far will the ball go? this same force is applied for 2.0 sec. How much
NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION 321
12 3 10
II I I
©'©©
For Problem 15. The interval between flashes is A second; the scale is in cm.
does the speed change in the 2-sec period? (In tical in shape and size, are acted upon by equal
both cases, the force is applied in the direction of forces which cause them to slide across a friction-
motion.) less horizontal surface. The acceleration of the
second block isfound to be 4.18 times that of the
5. A body is pulled across a smooth horizontal sur- first. What is the ratio of the mass of the second
face by a spring that is kept stretched by a con- block to that of the first?
stant amount. It is found that the body is (b) The first block is known to be made of lead.
accelerated at 15 cm/sec 2 . What will be the ac- Using the densities given in Table 2, Section 7-4,
celeration of the body if it is pulled by two springs, decide of what material the second block might
each just like the first spring, side by side and be made.
stretched by the same amount? [See Fig. 20-8(a).]
10. Why is the flask in Fig. 20-10 closed? Be pre-
6. An object sliding on a low-friction bearing is pared to explain in class.
pulled with a constant force. In a time interval
of 0.3 sec the speed changes from 0.2 m/sec to 11. A body with a mass of 0.5 kg is accelerated at 4
0.4 m/sec. In a second trial, the object is pulled m/sec 2 . How large a force is acting?
with another force. In the same length of time
the speednow changes from 0.5 m/sec to 0.8 m/sec. 12. A force of 3 newtons is applied to a mass of 0.6
(a) What is the ratio of the second force to the kg. How fast does it accelerate?
first?
(b) If the body is pulled with the second force 13. A force of 5 newtons gives a mass m x
an accelera-
for 0.9 sec, what change in speed results? tion of 8 m/sec and a mass m an 2
,
2
acceleration
(Note that the forces are in the direction of mo- of 24 m/sec 2 What acceleration would
. it give
tion.) the two when they are fastened together?
7. In Section 20-4 we discussed a way in which a 14. You have two objects, A and B, which balance
stretched spring could be calibrated so that it each other when placed on opposite sides of an
exerts twice as much force as a standard spring equal-arm balance. When you place both these
stretched a given amount. Be ready to discuss objects on one side, they balance a third object C
in class how you would determine when a stretched on the other side. Object A accelerates at 3.8
spring exerts one-half as much force as the m/sec 2 when you apply a certain force. Suppose
standard. you now apply this same force to C. What is its
acceleration?
8. Suppose you accelerate an object with a steady
force and find that the change in speed during a 15. In Fig. 20-16 measure Ax, the distance traveled
time interval At of 1 sec amounts to 2.4 m/sec. in each interval, for intervals 5 through 10.
You now repeat the measurement using the same (a) What is the speed Ax/ At in each interval?
force with a second object. It gains 3.3 m/sec in (b) What are the changes in speed Av in each
0.5 sec. interval?
(a) Which body has the greater inertial mass? (c) What is the acceleration Av/At in each
(b) What is the ratio of the inertial mass of interval?
the second object to that of the first? (d) Has a constant force been acting?
(e) Assuming the disc has a mass of 2 kg, what
9. (a) Two blocks, made of different metals, iden- is the average applied force?
322 NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION
16. A force of 3.0 newtons is exerted on an object and (c) How far does the block travel in 2.0 sec?
it speeds up at 1.5 m/sec 2 . end of 3.0 sec, the block splits in
(d) If at the
Assuming that this is the only force on the
(a) two equal pieces —
one piece still being pulled by
object, what is the mass? the force of 6.0 newtons, and the other free —
(b) How would you make an independent how far apart will the two pieces be 2.0 sec after
measurement of the mass? the break occurs?
(c) Suppose this measurement indicates that
the mass determined by the first method is 23. A block of mass 8.0 kg, starting from rest, is
greater. What might you suspect? pulled along a horizontal table top by a constant
force of 2.0 newtons. It is found that this body
17. Two bodies, one of mass 8.0 kg and the other of moves a distance of 3.0 m in 6.0 sec.
mass 2.0 kg, stand at rest on a smooth table top (a) What is the acceleration of the body?
side by side. The 8-kg mass is accelerated from (b) What is the ratio of the applied force to the
rest by a force of .70 newton and the 2-kg mass mass?
is accelerated from rest in the same direction by a (c) Since your answer to part (b) is not equal to
force of .4 newtons. Both bodies start accelerat-
1
that of part (a), (at least, it shouldn't be), what
ing at the same instant of time. conclusions can you draw about this motion?
(a) How long does it take before the separation Give numerical results, if possible.
of the bodies is 5.0 m?
(b) What is the velocity of each at this instant
of time?
24. A 6.0 kg object is acted upon by two forces of 3.0
newtons each.
(a) If these forces act at an angle of 90° with
18. A block of mass 3.0 kg is moving along a smooth
each other, what is the magnitude and the direc-
horizontal surface with a speed v at an instant of
tion of the acceleration?
time / = 0. A force of 18 newtons is applied to
(b) What is the acceleration if the forces act in
this body opposite to the direction of motion.
its
same direction? In opposite directions?
the
This force reduces v to one-half its value while
the body moves 9.0 m.
(a) How long does it take for this to occur? 25. A 3.0-newton force and a 4.0-newton force act on
(b) What is » ?
a 9.0-kg mass. The two forces act at an angle of
60° with each other.
(a) If the object starts from rest, how fast will
19. If the distance covered by a moving object varies
it be moving after 3.0 sec?
directly as the time, what conclusions could you
(b) In what direction will it be moving?
draw about the motion and the forces?
20. You observe an object covering distance in direct 26. Two men wish to pull down a tree by means of a
proportion to t 3 where t is the time elapsed. rope fastened near the top. If they use one rope,
,
(c) It" the mass were 5.0 gm, how would this FURTHER READING
affect the maximum
vcloatv?
Cohen, I. B., "Isaac Newton." Scientific American,
(J) What do you think would be the effect on
December, 1955. A brief account of his life.
the maximum velocity if you inflated the balloon
Cohen, I. B., The Birth of a New Physics. Double-
to a larger volume?
day, 1960: A Science Study Series paperback.
Galileo, Moments of Discovery- Edited by G.
29. Aristotle taught that a constant was re-
force
Schwartz and P. Bishop, Basic Books, 1958 (p. 332).
quired to produce a constant velocity and from
Galileo's own description of the laws of accelera-
this he concluded that, in the absence of force,
tion of falling bodies.
bodies would come to rest. and Theo-
Holton, Gerald, Introduction to Concepts
^a") Name several situations where a constant
ries in Addison-Wesley, 1952.
Physical Science.
force seems to produce a constant velocity.
Chapter 4 gives a summary of Newton's law and
(b) How do vou explain each of the situations
Galileo's principle of inertia.
in (a) in the light of Newton's law of motion?
Knedler, W., Jr., Masterworks of Science. Double-
J.
CHAPTER 21
In this chapter we shall start our study of the pole to equator. The weight of the 2-kg mass is
forces occurring in nature. We shall determine always exactly twice that of a 1-kg mass at the
them from the motions of the bodies on which same place. Therefore, the gravitational force F
they act, or,when possible, by balancing the acting on an object of gravitational mass /7;
g
can
unknown forces against known forces that we can be written
apply. Here on the surface of the earth the force —
of gravity which pulls objects toward the center
F= ™&
of the earth is familiar to us all. We shall first where g is the proportionality factor between the
study this gravitational attraction. gravitational force and the gravitational mass.
The mass is independent of position on the earth's
21-1. Weight and the Gravitational Field
of the Earth
We have already learned in Chapter 7 that
objects on the surface of the earth are pulled
toward its center. Different objects are pulled
down by gravitational forces of different magni-
tude. The magnitude of this force on an object
is called the weight of the object. It may be
..."•
"
'
•- ". 1 •r-t
measured by hanging the object on a spring §& ;••'- . .
.• :-v|
calibrated in newtons.
•
The
:
'-'iL • • * ^«
324
»
surface — if two masses balance (on an equal-arm force and inversely proportional to the inertial
balance) at one place on the earth, they balance mass m, that is,
;
nii m\
to place near the surface of the earth, and it is
the same for all masses at any one place. Now for objects which are relatively dense, air
The factor if is the gravitational force per unit resistance is very small at low speeds and can be
mass. It is a vector with the dimensions of neglected compared to the weight. In such
newtons per kilogram. We
can measure and circumstances, the gravitational attraction alone
tabulate it for a large number of locations on the is important, and we expect the acceleration of
surface of the earth. Such a collection of physical the object to be
quantities depending on position is called a field;
and in particular the gravitational force per unit a = — - g.
Table 2
The analysis of the motion shown 21-2. The calculated values of the ac-
in Fig.
celeration are constant within the limits of accuracy of our measurements. Even
though an accurate ruler was brought right up to the picture of the ball, the last
significant figure in the A* column is quite uncertain; just a reasonable estimate
30
21-3. A velocity-fime
graph of a freely falling
gt
10
12
t
Time (seconds)
We have limited our attention to compact,
dense objects carefully selected to minimize the
21—2. A flash photograph frictional resistance of the air. But if you drop a
of a falling billiard ball. ping-pong ball it falls only a short distance before
The distance scale is in the force of air resistance balances the force of
centimeters, and the time
gravity, and the ball moves at constant speed. In
interval between successive
general, air resistance becomes greater with higher
positions of the ball is 30
second. This motion is
speed. Therefore, if an object falls far enough,
analyzed in Table 2. it will gain so much speed that the air resistance
MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE 327
becomes equal to the weight. Then the body and move down through the distance
continues to fall with constant speed. This final
constant speed is called the terminal velocity of
d = \g?
the falling body. (Problem: What happens if given by the area under the curve of speed versus
you throw a light bulb down faster than its time (Fig. 21-3). By using the flash photo of
terminal velocity?) Fig. 21-2 again, you can show that the distance
We can check that these deviations from free fall d moved from rest increases as \gt 2 .
t
gravitational force F produces the same vertical
acceleration no matter whether there is horizontal
D motion or not. Although this observation is not
0.5
enough to prove that F = ma*, it provides sup-
porting evidence for the idea that Newton's law in
this simple form holds regardless of the direction
-0.5 0.5 1.0
of motion. After discussing the path of a pro-
l
vector. This suggested that Newton's law of projected. (Fig. 21-5.) When the ball is pro-
motion is a vector law. In addition, when the jected with horizontal velocity v , we know that it
force Facts in the direction of motion, the acceler- continues to move along
x direction at thisthe
ation a is related to the force by F = ma. In the velocity. After a time t, the x coordinate of the
last chapter, however, we did not investigate any position of the ball is therefore x = v t. We also
motion in which the net force F acted at an angle know that the vertical motion is the same as free
to the velocity ~v. We might, therefore, ask the fall. The y coordinate at the same time / is
questions: Is Newton's law of motion valid when therefore y = —\gt 2 (The minus sign just
.
Fand I^are in different directions? Is the acceler- tells us that the ball goes down rather than up).
ation still in the direction of the force? Is the These equations contain all the information about
magnitude of a the same for the same size force? bodies projected horizontally with an initial
MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE 329
velocity equal to : . The common value of the initial horizontal velocity ^ . As we see, when the
time t in the equations relates them to the motion horizontal velocity is large, the parabola is rather
of one single body rather than to the motion of flat. The projectile moves a long way sidewise
two different bodies. before falling any great distance. On the other
The path which the body follows is a curve, and hand, small values of v give sharply curved
we can express this curve by an equation relating parabolas. The projectile moves a shorter
the vertical position y to the horizontal position x distance horizontally in the time it takes to fall
its vertex at the place where the object is moving On working through the details the result is
horizontally.
21-6. Several possible paths for a body projected horizontally.
In Fig. 21-6 we have plotted several possible Note that the shape of the parabola depends on the magnitude
paths which correspond to different values of the of the horizontal velocity v .
v = 1 m sec v = 2 m sec
330 MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
In Part I we dealt only with the description of the speed of the body stays constant while the
motion (kinematics) whereas here we considered direction of motion changes. Now if we keep the
the force which caused the motion (dynamics). magnitude of the force constant, the direction of
The gravitational force nig and Newton's law the path will change the same amount in every
in vector form allow us to predict as well as equal time interval, and the path must be a circle.
describe what happens. In our study of the Each time the body moves at constant speed
dynamics of other motions we shall lean heavily around the circle, the velocity vector rotates
on kinematic descriptions given in Part I. If you uniformly through 360 degrees.
review Sections 6-5 to 6-7 at this time, the next Thus we have reached the important conclusion
sections of this chapter should be easier to under- that a deflecting force of constant size perpendic-
stand. ular to the motion makes a body move in a circle
with constant speed. The force and the accelera-
21-5. Deflecting Forces and Circular Motion tion of the body are directed toward the center of
A projectile moves on a curved path because the the circle, and the velocity vector is tangent to the
force that pushes it has a component perpen- circle at every point. The position vector drawn
dicular to the direction of motion. The compo- from the center of the circle is of constant length
nent of force along the path changes the speed, and equal to the radius of the circle. (Fig. 21-8.)
but it does not change the direction. On the other We shall now obtain two useful mathematical
hand, a force perpendicular to the motion shoves formulas for the acceleration in this circular
the projectile sidewise so that the path curves. motion. Since the motion occurs with constant
It leads to a perpendicular acceleration which speed v, and the body goes around the circum-
changes the direction without changing the ference 2tR of the circle in the time T
magnitude of the velocity vector as shown in
2tR
Fig. 21-7.
While the projectile moving on its parabolic
is
path, the force of gravity acting on it has compo- T is called the period of the motion. In the same
nents both along the path and perpendicular to it. time T the direction of motion has also turned
The direction of the velocity changes because the completely around and now points the way it did
perpendicular component of force produces a originally. The direction of motion rotates
perpendicular acceleration, and the magnitude around steadily, always staying perpendicular to
of the velocity changes because the component of the radius, but the speed does not change.
the force along the path produces an acceleration Consequently the velocity vector just turns
along the path. steadily, with the same period T. (See Fig. 21-8.)
MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE 331
9*
4t 2 R
* = -w
These expressions will be valuable in studying
motion, the planetary system, and atomic
satellite
physics.
The acceleration vector is perpendicular to the
velocity vector; and the velocity vector is perpen-
dicular to the position vector R. The two right
angles add up to 180°. Therefore, the direction of
the acceleration vector is opposite to that of R.
(See Fig. 21-8.) Using this information about
the direction of a and the last formula for its
magnitude, we can write the vector relation
4t 2 R
tion as in (c), but with their tails on the body. The acceleration
m4ir 2 R
F = ma — — vector always points from the body toward the center of the
T2 circle in which it moves.
332 MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
_ m4T R = 2
(1.03kg)47r 2 (.33m)
= ,.
F= _,
T 2 jf-.
(3.4 sec)
\i2 1.2 newtons.
.
= a
a i /R, and since the centripetal force is the 2irR
gravitational attraction of the earth, the magni-
2ttR = vT or T=
tude of this acceleration must be equal to g, the
gravitational field. Hence the speed of the We can estimate the period of the satellite by
satellite is given by
substituting R = 6.8 X 10 6 m and the value
v = 7.6 X 10 3 m/sec that we have just computed.
v2 The result is
-= g or v
2
= gR,
_ 6.8 X 10 6 ,
T = 2w _,,,.», =
.
1A3 = mm.
5.6 X 10 3 sec 93
where R is the radius of the circle and g is the
i.o X ttr
value of the acceleration of gravity where the The calculations we have made for the period
satellite is. Suppose the above satellite is 400 km and velocity of an artificial satellite were needed
the earth. Then R = radius of earth + 400 km to put the first artificial satellite in orbit. Newton
= 6.8 X 106 meters; and g is about 8.6 m/sec 2 suggested the possibility of launching a satellite
out there. Therefore by firing a projectile from a high mountain with
a velocity of about 5 miles per second, and drew
v2 = gR = 8.6 X 6.8 X 106 m /sec
2 2
,
the diagram of Fig. 21-12 to explain his proposal.
334 MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
a
4w 2 R 4 X t X 2
3.8 X 10 8 m
- T z ~ (2.3 X 10 6
sec) 2
= 2.7 X 10- 3 m/sec 2 .
_
MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE 335
R V' I
fT
— r*-
X
\. mAir 2 —*
F =
toK).
Fx and 3c are in the same ratio as those of F and will move along the x axis. Its motion will be the same as the
R and they point in opposite directions. x component of the motion of a point P moving uniformly in a
circle.
that the force Fx = — /rxis the force that produces to the force; and so the period is greater the
the to-and-fro motion of x. Because the motion larger the mass. One result of our reasoning may
along the x axis depends only on the force along seem astonishing: the period does not depend on
the x direction, any such force produces a motion the amplitude R of the motion. This is a result
exactly like the motion of point N at the end of 3c you can easily check experimentally. Try it
in Fig. 21-17 when the point P in the figure goes A simple pendulum is just a mass m on the end
steadily around the circle. of a string of length /. Its motion is very close
matter what provides the force, and this link ward its equilibrium position. As we see in Fig.
enables us to calculate the period. If we have a 21-19, the magnitude of the force F % along the
actual motion of m is the same as that of this where d is the horizontal displacement of m from
matching circular motion. equilibrium. There is almost no difference be-
m
^M
V \
\ _>
\ mg
\
\
\ 1
\
r*
\
^
equilibrium
position
mg
k =
I
-*£ s
The result is
21-20. When the mass is displaced only a short distance from
its equilibrium position, there is very little difference between
the length of the path s and the horizontal displacement d.
T= 2tt
4 Imagine that the displacement
here, compared to the length of the
is much smaller than
pendulum.
it is shown
respect to the room, but it appears to be accel- the door of the car pushes on your body. If you
erating when you describe its motion with respect think of this experience in the frame of reference
to yourself. of the car, it appears to be a cause for concern.
Suppose you are in a car that is accelerating in a A force acts on you, but you do not move. You
straight line. You look out and see a ball flying are likely to say that another force pushes you
through the air. It appears to curve violently in against the door and holds you there. This new
the horizontal plane, although you realize that it centrifugal force acting away from the center of
moves on a straight path over the ground. If you the curve just balances the force exerted by the
describe the motion of the ball with respect to the door. In this way you may explain why you don't
car, the ball undergoes an acceleration which does move with respect to the car. But here is a real
not correspond to any sensible forces. dilemma: how can a change in the motion of a
In Part I frames of reference were discussed in reference system (the car) actually create new
connection with the description of motion — that forces? Is this centrifugal force real?
is, in connection with kinematics. The essential To answer these questions we start by looking
point made there any frame of reference
is that at a simple experiment. We take a Dry Ice puck,
can be used to describe a motion truly. So the for example, hold it at rest on a flat, frictionless
sensible thing to do is to use the frame of reference surface, and let it go. What happens? Exactly
that provides the simplest description. In other nothing. The puck stays at rest, and we conclude
words, we have complete freedom of choice and from this observation that no net force acts on it.
use this freedom to make life as easy as possible. In particular, no horizontal force acts on the ice
But how about dynamics? Have we the same puck.
freedom? It is sad but true that here we no longer Now we perform the same experiment on a fric-
can use every reference frame and keep Newton's tionless table located on a large, rotating merry-
law of motion. Newton's law of motion is not go-round. Our whole laboratory rotates uni-
correct in all frames of reference. To give a formly with respect to the earth. Now what do we
dynamical description in some frames requires observe when we let the puck go? The puck does
more complicated laws. How then do we select not stay at rest but moves relative to us that is, —
reference frames in which Newton's law of mo- relative to the merry-go-round — in a curve of the
tion is correct? The answer is: from experimen- sort seen in Fig. 21-21. It is called an involute.
tal observations. Remember how we were led to
Galileo's principle of inertia and to the statement
of Newton's law of motion; and remember that
any conclusion which is drawn from experimental
observation is true only within the accuracy of the
measurements. Since we arrived at Newton's law
of motion from laboratory experiments on the
earth, we know that a frame of reference rigidly
attached to the earth is a good one — at least
within the accuracy of our measurements. On the
21-21. If we release a puck on a frictionless table when we
other hand, an accelerating car is not a frame of are in a room on a large merry-go-round, it seems to move on
reference in which Newton's laws hold. a curved path. Such a path is called an involute.
21-10. Fictitious Forces in Accelerated Now we are really in trouble! Here our observa-
Frames tionsshow that, in the absence of forces, a body
We are all aware of the strange forces which moves in an involute, not in a straight line with
appear when motion is observed in some frames of constant speed. What a contradiction of Galileo's
reference. If we ride in a closed car at constant principle of inertia! How
can we properly rec-
speed on a straight, smooth road, no forces act on oncile our observations with Galileo's law? We
us except those which act when we sit in a chair at might say: we are mistaken to think that no force
rest. But when you drive around a curve, espe- acts on the puck; such a motion shows that there
cially at high speed, you are conscious of a force: is a complicated force. But what exerts this force?
MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE 339
Nothing of which we are aware. So we are right curve. The centrifugal force is a fiction, some-
back in the quandar) from which we started. thing we invent to make it appear that Newton's
Now look at the whole situation from the stand- law of motion applies in the frame of reference of
point of an observer on the ground. He sees us the car.
moving in a circle with constant speed. We are We see that centrifugal force is really not a force
holding an puck which moves in the circle with
ice in the sense of a push or a pull exerted by one
us. When we let go of the puck, it moves in a objecton another; rather it is a fictitious or
straight line, tangent to the circle, at constant "phony" force that we introduce to correct for the
speed, as Galileo's principle says it must. The man acceleration of our rotating frame of reference.
on the ground understands our dilemma and points Such fictitious forces which are needed to take into
out to us that our troubles have come, not from a account the acceleration of a frame of reference
breakdown of the laws of dynamics, but from the are called inertial reactions. They are not real
fact that we made our observations in a rotating pushes and pulls that we ourselves can exert.
system of reference. This rotating system is an Centrifugal force is a term which is widely used
and we can solve all our prob-
crated system, and poorly understood. If we use it at all, we
lems by allowing for the motion of our rotating must remember that it is a device used to make
reference system. Now we know the cause of our corrections for the dynamical description of mo-
trouble. The apparent violation of Galileo's tions in a rotating frame of reference. In a frame
principle and Newton's law of motion is due to the in which Newton's description is valid, it simply
acceleration of the rotating frame of reference does not exist.
relative to the ground.
Thus if the observer on the merry-go-round
holds the puck at rest relative to him, he finds that 21-11. Newton's Law and the Rotation of
he must pull on it with a force which is constant the Earth
in magnitude and directed inward toward a fixed Now we have raised another problem. We
point. He reasons that, since the puck is at rest know that the earth spins about its axis once a day
(relative to him) there must be an equal and oppo- relative to the sun or to the fixed stars. Are we in
site force acting outward on the puck. This some- a rotating frame of reference, or are the sun and
what mysterious force he calls centrifugal force. the fixed stars themselves rotating about the earth?
On the other hand, the observer on the ground In other words, is Newton's law "really" valid
sees that the puck is accelerated toward the center when we use the earth as the reference frame, or is
of the merry-go-round and that the rotating ob- it more accurate in some other frame of reference
server is applying the needed centripetal force. with respect to which the earth turns? If Newton's
The observer on the ground has no need for the law really applies to some frame of reference
centrifugal force. other than the earth, we should be able to find out
Now what about the force that we actually feel by noticing that to explain the observed motions
when we sit in a car going around a corner? This of bodies with respect to the earth we must in-
isthe force from the door on us. This force is real troduce fictitious forces like centrifugal force.
enough: but it may be mysterious when we forget These fictitious forces must be small or they would
that we are moving around a curve. In the refer- long since have been apparent in our experiments.
ence system of the earth everything is clear. The Also, we expect them to be small if they corre-
door of the car must exert a real centripetal force spond to the daily rotation of the earth. To force
on us to cause us to go around the corner instead a mass m to go around daily at the equator re-
of straight ahead. In this example the motion in quires a centripetal force (Section 21-5)
the frame of reference where Newton's law holds
is accelerated, and the forces producing the accel-
AiT
2
mRIT z = 3 X 10~ 2 m newton
eration are real. The car, including the door and or about 3^0 °f tne force of gravity. An experi-
us, will not turn the corner unless it is pushed side- ment to make sure that ^ per cent of g is used to
wise by the road. The centrifugal force, on the produce this motion must be more precise than the
other hand, is not real. If it were, the net force experiments we performed in establishing New-
would be zero, and we would not go around the ton's law of motion.
340 MOTION AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
nent of force perpendicular to this plane, nor has swings in nearly straight-line motion while the earth rotates
beneath it. To a man standing on the earth, the plane of the
the pendulum bob an initial velocity component
pendulum's motion would seem to rotate.
perpendicular to the plane. Therefore Newton's
law of motion predicts that, if such a pendulum
starts swinging in this plane, it will continue to rigidly attached to it are rotating frames of refer-
swing in the same plane indefinitely. what
This is ence. It also shows again how little we are likely
will happen in an inertial frame of reference, one to notice the effects of the earth's rotation in
in which Newton's law is valid. laboratory experiments. A pendulum with a
When we perform this experiment in the labora- period of one second oscillates about 10 5 times in
tory we find that a pendulum does pretty well; it a day. If the frictional forces on such a pendulum
seems to stay in the plane in which it started and were so small that it could really swing completely
obeys Newton's law of motion in fine shape. But free in the inertial frame, the plane of oscillation
1. (a) Approximately what is the gravitational force (c) How fast will it be going after 2.3 sec?
on a mass of 100 gm at the earth's surface? (d) How far above the ground will it be at that
(b) What is the approximate mass of a weight time?
of 49.0 new tons? (e) What is the ball's acceleration at the top of
its rise?
inertialand gravitational masses, would they all (b) At what rate will they speed up if pulled
accelerate at the same rate in the gravitational across the table by a horizontal force equal to
field of the earth? Explain. the gravitational force found in (a)?
(c) If one disc remains on the table and the other
5. * Throw a baseball as hard as you can (outdoors) hangs over the edge, what will be the acceleration
and note how fast it goes. Then throw a crumpled- of the discs? Neglect friction.
up piece of paper equally hard.
(a) Does the paper seem to slow down appreci-
11. An object of mass m is moving on a frictionless
(a) How high does it rise? (b) What diameter string of the same material
(b) How far does go? it should be used if the ball travels 7.0 m sec at the
(c) At what velocity does it strike the ground? bottom of its swing?
17. A stone drops from the edge of a roof and is 26. An electron (mass = 0.90 x 10 kg) under the
observed to pass by a window which is 2.0 meters action of a magnetic force moves in a circle of 2.0
high in 0.10 second. How far is the roof above cm radius at a speed of 3.0 X 10 (
'
m sec. At
the top of the window? what speed will a proton (mass = 1.6 x 10 kg)
move in a circle of the same radius if it is acted
18. A boy on a cliff 49 meters high drops a stone and upon by the same force?
one second later throws a second stone after the
first. They both hit the ground at the same time. 27. A body moving with a speed is acted upon by ;
How fast did the boy throw the second stone? a force that always acts perpendicular to the mo-
Neglect air resistance. tion of the body but increases steadily in mag-
nitude.
v2
19. Show that the expression - for centripetal ac- (a) Draw a sketch of the trajectorv.
(b) Does the speed of the object increase, de-
celeration has the units of acceleration. crease, or remain unchanged?
20. The minute hand of a large tower clock is 2.0 m 28. * As a home project, carry out the experiment
long. indicated in Fig. 21-14. You may want to use a
(a) At a quarter past the hour, what are the pendulum in place of the mass on the end of a
direction and magnitude of the velocity of the spring. Make your own pendulum.
If the period
end of the minute hand? of your pendulum does not match the period of
(b) What is its acceleration? rotation of the phonograph turntable, what do
you do?
21. (a) What is the centripetal acceleration of a
hammer thrower's hammer if his axis of rotation
is 2.0 m from the hammer and he turns around
29. A spring of force constant k = 196 newtons m
hangs vertically from a peg with its lower end at
once every § seconds? = 0. Then a 2.00-kg mass is hung on the spring.
(b) If the hammer weighs 70 newtons, what y
(a) Plot the net force on the mass as a function
force must the hammer thrower exert to maintain
of the v coordinate of its position from y = —.250
this centripetal acceleration?
meter to y = +.250 meter.
(b) At what position on the v axis should the
22. How fast must a plane fly in a loop-the-loop of
radius 1.00 km if the pilot experiences no force mass be released from rest if you want it to stand
still?
from either the seat or the safety belt when he is
at the top of the loop? In such circumstances the (c) Suppose the mass is released from rest at
23. Some people speak of a pilot coming out of a rest? How long a time does it take?
a*
—
CHAPTER 22
There are few people who do not recognize the as if they were attached to other spheres rotating
Big Dipper in the night sky. The most striking at different rates about the earth. According to
fact about the heavens is that the constellations, this view, the earth, large and immobile, is located
groups of stars such as the Big -Dipper, maintain at the center of a universe made of celestial matter
unaltered shapes. They move just as though they which revolves about it. Such a universe is called
were tacked on the inside of a large rotating geocentric (earth-centered).
sphere, and we were at the center of this sphere Seven heavenly bodies which appeared to move
watching (Fig. 22-1). Against this background among the fixed stars were known to ancient man.
of "fixed stars" the sun and moon move smoothly, The sun and moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn were called planets from the
Greek word meaning "wanderer." With the
exception of the motion of the sun and moon, the
motions of these bodies appear irregular when
viewed over long periods of time (Fig. 22-2).
Their erratic motion focused the attention of
ancient men on They were brighter
the planets.
than the stars; and because their brightness
changed, their distances from the earth seemed to
change. They became associated with various
Aries •
•
AJtoir
Q Feb. 1
Pegasus
•
•
n Jan. 1
^^Opec. ..*. •
Nov. 1 Aquarius
Sept. 1 Q~-~i
<>^\_ —
July 1 June 1
•
Oct. 1 O O
Fomalhauf
*
22—1. A one-hour time exposure token with the camera pointed
at the North Star. The circular arcs show the apparent motion 22-2. The peculiar apparent motion of the planet Mars with
of the stars. It was this circular motion that led the Greeks to respect to the fixed stars. Mars, at various intervals, appears
visualize the stars as attached to a sphere which turned about to reverse its direction of motion. From: R. H. Baker, "Astronomy,"
the earth. (Yerkes Observatory Photograph.) 0. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.
344
UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM 345
23—3 (a). Eudoxus's planetary system. The motions of the sun, 22-3 (b). Here a planet is mounted on the surface of the inner-
moon, and planets can be approximated by an arrangement of most sphere. The axis of each sphere is connected to a pair
spheres turning within spheres. Here the outer sphere is the of points on the inner surface of the next one. By placing the
sphere of the fixed stars. This sphere rotates once every 24 axes at the proper angles, and choosing suitable speeds and
hours from east to west on an axis through the earth's north and directions of rotation, the motion of a planet against the back-
south poles. The inner sphere has the sun fixed to a point on its ground of the fixed stars as observed from the earth can be
surface. This sphere rotates about once a year. reproduced to a good approximation.
human endeavors and emotions (Venus with love, 22-1. Early Planetary Systems
Mars with war, etc.), as though they formed an Plato's pupil Eudoxus tried to represent plane-
intermediary between the immutable perfection tary motions by a collection of moving spheres,
of the stars and the restless imperfection of the each with its center at the earth. Each planet was
earth. Later, the astrologers saw in the planetary attached to the surface of a sphere which rotated
positions indications of the future course of the uniformly about an axis attached to two opposite
lives of human beings. points on the surface of a larger sphere (Fig. 22-3).
Finding a reasonable explanation for the While the inner sphere spun uniformly on its axis,
peculiar observed motion of the planets was a the axis itself was carried around by a uniform
major concern of the ancient astronomers. It is motion of the outer sphere. In fact, the axis of
related that Plato, the Greek philosopher (427- the outer sphere might itself be attached to the
347 B.C.), set the following problems for his stu- surface of a still larger sphere; in this way the
dents: The stars, as we can see, move in perfect number of spheres could be extended to represent
circular paths around the earth, but the planets more complex motions. Finally, the whole system
seem to trace irregular figures. What are the spun around inside the celestial sphere which
combinations of perfect circular paths along which With a sufficient number
carried the fixed stars.
the planets really move? The form of this ques- of spheres moving around inside of other spheres,
tion reveals the fact that the circle was believed Eudoxus obtained a good approximation to the
to be the most perfect of all curves and hence motion of a planet. His successors improved the
alone worthy of describing celestial motions. accuracy of his model by using still more spheres.
The efforts of all astronomers for many centuries In the course of history many planetary systems
were devoted at least partly to answering this depending on the motions of the spheres were
question. developed, and large numbers of spheres were
346 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
can orbits were only roughly correct. A search window in the wall at the left. Other assistants noted the time
and recorded the angle of the observation. The sector of wall
then began for a more accurate description of the
enclosed by the arc is covered with a mural painting of Tycho
orbits. This objective was reached, after Tycho's
and other aspects of his work.
death, by one of his students, the German scholar
Kepler. Tycho Brahe into mathematical descriptions of
planetary motions, Kepler acted like any scientist
22-5. Kepler today who attempts to explain experimental find-
Johannes Kepler, born in 1571, was a striking ings in terms of simple mathematical laws rather
contrast to Tycho Brahe. Tycho possessed than mere tables of numbers. With mathematical
tremendous mechanical ability and skill but laws we can not only reproduce observed data, but
relatively little interest in mathematics. Kepler we can predict the results of observations not yet
was clumsy as an experimenter but was fascinated made. Furthermore, mathematical laws are
by the power of mathematics. He was akin to easier to remember and to communicate than mere
the ancient Greeks in his reverence for the power tables of numbers.
of numbers and was intrigued by puzzles con- In his first book Kepler described his attempts to
cerning number and size. understand why there were precisely six planets in
After Kepler had learned the elements of astron- the solar system. He established a connection be-
omy, he became obsessed with the problem of tween the six orbits and the five regular geometri-
finding a numerical scheme underlying the plane- cal solids* (Fig. 22-8). From this construction
tary system. He wrote, "I brooded with the whole he obtained ratios of radii agreeing fairly well with
energy of my mind on this subject." He devoted the values then known for the planetary orbits.
his life to the analysis of the tables of planetary *By a regular solid body we mean a symmetrical body with
positions which Tycho had left him. In tackling equal flat faces. Only five kinds of regular solid bodies
the problem of translating the observations of can be constructed.
UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM 349
(b) Jupiter
He made innumerable attempts, each involving
long and laborious calculations. He had to trans-
late each of Tycho's measurements of the angle
22—8. Kepler's law of planetary orbits was based on the five
equal to that of the orbit of Saturn, is circumscribed about a the planet in space with respect to a fixed sun
cube (a). A sphere inscribed within this cube has a radius equal about which the earth itself was moving.
to the radius of the orbit of Jupiter.
After about seventy trials using the "eccentric
In (b) the sphere of the orbit of Jupiter is shown with a tetra-
circle" type of orbit, Kepler found one scheme
hedron inscribed. A sphere inscribed within the tetrahedron gives
the radius of the orbit of Mars.
which agreed fairly well with the facts. Then, to
In (c) the sphere for Mars has a dodecahedron inscribed. A his dismay, he found that this curve, when con-
sphere inscribed within that gives the orbit of the earth (d). tinued beyond the range of the data he had used,
We may continue this process of alternate inscribing of spheres
disagreed with other observations that Tycho had
and regular solids, using the icosahedron (20-sided) and the
made of Mars' position.
octahedron. These will give us the orbits of Venus (e) and of
Mercury (f), which is on a sphere inscribed inside the octahedron.
The disagreement between Brahe's data and
Kepler considered the five solids as bridging the intervals between Kepler's calculations was about ^ of a degree.
planetary orbits. Since there are only five regular solids, Kepler (This is hand
the angle through which the second
believed there could be only six planets. on a watch moves in about 0.02 second.) Might
not Tycho have been wrong by this small amount?
Kepler was ecstatic. He wrote, "The intense Could not the cold of a winter's night have
pleasure I have received from this discovery can numbed his fingers or blurred his observations?
never be told in words. I regard no longer the Kepler knew Tycho's methods and the painstak-
time wasted; no labor; I shunned no
I tired of ing care he took. Tycho could never have been
toil of reckoning, days and nights spent in cal- wrong even by such a small amount. Thus, on the
culation, until I could see whether my hypothesis basis of Tycho's data, Kepler rejected the curves
would agree with the orbits of Copernicus, or he had constructed. What a tribute this was to
whether my joy was to vanish into air." the memory of his teacher!
The relation between the radii of planetary Saying that "Upon this eight minutes [he] would
orbits is typical of the kind of result Kepler set out yet build a theory of the universe," Kepler began
to achieve with Tycho's data. It often happens, again. Discarding the ancient and cherished be-
however, that even the prettiest correlation of the lief in uniform motion, he considered possible
data turns out to have no deep meaning in explain- changes of the speed of a planet as it moved in its
ing the nature of things. Today this discovery of orbit about the sun. He now made his first great
Kepler's is all but forgotten. His system is de- discovery. He found that a line from the sun to
stroyed by the fact that there are more than six a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
planets. But a seventh planet was not discovered This has come to be known as Kepler's second
until many years after his death. law (Fig. 22-9).
350 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Mercury 10 H
-6
0.389 87.77 7.64 X 10 3.354 X
Venus 0.724 224.70 7.52 3.352
Earth 1.000 365.25 7.50 3.354
Mars 1.524 686.98 7.50 3.354
Jupiter 5.200 4,332.62 7.490 3.355
Saturn 9.510 10,759.20 7.430 3.353
The values of the orbits and periods in this table are unit {A.U.) of The nearly constant values of
length.
those used by Kepler. In Kepler's day, the radii were R 3 /T 2 illustrate Kepler's third law. The last column
known only in terms of the radius of the earth's orbit. is based on accurate modern measurements of the orbits
^^""""•^
Mars
After the discovery of his second law, Kepler
hs
finally abandoned his attempts to construct plane-
tary motions out of combinations of uniform cir-
V' 2 cular motions and began to try various ovals as
Kepler found that for equal time intervals, — = — the time of one revolution of the planet about the
tj f1 U h, the
areas swept out by a line between the sun and the planet were sun. After many trials he found the precise rela-
equal (area 8 = area A). In the drawing, the elongation of the tion for which he was searching for all the planets
:
ellipse has been exaggerated to illustrate the equal-area law the ratio of the cube of the radius of the orbit to
more clearly.
Sun 1.98 X 10
30
6.95 X 10 8 2.14 X 10 6 — —
10
Mercury 3.28 X 10 23
2.57 X 10 6
7.60 X 10 6
5.79 X 10 7.60 X 10 6
Venus 4.83 X 10" 6.31 X 10 6 2.6 X 10 6 (?) 1.08 X 10 11 1.94 X 10 7
Earth 5.98 X 10 24 6.38 X 10 6 8.61 X 10 4 1.49 X 10 11 3.16 X 10 7
Mars 6.37 X 10 23 3.43 X 10 6 8.85 X 10 4 2.28 X 10 u 5.94 X 10 7
Jupiter 1.90 X 10 27 7.18 X 10 7 3.54 X 10 4 7.78 X 10 11 3.74 X 10 8
Saturn 5.67 X 10 26 6.03 X 10 7 3.60 X 10 4 1.43 X 10 12 9.30 X 10 8
25
Uranus 8.80 X 10 2.67 X 10 7 3.88 X 10 4 2.87 X 10 12 2.66 X 10'
Neptune 1.03 X 10 26 2.48 X 10 7 5.69 X 10 4 4.50 X 10 12 5.20 X 10'
Pluto ? ? ? 5.9 X 10 12 7.82 X 10"
and the planet. Because the planetary orbits are not very and the plane of Pluto's orbit makes an angle of about 17° with
different from circles, the distance from the sun to any the planes of the other orbits. In the figure, the portion of Pluto's
point on a planetary orbit will do for most purposes. orbit below the plane of the paper is shown by a dashed line.
& /
o Venus
III. The ratio = 1S tne same for all planets.
o Earth
il / If this constant ratio is called K, the third law may
Mars
be written
- K.
T-
)
Jupiter
Kepler's three laws give a more accurate repre-
sentation of the planetary orbits than had been
obtained from either the Ptolemaic or the Coper-
nican system with all their complexity of circles
i jsii Saturn
moving on circles.
22—12.
\
The approximate
o
compared to the
provide an explanation of the motions in terms
of forces.
motion is
difference in the
Ptolemy's description of the planetary
also kinematics. What
two kinematic descriptions?
is the essential
sun. The total mass of all the planets equals only 1.34 X 10~ 3 of
the sun's mass. Both descriptions are reasonably accurate.
Each allows us to predict where we shall see a
particular planet at a given time. The difference
A Scale Model of the Solar System lies in the point of view. Kepler's description
appears simpler to us. He followed Copernicus
It is impossible to show in a small drawing both the
in choosing the fixed stars as a framework with
relative sizes and of the planets on the
the distances
respect to which the planetary motions are speci-
same scale. The following table gives some idea of
fied, and like Copernicus he used the sun as the
the relative sizesand distances in terms of common
objects. To get the true dimensions of the solar system, origin from which to measure the planetary posi-
every dimension should be multiplied by 4.4 X 10 9 .
tions. It is simpler to describe planetary motions
using the sun as the origin than it is to describe
the motions as seen from the and we can
earth,
Object in the Object in the Distance
Solar System Model from "Sun" conclude from this simple description what the
planetary motions must look like when viewed
Sun basketball
Mercury half a pinhead m
13
from earth.
Venus appleseed m
25 On the other hand there is nothing wrong in de-
Earth appleseed 34 m scribing the motion directly, using the earth as the
Mars small appleseed 52 m origin. It is merely difficult and confusing be-
Jupiter golf ball 180 m cause the motions we see look complicated and
Saturn ping-pong ball 320 m irregular. Convenience —
not principle deter- —
Uranus a marble 0.65 km mines the frame of reference and origin we use in
Neptune a marble 1.0 km kinematics.
Pluto ? 1.3 km The situation is like that of the man on the
Nearest star basketball 8 X 10 3 km
ground watching the motion of a point on the edge
UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM 353
of the wheel of a car (Chapter 6). He sees the that the orbits of the planets should appear simplest
point move on a cvcloidal path with a speed that when viewed with the earth as center (and not
varies periodically from zero to a maximum value. around some other point). The greater simplicity
On the other hand, a man who describes the mo- of the planetary orbits in Kepler's heliocentric de-
tion with respect to the axle of the wheel finds that scription thus undermines the whole Aristotelian
the point moves at constant speed around a circle. picture.
Both men are right; and if we take account of the In the heliocentric system, on the other hand,
motion of the axle with respect to the ground, the the earth becomes a planet like other planets.
two descriptions are equivalent. In just the same Then there is no reason left to have a special geo-
wav geocentric and heliocentric descriptions of centric dynamics. Instead we can look again for
the planetarv svstems can be equivalent, as are a single dynamics that includes the motions of
the svstems of Tycho Brahe and of Copernicus objects on the earth and of all the planets includ-
(Figs. 22-6 and 22-7); and which we adopt is a ing our own. Indeed the heliocentric view pro-
matter of convenience. For navigation, for ex- vided the clue from which we have constructed a
ample, the earth-centered view is preferable — dynamical explanation of planetary motion.
we don't care how simple the motions would ap- In the rest of this chapter we shall see how the
pear from the sun. We want to know where we heliocentric system fits in with thenew dynamics
are when we see the planets in certain directions of Galileo and Newton. There we shall follow
at a certain time. Consequently, the geocentric in the footsteps of Newton. With the heliocentric
language is used in celestial navigation of ships description and a frame of reference tied to the
and airplanes today. we shall find that a simple law of force
fixed stars
When we wish to explain planetary motions, between chunks of matter leads to the observed
however, the situation is different. In the first planetary motions. It explains them on the basis
place we should certainly suspect that the dynami- of the same dynamics that applies here on earth.
cal explanation will be easier to arrive at and to Since the time when this law of gravitational force
understand the simpler the description of the mo- was postulated by Newton, it has also been experi-
tion. In the second place we already know that mentally tested for small pieces of matter here on
Newton's law of motion applies only in certain earth. It is valid here as well as through astro-
frames of reference. Even the uniform motion nomical distances. Thus the search for a dynam-
that goes on in the absence of a net force on an ics in which motions here and in the heavens are
object will not look uniform to an observer who of just the same kind have been successful. On a
spins around like a top. In this case we know that geocentric picture no such unified explanation is
substituting
.
— for _-
R* . .. „ ..
»
E= Air-K =•
The force is proportional to the mass of the planet
and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the sun (Fig. 22-14).
22-14. The gravitational force exerted by the sun on a planet
Eventually Newton was able to show that any
is proportional to the mass of the planet and inversely propor-
bodv moving under the action of this force must distance from the sun.
tional to the square of its
2
sun :it measures the strength of the sun as the
= (4tt /Q
am ,
F=
{4ir
2
K)m equation by the last one we get
R-
= R R
2 2
am
where 47r 2 ATs refers to the sun and R is the distance -7 RJ
e
°f am=g RJ-
e
(4ir
2
K )m
F= e
9.8 m/sec 2
he found that a m ~ 2.7 X 10- m/sec 2
3
R2 , .
*Huygens and Hooke also used Kepler's third law and Now Newton had obtained the acceleration of
Newton's law of motion to infer that F is proportional the moon two different ways: from R m and the
in
to R 1 but they did not show that Kepler's other laws
1 ,
period of the moon's motion without any refer-
then followed. Newton provided the law of motion,
found the law of force, and also showed that it resulted ence to the inverse-square law of force, and from
in Kepler's description of planetary motions. g at the earth's surface by using the inverse-square
.
must (vary) reciprocally as the square of their also exerts a gravitational force on m\. Since
distances from the centers about which they re- 4ir
2
K = Gm
2 2, this force of attraction exerted by
volve: and thereby compared the force requisite m 2
on m is 1
sun and planets, not only to the earth and moon, other with a force proportional to the mass of each
but also to any two chunks of matter. This and inversely proportional to the square of the
suspicion leads immediately to the question: What distance between them. The universal gravita-
property of a body determines its gravitational tional constant, G, does not depend on what
attraction for other masses? What property of the objects are considered, where they are, or what
earth determines how large 4t 2 Kb is for the earth? their state of motion may be.
What determines 4ir 2 Ks for the sun? Perhaps 4it 2 K We do not know in detail how Newton arrived
depends on a new property of a body; but if at the law of universal gravitation. In addition to
gravitational attraction is a property of all bodies, the reason that we have given to make the law
it is reasonable to suppose that 4tt 2 K depends on plausible, a number of other considerations may
the quantity of matter in the body. The simplest have suggested the same result. For example, as
assumption is
2
that 47r A^is proportional to the mass we shall see in the next chapter, Newton eventually
and 4ir 2 Ks = Gm for the sun. G is the proportion- two bodies are always equal and opposite, and he
s
ality factor between 4ir 2 K and m for any body. may already have had this idea in mind when he
Newton made this assumption. With it, the formulated the law of universal gravitation.
gravitational force of attraction that a body of Whatever the steps by which Newton was led to
the law of universal gravitation, the law eventually
mass m, exerts on a body of mass m 2 at a distance
R becomes stands or falls by the consistency between the
predictions we can make from it and the actual
r
F=(4Tr 2 K ) £l = Gm 1 1
behavior of the universe. On the basis of this law
Newton was able to take great strides in building
Furthermore, because every mass attracts every up a theoretical system of the universe.
.
ca Terr am vel ) Terr* circa Sokm tempora periodica ejfe in ratione fef-
moon, both on the earth and on the oceans. He effects can be observed and they are predicted
began to analyze the small irregularities (per- correctly by Newton's theory.
358 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
the earth. Although the center of the earth is a mass were concentrated at their centers.
entire
In this equation we know g; it is 9.8 m/sec 2 . We of the rod and on the side of the case which con-
know the radius of the earth R = e 6.38 X 10 6 tained the apparatus, Cavendish mounted ivory
meters; and Newton knew an approximate value rulers with which to measure the position of the
for it. To determine G, therefore, we need only to rod. When Cavendish placed two large masses
estimate the mass of the earth. near the small spheres at the ends of the rod, the
Newton made such an estimate. He guessed a small spheres were attracted toward the big masses
reasonable value for the average density of the and the wire suspension twisted.
earth, about five times the density of water, and Cavendish recorded the position of the rod with
multiplied it by the volume of the earth. The the suspension twisted when the big masses were
mass of the earth is then estimated as about located as shown in Fig. 22-17. Then he moved
6 X 10 :+ kg; and the order of magnitude of G is each of the large masses to the symmetrical posi-
tion on the other side of the little spheres. The
10- 1 i
= • We now know G accurately.
J
It is
kg-sec- gravitational attraction twisted the suspension in
and he measured the new
the opposite direction,
G = 0.667 X 10- 1 Applying this result
kg-sec 2 position.By measuring the changes in position
to two stones 10 cm apart and each of 1 kg mass, when known forces were applied to the small balls,
we find that their gravitational attraction should Cavendish could find the strength of the gravita-
be about 10 -8 newtons, about one billionth of between the small balls and the large
tional forces
the force pulling them toward the earth. Newton masses.*
also concluded that "the gravitation [between
such stones] must be far less than to fall under The force at various twists of the suspension can be
the observation of our senses." He therefore found dynamically by taking away the large masses
directed his attention to the calculations about and letting the rod carrying the small balls swing hori-
zontally, twisting and untwisting the wire suspension.
the gravitational interactions of the planets and The motion of the rod then depends on the known masses
their satellites which we mentioned in the last of the small balls and on the forces exerted on them by
section. the twisted suspension. The size of these forces can
therefore be determined from the motion. Now consider
One hundred years later, in 1798, Lord Caven- the whole system at rest with the large masses in position.
dish succeeded in measuring the gravitational The net force on each ball must be zero; but the suspen-
sion is twisted because of the gravitational forces between
interaction of laboratory-sized objects. The
the large masses and the balls on the rod. The net force,
apparatus he used is diagramed in Fig. 22-17. zero, is the resultant of the gravitational force and the
Two small spheres were mounted on opposite force exerted by the twisted suspension. The gravitational
ends of a light rod 2 meters long. This rod hung force is therefore equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the force exerted by the suspension. Since
horizontally with its center below a fine vertical
we now know the force exerted by the suspension, we
wire from which it was suspended. At the ends also know the gravitational force.
360 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Actually Cavendish performed numerous ex- tailed calculations of the motion of the planets
periments. He had to evaluate possible extra- and their moons. In almost every case, the cal-
neous effects such as convection currents in the culations have predicted orbits which are in agree-
air due to slight temperature differences. He ment with actual observation. There is, however,
wanted to make sure that he was not measuring one exception: an extremely small irregularity in
magnetic forces by mistake. He needed many the orbit of the planet Mercury which is not
determinations to make sure that his results were predicted by Newton's law of gravitation. Even
reproducible and to determine their accuracy. though the discrepancy is minute, an improved
With these experiments Cavendish determined G. theory is needed to explain it.
He expressed his answer in terms of the mean Such a theory was provided by Albert Einstein
density of the earth which he found to be close in his general theory of relativity. At the heart of
to 5^ times that of water, very close to Newton's his theory lies the remarkable equivalence of
estimate. gravitational and inertial mass. Einstein welded
By using different substances for the various ob- them into one entity. His theory is built upon
jects,we can modify the Cavendish experiment to the theory of Newton just as Newton's theory
show that the masses alone determine the gravita- was built on the work of Galileo and Kepler.
tional attraction. By changing the relative posi- Out of it come all the results of Newton's theory
tions of the small and large masses, we can check (but the calculations are more difficult). Actually,
up on the inverse-square law at laboratory rather when we say it gives thesame results, we mean
than planetary distances. Many modifications of that the differences between the predictions of
the Cavendish experiments have been carried out, Einstein's gravitational theory and Newton's
and so far Newton's law of universal gravitation mechanics are usually so small that they cannot
is consistent with all of them. be observed. Only under exceptional circum-
stances are the predicted differences observable.
22-11. A Small Discrepancy Mercury's orbit is one of these rare exceptions.
It has been almost 300 years since Newton's Here Einstein's predictions of the orbit bring
work on gravitation. During that time the law of theory into accord with observation.
gravitation has been tested through the most de-
* As a project, observe the position of one of the (a) Plot their positions relative to Jupiter for
planets with respect to the fixed stars once or each observation.
twice a for a month or two. Begin by plot-
week (b) Can you determine the period of revolution
ting a map
of the stars surrounding the planet. for each moon?
Then mark the new position of the planet on this (c) Which of these moons is nearest to Jupiter?
map at each observation.
* Another project: The four largest moons of The fixed stars go around in about one day as
Jupiter can be seen through reasonably good seen by an observer on the earth. About how
binoculars. One of the moons moves so fast long do the following revolutions appear to take?
that its motion can be detected
relative to Jupiter (a) The sphere of the fixed stars as seen by
by observations just a few hours apart. With someone on the moon.
your binoculars, observe the positions of the (b) The earth about the moon as seen from the
moons every clear night for about three weeks. moon.
UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM 361
(c) The sun as seen from the moon. Does the 9. Two skaters of equal mass on a circular rink go
sun appear to rotate as it" it were one of the fixed around the rink in the same time. One skater is
stars'? Does it appear to rotate faster or slower? twice as far from the center of the rink as the
Remember that the earth and moon go around other. Compare
the sun once every year. (a) the velocities of the skaters.
(b) the centripetal forces acting on them.
4. The earth's orbit around the sun is nearly circular, (c) What exerts the centripetal force on them?
and the moon moves in a nearly circular orbit
around the earth. The radius of the earth's orbit 10. At what height above the earth's surface will a
is 1.5 X 10
u meters, and that of the moon's orbit rocket have half the force of gravity on it that it
is 4 X 10s meters. would have at sea level?
(a) How often is the moon between the earth
and the sun? 11. (a) At what height will a satellite moving in the
(b) How far has the moon moved around the plane of the equator stay over one place on the
sun between two successive times
in the interval equator of the earth? One way to get the answer
when the moon
between the earth and the sun?
is is to compare with the moon, which
this satellite
(c) Sketch the orbit of the earth going around is from the center of the earth
at 59.5 earth radii
the sun and on the same figure sketch the orbit of and takes 27 days to go around the earth.
the moon going around the sun. (b) How fast is the satellite accelerating toward
(d) Does the moon show retrograde motion as the earth?
seen by an observer at the sun? (Retrograde (c) Using the inverse-square law and g at the
motion is motion like that shown in Fig. 22-2.) surface of the earth, find the gravitational field
at the height of the satellite. Compare with your
8. Three X, Y, and
fireflies Z
are on a moving bicycle Earth 6.0 X 10 24 kg 6.4 X 10 m
6
at night. A' is at the very center of one of the Jupiter 1.9 X 10 27 kg 7.2 X 10 m
7
tational field at its surface compare with the (b) How fast would the earth have to spin in
gravitational field at the surface of the earth? order that he would exert no force on a scale at
(b) How would the densities of the two planets the equator?
compare? (c) How many times larger is the speed of
rotation in (b) than the actual speed?
100 kg apparently weigh at the equator than at the their distance from 3
m
would they act like a single
,
FURTHER READING
Abetti, G., History of Astronomy. Abelard-Schu- Moments of Discovery. Copernicus, p. 217; Tycho
man, 1952. Brahe, p. 232; Galileo, p. 240; Kepler, p. '265.
Andrade, E. N. da C, Sir Isaac Newton. Doubleday Their own reports of their contributions to plane-
Anchor Books, 1958. tary systems.
Baker, R. H., Astronomy. Van Nostrand. A stand- Newton, Sir Isaac, Mathematical Principles of
ard textbook. Natural Philosophy and his System of the World.
Copernicus, N., Readings in the Literature of Science. Edited by Florian Cajori, University of California
Edited by Dampier and Dampier, Harper, 1959 Press, 1947.
(pp. 11-13). Also Galileo, pp. 14-30. Whipple. and Hynek. V. A. "Observations of
F. L..
Holton, G., and Roller, D. H. D., Foundations of Satellite I.'* American. December, 1957.
Scientific
Modern Physical Science. Addison- Wesley, 1957; An account of the observations made in computing
Part III, The Study of Planetary Systems. the orbit of an artificial satellite.
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
CHAPTER 23
23-1. Impulse
Try to make a baseball and a 16-lb shot go at
the same speed. As you know, it is a lot harder
to get the shot going. If you apply a constant
c
force F for a time At, the change in velocity is
given by mAv = FAt. _So, in order to get the 4)
1
same AI\ the product FAt must be greater the
Z i
_c
363
364 MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
total impulse acting in that time. Finally since Often a large force acts only for a very short
F x
A/j and F2 A/, are the two individual impulses time interval. Think what happens when you hit
which act on m in that period, we can conclude a tennis ball with a racket, or when two steel balls
that the vector sum of successive impulses gives collide. Without the most elaborate equipment
the overall impulse. it is very hard to tell the size of the forces which
23-2. Momentum
When a mass m is moving with velocity v, we
feel that there is a certain quantity of motion.
Furthermore, if two masses, each m, are moving
with the same velocity, we should have a measure
of quantity of motion which is twice as large as
for one mass. We can establish various measures
23-3. When the force is continually changing, we can break up of motion which are proportional to the mass
the area under the F-l curve into a large
that are nearly rectangles. (See shaded areas.)
number of small areas
Each such area
and increase with the speeds for — instance, mo,
FAf is a little impulse. The total impulse is the sum of all these
mo2, mv 3 ), etc. Two such measures are of great
small impulses. Therefore, as long as the force points in the importance in physics. At this time we can
same direction, the area under the curve is the total impulse. develop one of them.
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 365
One measure of the quantity of motion of a Velocity and momentum, although related,
body is the impulse necessary to set it moving tell us different things. The knowledge of the
at its velocity "v starting from rest. As we know velocity only tells how fast (and in which direction)
from the last section, the impulse required is an object moves. It tells us nothing about the
determined by m&~v, the mass times the change effort required to get it moving, or, for that
in velocity; and for a mass that starts from rest matter, to stop it. The momentum, on the other
the change in velocity is equal to the final velocity hand, does not tell the speed of the object (al-
?! The impulse that would give the body its though it tells us the direction in which it moves),
present motion is therefore equal to mv, the mass but it determines the impulse necessary to get it
times its present velocity. Because this product going and the impulse necessary to stop it.
mT'is proportional to the mass and to the velocity, Briefly the velocity is a kinematical quantity —
it is a measure of motion of the type we described one which enters the geometrical description of
in the first paragraph. We call it the momentum where and when —
whereas the momentum is a
of the body, and measure it in kilogram-meters dynamical one, connected with the impulses and
per second. Because we shall use momenta often, therefore with the causes of changes in the motion
we introduce the symbol p to represent the of masses.
momentum of a body :
~p = mv. Notice that the momentum does not depend
366 MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
In this experiment the mass of the large disc, 23—6. The apparatus used to show a simple kind of explosion.
including the spring mounted on it, was 2.28 kg, A compressed spring is held between two Dry Ice discs. The
spring is screwed to the larger disc and secured by a thread.
and the mass of the small disc was 1.10 kg. A
glance at the picture shows that the two discs matter what produces the forces of interaction.
went off in opposite directions. In each interval They may from our muscles, from a distorted
arise
between flashes of the light the small disc moves spring, or from a chemical explosion.
farther than the large one. The small disc must Take a chemical explosion as another example.
have been given a higher velocity than the large When a man fires a rifle, the gases from the
one. By making measurements on the photo- explosives exert violent forces inside the barrel.
graph you can tell was moving
that the small disc The bullet is pushed out in one direction and the
90
M1 ^
m i
n i
M7 ^
95 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
368 MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
momentum scale
= ^P2
p = 247 kg
m sec
(a) (b)
23—10. (a) The vectors representing the momenta of the balls in graphically. We subtract pi from p\' by drawing — pi from the
Fig. 23—9. p: is the original momentum of the dotted ball; p/, head of P\ , then drawing the resultant (shown dashed in the
its momentum after the collision; and pt the momentum acquired figure). Note that \pi is closely equal and opposite to Sp2 = p:'.
illustrated in Fig. 23-9. In the picture the ball Because the masses of the balls here are equal,
originally in motion came in at the bottom. using /5* instead of^just changes the scale in this
After the collision, as we would expect, one ball case. In Fig. 23-10 (a) we have plotted the
goes off to the right; the other goes off to the left. momentum vectors p x ,
p and p 2
{
, representing the
The photograph shows the speeds and
flash momentum of the incident ball before the colli-
directions of the balls both before and after colli- sion, and the momentum of each ball after the
;
(b)
to. to.
+ +
ta t£
Pi
mass of the incident ball. By measuring the ratio you can see, pi + p? = p\ + pt In fact, when we made the
.
of the incident and final velocities in the flash original drawing, they were equal within about 1 part in 200.
mass Am thrown
at this time
•n
Uv)t
1668 the Royal Society of London (then only the forces or impulses between the colliding
eight years old) initiated an investigation into bodies. The French physicist Mariotte demon-
the problem. Three able men produced almost strated these conclusions by a series of experi-
similar solutions: John Wallis, an English ments on pendulums that could strike one another.
mathematician; Sir Christopher Wren, the Huygens made similar experiments, and other
English scientist and architect who designed experiments in which hard spheres in close contact
St. Paul's; and Christian Huygens, a Dutch were struck by a similar sphere moving in a
physicist. Wallis was first, and so he gets the straight-line groove. In the "Principia"' Newton
credit for the general principle of conservation described these experiments and his own careful
of momentum. experiments. The law of conservation of momen-
In a paper published in 1669, and later in his tum was established as one of the foundations of
book "Mechanica" (1670) Wallis developed fairly modern physics.
clear ideas of impulse and momentum and the
connection between them. He believed that an 23-5. Rockets
impulse which started one body toward another Imagine a man in a space suit moving in inter-
would give the same momentum to the single planetary space. His mass is m, and in his hand
body or to the two bodies combined after collision. he holds a small object of mass A/w, which
He thus arrived at the conservation of momentum evidently moves through space at the same speed
for one kind of collision. He also argued that that he does (Fig. 23-14). Now the man throws
conservation applied to other collisions. All away the small mass Am with a velocity ie with
his arguments really involve assumptions about respect to his original motion. Its momentum
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 373
changes by an amount (Am)K- According to the same for each. In starting from zero, then, the
principle of conservation of momentum, the speed v of the rocket increases to %v e , then $v e ,
equal in magnitude to the momentum change mass changes from m t to xV"t- Therefore, after
(Am): e of the small object. Therefore the burst it is j^m where m is the original
first ,
mA: = (Am): total mass before the rocket was fired. After
c
the second burst the mass is t9q X To m or <>
a
Av —m
= Am v e.
on. In Fig. 23-15
of the original mass
we have
left
plotted the fraction
against the speed at-
tained, measuring this speed as a multiple of v e .
molecules — we
the passengers, the left on
vidual approach the single
board.
mathematical curve for continuous ejection.
Let us find out what happens to a rocket that
This curve, called the exponential curve, will tell
ejects mass at a constant exhaust velocity v e with
us the relation between the speedwe can hope to
respect to the rocket. How will the mass of the
attain and mass left over.* Because we can attain
rocket decrease as it picks up speed? To get an
high exhaust velocity only when we eject indi-
idea of the relation between decreasing rocket
vidual molecules, this relation tells us the highest
mass and increasing rocket speed, we shall pretend
speed we can attain with a given fraction of the
that the gas is ejected in bursts. For instance, we
mass left over. The exponential decay (Fig. 23-16)
might make each burst just equal to ^ of the
is the same curve which tells the fraction of radi-
total mass m t of the rocket at the time the burst
oactive atoms left in a sample as time goes on
is ejected. Then
at each burst yV"t is shot out
(Chapter 7).
and yoWi continues forward faster. We see then
We now can estimate how much of the mass of
that Am = yVm and m = i%m c When we divide t .
a
Av = Am v *The graphs show — vs — , the relation between the mass
m e.
m a v,.
\°
\ <
i o
ursts
^\.
1
100
2v e 3v e 4v« 5v e
Speed
"
1 kg 3 kg
•O
(b) 1
»o—
1
*-
• 1
- 5 m
23-17. Two masses, one of 3 kg and the other of 1 kg, are on a of the mass and the man as they recede from you
horizontal frictionless table. In (a) they are held together by a
are inversely proportional to their masses.
thread, with a small spring compressed between them. Their
center of mass is at the position of the masses. In (b) the thread
You are at an important position. Even if you
has been burned and the masses have moved apart — the became invisible we could tell where you were by
large mass 5 meters and the small mass 15 meters. Where is finding the point that correctly divides the distance
the center of mass now? between the little mass Am and the man m. This
point is entirely specified by the masses Am and
23-6. The Center of Mass m and their positions, and it moves along just
Think of a Fourth of July rocket which explodes as if the total mass Am + m were still located
while it is moving along through the air. After there. It is known as the center of mass. Briefly,
the explosion, if you saw all the fragments on one mass of two masses is the point that
the center of
side of the path you would be sure that something divides the distance between them in inverse
was wrong. This kind of experience tells us that proportion to the masses.
somehow the fragments into which the rocket Look at a simple example (Fig. 23-17). A
explodes have an average motion along the mass of 3 kg and a mass of 1 kg have an elastic
original trajectory. There is a special point, spring between them. Suppose we push them
known as the center of mass of the fragments, close together and tie them with a string. We now
that moves along in the same way whether the burn the thread. The masses move apart as in an
rocket explodes or not. By using the law of con- explosion. If the large mass is sliding away at 2
servation of momentum we can find out how to meters a second when the spring has finished push-
describe that point; but the reasoning would ing, the small mass will be sliding away at 6 meters
appear rather complicated if we dealt with the a second — because momentum is conserved.
many fragments into which Fourth of July Whatever the actual speeds, the small mass moves
rockets explode. In this section, therefore, we three times as fast as the large one; and in a
shall discuss the center of mass only for the given time it travels three times as far. Before
simpler case of two fragments. the thread was burned the center of mass was at
Let us go back to the "rocket man" of the the position of the combined masses. Suppose
last section. (Fig. 23-14.) him We shall use that after a certain time the small mass has
and the small mass he carries as the two inter- traveled away 15 meters; then the large mass
acting masses. Suppose that like the ghost in has traveled 5 meters. Where is their center of
that figure, you are moving along beside the rocket mass now? The masses are 20 meters apart,
man, at the same velocity, before he throws away and the center of mass divides the fine between
the mass Am. Now, when he throws the mass Am, them in the ratio 3 to 1. The point is three-
he will move away from you with the velocity A7f, quarters of the way from the small mass to the
and Am will move away from you with velocity v e large one, and one-quarter of the way from the
which is in the opposite direction you keep — large mass to the small one it is 1 5 meters from :
your original motion. Furthermore, the speeds the small mass (Fig. 23-17). That point is the
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 377
projectile
m = 5 kg
v = fr v
(b)
same as the starting point. In other words, the 23-18. (a) A 50-kg bag is at rest on a frictionless floor. A
5-kg projectile is approaching it. The center of mass is -fa of the
center of mass sits still.
way from the bag to the projectile. The projectile moves toward
Now suppose the combined masses are already
the bag with velocity v, but the center of mass moves in with
moving when the thread is burned. That motion velocity v c = -it*, (b) The projectile and the bag together
continues. Both the masses and their center of continue with velocity v' = ^f v.
mass keep that motion unchanged. In addition,
So the velocity v of the bag and projectile is
the masses gain extra motions from the spring,
motions which do not affect the center of mass.
It simply keeps going as if there had been no
This is the same velocity as that of the center of
*'
explosion."
mass before the collision. The center of mass has
Let us look at the center of mass of two masses
now buried itself inside the bag, and it continues
that interact in a different way. Suppose we
to travel with the same velocity as before. This
shoot a projectile of mass m= 5 kg horizontally
times the total mass, always
velocity (£ or
into a sand bag of mass = M 50 kg. The bag
gives the total
~v')
Vy = ve + Vv
Similarly, ~v 2 is
v2 = »o + V 2
P= m^ + m 7 2 2
= m^ + + m (v +
V) r 2 c V^
or P = (my + m )7 2 c +m V +m V x x 2 2.
ViAt and V2^f give the distances moved. The two triangles arc
center of mass they are moving with velocities
Vi and V2 VyAt and V2 At give the distances
\
i
similar, since angle ai
= j
u and
angle bi —
Xl '
,
= Xl
— =— —
m2
X2 X2 Wl
moved. Since the two triangles in the figure are
similar, the magnitudes VyAt and V2 At are related
The total momentum is the same as if the total
V,At m ... mass moved with the center of mass.
_, .
,
by ihr, = ~ 2 or m i^At = m 2 v2At, The parts of a body may move with respect to
v,At
each other. They may move around the center
just as of mass or they may move in and out, toward and
away from the center of mass. No matter what
Also, we see that V 2 is exactly opposite in direction these internal motions, the center of mass of the
to Vy. Therefore, body moves as though all the mass were there
—* — (Fig. 23-21).
m V = —m V
x x 2 2,
When the two masses interact only with each
where the minus sign says that the directions are other, we know that P, the total momentum, is
opposite. In other words, from our point of view constant. So we also conclude that the velocity
as we ride with the center of mass, the momenta of the center of mass never changes. The center
of mi and of m 2 are always equal and opposite of mass acts like a single body with no net force
the total momentum myVy +mV 2 2 that we see on it. It moves in accord with Galileo's principle
is always zero. of inertia. Since there no force acting from the
is
Now let us get back to earth. What does an outside — only the interaction of m, with m 2 —
observer on earth see? The velocity 7^ of my it is pleasing to find that the two interacting
that he sees is made of the velocity 7£ of the center masses do act like a single body in this respect.
:
\*^*^j[ \v**?7 1^
23-21. A multiple-flash photograph (jV second between flashes)
23-7. The Conservation of Momentum in of a moving wrench. The black cross marks its center of mass.
General
In this chapter we have seen many examples We know from the experiments we have been
of the conservation of momentum of two bodies. discussing that the momentum of two interacting
The conservation of momentum applies equally bodies is conserved. Here, before the collision,
well to any number of interacting bodies. In the total momentum P is just the momentum p x
of
this section we shall follow one line of reasoning the first body. After the collision the total mo-
that shows the relation between conservation of mentum P is pi +p 2
'.
Consequently
momentum in general and the conservation of
momentum for two bodies. In the next section
Pi = Pi + Pi-
we shall sketch another line of reasoning showing All we have said so far comes from considering
the same connection for the simple case of the two bodies 1 and 2. Now let us take a closer
" Newtonian " forces. Our belief in the conserva- look at body 2. It is made of the balls a and b.
tion of momentum of many bodies does not We know from the last section that its center of
depend on reasoning alone. It is also backed by mass momentum p 2 is the sum of the momenta
'
This reasoning shows that the total momentum 23-8. Forces of Interaction
is conserved for three bodies (I, a, and b) just as We can connect the conservation of momentum
well as two — at least when two of the three for two interacting bodies with the general law of
bodies are tied together. But the fact that balls conservation of momentum in another way.
a and b were connected by a spring really does not This line of reasoning involves the forces. We
matter; the spring never entered the reasoning at show that the forces in an interaction of two
all. The center-of-mass momentum ~p
2 of body bodies are equal and opposite. Then we consider
2 is constant and equal to ]) 2 J + p* 2b
'
no matter a number of bodies interacting and assume that
if there is a spring holding the balls together or the forces between every pair of bodies are still
not. equal and opposite. With this assumption we
The experiment we just analyzed is no different find the total momentum of all the bodies is
from some of the other experiments we have conserved.
considered. Fig. 23-9 is a picture of a moving In every interaction between two objects that
body colliding with one at rest. If you take a we have studied, momentum is conserved; what
close look at that picture you can see that after one mass loses the other gains: Ap r = — A~p 2 .
the collision the ball that was hit rotates as well Furthermore if we indicate the force that m 1 exerts
as moving along as a whole. The momentum on m 2 by Fx _ 2 and the force that m 2 exerts on
that we measured for the struck ball in Fig. 23-9 m, by F2 _ 15 then Ap x = F2 - At and Ap 2 = F^ 2 At.
J
was really the momentum of the center of mass. The At must be the same for both masses
Just as we can think of the collision that we dis- suffering the collision. push you, you auto-
If I
cussed in the last paragraph as a collision between matically push me back and
cannot push you for I
three bodies rather than two, we could have a longer time than you push me. Thus,
called the collision in Section 23-3 a collision
of three bodies by mentally dividing the struck
Ap = -Ap 2
x
ball intotwo halves, for instance the half with the becomes
black mark on it and the one without. Because F_
2 x
At = -F^At,
of the forces holding the two halves together,
and that now leads to
these two halves are two bodies interacting with
F2-1 = ~F\- 2
each other. After all, what we call a body is our
-
choice. We decide whether to call that collection The idea that forces of interaction must be equal
of arms and legs a chair or to split it into eight and opposite was stated by Newton (after his
bodies called arms, back, seat, and legs. experiments on momentum conservation): "To
By looking and b above as a
at the balls 1, a, is always opposed an equal
every action there
system of three bodies we showed that when three mutual reactions of two bodies
reaction, or the
bodies interact the total momentum stays the upon each other are always equal and directed
same. The conservation of momentum applies to contrary directions." This statement is often
just as well to three bodies as it did to two. We called his third law of motion, although you can
can now see that the conservation of momentum see that it is a law about the forces in inter-
does not depend on the number of bodies at all. actions and that the motions are inferred
from
Ifwe have any system of pieces that interact only it by applying Newton's law of motion to each
among themselves, any isolated system, we can body.
divide it into any number of bodies we choose. Even before we studied momentum, we studied
The same kind of reasoning that we just went one force of interaction with some care. In the
through will show us that the total momentum last chapter we saw that the gravitational attrac-
does not change and does not depend on what tion between two bodies applies equal forces to
we decide to call a body. The conservation of each of the bodies, and the forces are directed
momentum therefore applies to any isolated oppositely along the line between the centers.
system. It appears to be a perfectly general law. The pull of the sun on the earth is equal and
All experience, with interactions of any sort and The
opposite to the pull of the earth on the sun.
any number of bodies, bears out this powerful pull of the earthon the moon is opposite to the
conclusion. force of the moon on the earth, and so on. Later
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 381
in this volume we shall often study what goes This description may not seem so far-fetched if
OB when the forces are of this particularly simple we return to the people sliding around on the ice.
kind. We shall call them Newtonian forces. This time we imagine them playing ball. The
Now let us trust Newton's third law to relate man throws the ball to the boy. When he throws
the forces between two bodies even when many it, he gives it momentum in one direction and he
bodies interact. Then we can use it to give an receives momentum in the opposite direction.
alternative demonstration of "universal" momen- Later on, when the boy catches the ball, the
tum conservation. We have a number of masses momentum is transferred from the ball to him.
moving about in any way in an isolated system, (Of course the mass of the ball is included with
exerting various forces one on another. Since him after he catches it.) The changes in the
all the forces occur in pairs with F,_ x = —F - 2
1 , momenta of the man and of the boy with the ball
their effects on the momenta of the bodies also are equal and opposite. And the interaction
occur in equal and opposite pairs. Therefore, between the man and the boy occurs with a time
while one body gains some momentum, another delay. The time delay is considerably shorter
losesan equal and opposite amount. And in the than that which occurs between the emission of
whole isolated system there can be no net change light by a supernova and its absorption at the
of momentum. surface of the earth; nevertheless, it is an appre-
If Newton's third law is true, momentum con- ciable and measurable time delay. If we forget
servation follows. But it is possible that momen- about the ball, the interaction between the man
tum may be conserved for many bodies even if and the boy does not appear Newtonian; and
some of the forces are not Newtonian. In fact, momentum seems to be lost for a while, when the
as we shall see in Part IV, some forces are not ball is in the air. But everything makes sense
Newtonian. when we include the ball in the system; and in
Here is one example in which the forces are not just the same way everything makes sense in the
obviously Newtonian. Every once in a while a case of the earth and the supernova when we
tremendous bright light flares up somewhere out include the light.
in space —a supernova. The light gets dimmer Looking at light as a ball thrown across from
exponentially, falling off by the factor | every 55 man to boy helps to make the time delay in the
nights (with the same half-life as thenew radio- interaction less mysterious; and it gives a sense
active element Californium). Compared to the of assurance that momentum is still conserved
millions of years light takes to reach us from a in the over-all interaction. The ball-throwing
supernova, the light takes only a short period to scheme is a "model" for the transfer of light —
die down. The supernova has burned out long a model in which we can use Newtonian inter-
before the light gets here. actions. In fact, light is not a ball — balls do
When the light arrives here from a supernova, not appear when thrown and disappear when
it gives us a slight shove. But nobody would stopped, but light does. So we should not take
think that we give the dead supernova a counter the model too literally. When we study inter-
shove at the same moment. If we think of forces actions with light, magnetic fields, etc. in Part IV,
of interaction between us and the supernova we could continue to devise models to keep our
at thesame moment, there is no reason to expect description Newtonian in appearance; but the
them to be equal and opposite. models are apt to be too complicated and to look
The conservation of momentum is all right, artificial. We usually drop them and just hold on
however. What we must do is to include the light momentum.
to the over-all conservation of
as one of the bodies in our description of the By examining the emission and absorption of
universe. When
the light was emitted, the star light (as we shall do to some extent in Part IV),
gave it and was given a shove backwards.
a shove we shall find that the idea that momentum is
Some of the light took off toward us carrying carried by light makes a consistent picture. We
momentum; and when it arrived here millions can, and indeed we must, extend the law of
of years later, the light shoved on us and we shoved conservation of momentum beyond those inter-
on it, so that as the light was absorbed here its actions in which the momentum is solely carried
momentum was transferred to us. by material objects. We must include the momen-
382 MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
turn traveling around in radiation. The inequality of thing happens when radiation is emitted by
in the forces between earth and supernova occurs one atom and absorbed by another. When the
while momentum is moving in radiation. There momentum in radiation is included, the conserva-
are many other similar examples. The same sort tion of momentum spans our universe.
1. How great is the impulse exerted by a 3.00-newton An object with a mass of 10 kg moves at a constant
force for 6.00 sec? speed of 10 m/sec. A constant force then acts on
the object for 4.0 sec, giving it a speed of 2.0 m/sec
2. How great is the impulse that gives an 8.00-kg in the opposite direction.
mass a change in velocity of 4.00 m/sec? (a) Calculate the impulse acting on the object.
(b) What is the magnitude and direction of the
3. What happens to the velocity of an object when force?
an impulse of 2.00 newton-sec is applied to it? (c) What is the momentum of the object before
Suppose this impulse is applied and after the force acts?
(a) to a 6.00-kg object
(b) to a 3.00-kg object. A 0.50-kg ball is thrown straight up at 3.0 m/sec.
(a) What is the initial momentum of the ball?
4. A constant force applied to a 2.0-kg object at (b) What is the momentum at the top of the
restmoves it 4.0 m
in 2.0 sec. What impulse was rise?
applied to the object? (c) What impulse stopped the ball? For how
long did the impulse act?
5. A skier with a mass of 75 kg is moving on level (d) If the ball had a mass of 1 .0 kg, what would
ground at a constant speed of 10 m/sec. Through be different in (a), (b), and (c)?
some miscalculation, he finds himself brought to
a stop in a snowbank during a At of 1.5 sec. A body is made of two masses m i
and m 2,
2.00 kg
(a) What impulse did the snow apply to the and 0.500 kg respectively, tied together by a light
skier? thread. [Fig. 23-23 (a).] It moves on a friction-
(b) What was the average force exerted by the
snowbank to produce this change of speed?
impulse = 10 newton-seconds
mi = 2 kg
*>*-
thread
-*o
I kg
Vi = 20 cm sec
itu = 2 kg
"2 kg
(b)
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 383
less table starting from rest. We set it in motion 23-24. For Problem 9.
the string is
(Fig. 23-25).
burned, the spring expands from 2.0
Your measurements on the photograph should
give you a simple check on the conservation of
cm to 3.0 cm, and the carts move apart. Both hit
momentum. If you find that the momenta of the the bumpers fixed to the table at the same instant,
two balls are not equal in magnitude, how would but cart A moved 0.45 meters while cart B moved
you explain this? 0.87 meters. What is the ratio of:
(a) the speed of A to that of B after the inter-
action?
10. A man is at rest in the middle of a pond on per-
(b) their masses?
fectly frictionless ice. How can he get himself to
the impulses applied to the carts?
(c)
shore?
(d) the accelerations of the carts while the
spring pushes them apart?
11. A 20-kg cart is moving with a speed of 2.0 m/sec.
A boy whose mass is 60 kg jumps off the cart.
When he hits the ground, he is 14. A mass 10 4 kg is coasting along a
freight car of
(a) moving at the same velocity as the cart track at 2 m/sec. A second freight car of twice
(b) not moving relative to the ground the mass comes toward it in the opposite direc-
(c) moving with twice the initial velocity of the tion. If both cars come to rest upon collision, how
cart. fast was the second car moving?
In each case, what is the change in velocity of
the cart? 23-25. For Problem 13.
B -h+wm
n- b-=s:'o d 41
+ 0.45 m - — »-l
rte=
— \ **c> c*}
384 MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
deuteron is slightly less massive than the sum of burst of water goes into it. The water comes
the two. However, these differences are less than squirting in at 20 meters per second horizontal
1 part in 400.) With what velocity will the deuteron speed, and the first burst is half a ton. What is
move if it is formed from a proton moving with the momentum of the truck after receiving the
a velocity of 7.0 X 10* m/sec to the right and a first burst? With what speed is it moving?
MOMENTUM AND THE CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM 385
CHAPTER 24
Although energy may be hard to define precisely, energetic enough to mow a lawn, shovel snow, or
it is familiar to us all. Food is the fuel that But when we
play football, baseball, or tennis.
supplies us with energy to live and work. We need have been active for some time we get tired and
other fuels, too; wood, coal, and gasoline release say we have lost our energy. A good night's rest
great quantities of heat energy, for cooking, warm- and nourishing food will re-establish our capacity
ing homes, or moving our cars. Prometheus, or to do a job. This common use of the word
whoever it was that lighted the first fire, taught "energy" is closely related to the scientific concept
man how to use the energy of sunshine stored by of energy.
growing trees. For thousands of years man used Of course we might mow the lawn with a power
the energy released by burning fuels for such pur- mower instead of using our own muscles. Electric
poses as keeping warm and on a small scale in arts motors, steam engines, and gasoline engines can
and crafts. Until only recently, heavy work was all do useful jobs, and they all require fuel. And
done by muscles. Since the Industrial Revolu- for the human body, looked on as a machine, food
tion, however, man has been using more and more isthe fuel. These facts suggest a close connection
fuel to replace muscular effort. Burning fuels between energy and fuels which enable machines
now supply most of the energy that operates our and muscles to do useful jobs.
farm machinery, runs our factories, and drives Some jobs need no fuel: supporting a roof,
our trains, autos, ships, and airplanes. All this coasting across a frictionless icy lake, remember-
fuel energy contributes significantly to our ma- ing a table of logarithms. (Given a start, each of
terial comfort. One good measure of the material these jobs can be carried on by something that
well-being of a country is the energy taken from uses no fuel: a concrete pillar, continuing mo-
fuel for each citizen during a year. mentum, a printed table of logarithms.) In our
In everyday language, we often speak of energy study of energy, we are not concerned with that
in the following way. We get up in the morning kind of job. We shall deal only with "fuel-using
eager and ready to do a job or take on a challenge, jobs" such as raising a cable car, driving a lawn
and we say we feel full of energy. Perhaps we are mower, heating a house, speeding up a train. For
386
WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY 387
the moment, we shall say that energy is the ure of energy transfer. For the moment, we shall
essential thine involved in jobs — not the creation use work to mean the measure of the job
done or of
of energy but its transfer from one form to an- the fuel used. Notice that these two measures
other. of energy transfer agree with each other. Think
of any job: you will see that the number of unit
24-1. Energy Transfer jobs in it and the amount of fuel used are pro-
Jobs are done by the transfer of energy from portional. To do two equal jobs we need twice as
one form to another or from one place to another much fuel as for one. For instance, we can cut
— for example, from energy in fuel to energy in a twice as much lawn with two pints of gasoline in
speeding train; from heat in a boiler to heat in a the mower as we can with one pint.
room. Fuels, then, hold energy in stored form, We now want to find a combination of force
ready for use. A given amount of fuel contains a and motion to serve as a measure of energy trans-
given amount of energy. You will see later that fer. We therefore look for such a combination
energy is never created or destroyed but only which is proportional to the fuel used and to the
transferred (from one form to another or from number of unit jobs done. We shall call this
one place to another). It is somewhat like cash, combination the "work."
which changes hands only when someone buys Suppose a gasoline engine pulls cable cars up to
something. the top of a mountain. How does the fuel con-
Consider what we could do with the energy sumption for the job depend on the force exerted
stored in some gasoline. We might burn the by the cable? It takes a certain amount of fuel to
gasoline in an automobile engine and use the lift one car up the mountain, pulling the cable with
energy to run the car up an incline. Or we might a definite force for a definite distance. It takes the
burn the gasoline under a steam boiler. There the same amount of fuel again to lift a second, identi-
energy is transferred to heat in the steam. The cal car. The fuel used to lift two cars is twice that
steam can expand and move a piston which can used to lift one of them, because there are two
raise a load, thus making a further transfer of equal jobs. Furthermore, we could pull two cars
energy. The load may then be hitched to the up the mountain at the same time with separate
axle of a car by a rope passing over a pulley; and cables, each run by an identical engine. In this
if the load falls it can pull the car up the incline. way we could lift them simultaneously, exerting
The energy has again been transferred and at least twice the force and burning twice the fuel needed
some of the energy in the fuel has ended up in to lift one. We could tie the two cables together,
raising the car by a more roundabout method. In side by side, and that would make no difference to
the final stage, energy stored in the raised-load the fuel burned or to the job done. We could even
system is changed to energy stored in the raised-car replace this double cable by a single cable sup-
system. A detailed accounting, reckoning energy porting both cars, and use one engine to do the
changes by jobs or by fuel (or by work, which job — but would have to burn fuel
that engine
we shall discuss next) shows that energy is not faster. The fuel lift the two cars would
used to
created or lost ; energy is conserved. still be twice that needed to lift one. The fuel
needed doubled when the force exerted is
is
24-2. Work: A Measure of Energy doubled. So we say work, which we are going to
Transfer use as the measure of energy transfer, is propor-
When energy is transferred in some fuel-using tional to the force exerted (Fig. 24-1).
job, we can measure the transfer, the cost of the Now consider how the fuel used depends on the
job, eitherby (a) the number of unit jobs (e.g. distance a car moves up the mountain (Fig. 24-2).
number of lawns to be mowed, or the number of Lift the car up halfway, then up to the top. To
houses to be heated), or by (b) the amount of fuel lift the car up the second half of the mountain, the
used (e.g. the number of gallons of gasoline). engine exerts the same force and moves the same
In the jobs just described, forces are exerted and length of cable as it does to lift the car up the first
things move. We say that work has been done in half. The same job is done twice; so it takes
those transfers of energy, and we shall now develop twice as much fuel to move a car all the way as it
the idea of work as a precise and reliable meas- does to move it halfway. The fuel used is doubled
388 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY
7*1 '/;: r-
24—1. Above. Pulling two cable cars up the mountain requires 24—2. Below. It takes twice as much fuel to pull the cable car to
twice the fuel needed to haul up one; the force is doubled also. the top of the mountain as it does to pull it up half way. Work is
Thus we see that the work must be proportional to the force. therefore proportional to the distance moved.
WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY 389
\
JU^-^r
-"^^-"^
1 '
If we put the brakes on and turn off the engine, supporting force does no work, (b) A stone at the end of a
string is whirling around a post. The string is attached to a
the car stops and thereafter no energy is trans-
frictionless bearing on the post. No work is done transferring
ferred to it from the fuel. Although a force is still
energy to the stone because there is no component of force in the
exerted to hold the car there, no work is done be- direction of the stone's motion.
mountain. The fuel gives energy to the motion of exert a force on a body perpendicular to the
the pistons, moving them through distances with direction of its motion. For example, in our study
forces opposite to those of friction. In this way, of motion we used bodies sliding along horizontal,
energy goes into heating the engine. Energy is smooth surfaces on practically frictionless bear-
still being transferred from fuel to other forms ings. The supporting surface exerts on the body
and places though none is used to do the job of a vertical force equal in magnitude and opposite
lifting the car. Even when the engine is pulling in direction to its weight [Fig. 24-3 (a)]. After
the cable car up the mountain, some of the fuel's receiving an initial push, the body will continue
energy does these other things. The amount of to move along the horizontal surface with
fuel actually burned may differ from trip to trip — practically constant velocity. No fuel is used in
for example, if the pistons are poorly lubricated maintaining this motion, and we thus conclude
on one trip, more fuel will be used. Correcting that the force exerted by the supporting surface
for these effects, however, we find that the fuel does not perform any work.
used for the job of lifting the cable car — or- for Take another example in which the motion
any other particular job — is always the same. occurs in a direction perpendicular to the force.
Consider a stone whirling around on the end of a
24-3. More About the Definition of Work string which is tied to a rigid post [Fig. 24-3 (b)].
We developed the definition of work as force The stone moves around and around without
times distance from the example of a cable pulling Time and time again it comes to
changing speed.
390 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY
the same place moving at the same speed; and We start the object from rest and pull with force
therefore its energy is unchanged. At the other F for a distance x. (Fig. 24—4.) The energy trans-
end of the string, the post remains motionless. ferred is Fx, and since the object started from rest
It burns no fuel, and transfers no energy to the this energy transferred to it is its energy of motion
string. Therefore, the string neither gives nor re- or kinetic energy. How can we express Fx in terms
ceives energy; so its pull does no work. of m and ^? We have
What happens if we pull with a force at some F= ma,
other angle to the motion? Then the force has a so Fx — max.
component in the direction of motion, and this
Since Fis constant, a is constant; and we already
component speeds up the stone. After that, be-
know (from Section 5-7, Equation 3) that
cause it is moving faster, the stone can do more
= lax v
2
work pulling something as it comes to rest. It
or = v 2 /2.
ax
therefore has more energy. The component of
Therefore, Fx = max = mv 2/2.
force in the direction of motion has done work on
the stone, transferring energy of motion to it. The work W = Fx done accelerating the mass m
Briefly, the component of any force perpendicu- from rest is equal to the quantity mv 2 /2, or in other
lar to the motion does no work. The work done words, mv 2 /2 is equal to the energy transferred to
on an object equal to the component of the force
is the body in setting it in motion. We call it EK ,
along the direction of motion times the distance the kinetic energy of the body: that is
moved. „ mv 2
tance has been designed to agree with the idea purely in terms of the mass and its motion. It
that equal amounts of fuel will supply equal shows no sign of the force used to give the body
amounts of energy. Does this definition of work this energy, and no sign of the distance moved. It
also enable us to say how much energy a moving does not depend on the way in which the energy
body has? The value of our definition of work was transferred to the mass. If we know the mass,
depends on the answers to questions like this. we can evaluate the kinetic energy by observing
Suppose we apply a force to a body on a friction- how fast the body moves. In other words, our
less table. The body accelerates, gaining speed. definition of £ K is in terms of the state of motion
While the force acts, we do work transferring of the mass without reference to its history.
energy to the body. We calculate the work done Whenever the mass is in the same state of motion,
on the body as it moves a measured distance mv 2 /2 is the same. The body has the same kinetic
under the action of the force. This work is the energy.
energy transferred, and it gives us an expression We can easily see that the work to give a body
for the energy of motion of the body. This energy that starts from rest a certain mv 2 (2, a certain
is called kinetic energy. We want to find an ex- kinetic energy, is always the same. Try using
pression for it in terms of the motion, using the
24- 4. A force F is exerted on a mass m, which moves o distance
object's speed v. We shall find that we also need x starting from rest. The energy transferred to m is Fx, equal
to use its mass m, but nothing else. to mv2/2, which we call the kinetic energy of the body.
1
v = o
777777777777777777, //////////////////////////////////mffffffrnm///////////////////.
j
Ek = tk — -j- — rx
WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY 391
double the force for half the distance, you will get
the same m;- 2 for the same work. Suppose that
:
kkU fc-^
u.
l . and from Section 5-7, we know that after an
additional distance A.v its speed v is given by
On multiplying by -y
;.- = tf
we
+ 2a' Ax.
see that -=- at the end is
x L »L J
Axa Axb Axc
, .1
II Distance
x'
ma* 24—5. The total work done by a changing force can be calculat-
-=-
~2 = -V" + ma &x. ed by taking the sum of the areas of the many small rectangles
with base Ax and height F. This total work gives the total
Since ma is the new force F', change in mv2 /2. In moving from x to x', it is represented by
the area shaded.
ma' Ax =F'Ax.
get the same result. Only the component of force 24-5. The Transfer of Kinetic Energy from
along the motion enters the work, and only the One Mass to Another
component along the motion changes the speed. So far we have examined what happens when
Consequently, our definition of kinetic energy as one object gains or loses kinetic energy. This gain
mv 2 /2 is such that the same amount of work always or loss is measured by the work done in transfer-
gives the same change of kinetic energy. ring the energy to or from the object. We believe
mass m is moving with speed v, its kinetic
If a that energy transferred to the object comes from
energy is mv 2 /2. This amount of energy had to be someplace, and energy transferred from it goes
transferred to it to accelerate it from rest to the somewhere. For example, when one ball hits an-
speed r. When a force acts on the mass to slow it other at rest, the transfers energy to the
first ball
down, the kinetic energy decreases. Energy is second one. Fig. 24-6 shows a flash photo of a
transferred from kinetic energy of the mass to billiard-ball collision. By measuring the distances
energy in the system that exerts the retarding force. the balls move between flashes, we can find the
The work Fx Ax, when the force Fx retards the kinetic energy of the ball with the dot as it came
motion, measures the energy coming out of the in from the left; we can find its kinetic energy
moving mass as it slows down. By using the same after collision as it went off more slowly to the
reasoning as above, we see that if the body has lower right, and also find the kinetic energy of the
392 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY
dotless ball after the collision set it in motion to- ample in which the force has a simpler behavior.
ward the upper right. We find that the kinetic After we we can
see the details in this simple case
energy lost by the dotted ball is almost exactly return to billiard balls.
equal to that gained by the other ball. To make a simple preliminary study of collisions
How does the energy transfer actually occur in and energy we shall study an artificial case in
a billiard-ball collision? The balls approach, ex- which two colliding bodies exert no force on each
erting no force on each other until they are very other until they get within a distance d and then
close, and we say they are "in contact." Then exert a constant repulsion F on each other as long
repulsion sets in: each ball pushes the other. as the separation is less than d (Fig. 24-7).
These forces change in magnitude, growing and Suppose the collision takes place along a line.
decreasing again as the balls distort each other and (Fig. 24-8.) Moving along this line with velocity
finally push each other away. Because the forces v lf mass m, approaches the mass m 2 which is
the
are changing, a billiard-ball collision is difficult to at rest. Nothing happens until m x gets to the
analyze in detail. We shall be able to understand distance d away from m 2 From then on, how-
.
the transfer better if we start with an easier ex- ever, m 2 is pushed forward with force F, and m l
mi nr
•
— L
-•- d - -J
• — interaction starts
1 -•- — - •—
2 — -•- -* — •*
W~
'
7 — •- •—
8 —
-« d *-
-—
interaction stops
9 — — *—
11 — • —-
Position
For this collision with a steplike force, we can they interact along a line, with the force shown in Fig. 24-7.
The masses are shown at equal time intervals. Moss mi comes in
calculate the details of the motion of each mass.
from the left. When the distance between masses is less than
This we have done, using Newton's law, for masses
d, m\ slows down and mi speeds up from rest. 'After 8g time
such that m = 3m
x 2 and we constructed Fig.
;
intervals, in this particular case, the separation is again greater
24-8 in this way. But we do not need to go than d; the force drops to zero; and the two masses move
through the details of calculating the motion to apart with constant speeds. The gain in kinetic energy of m2
find out whether the transfer of kinetic energy over the whole interaction is equal to the loss of kinetic energy
of mi.
from m x
is the same as the transfer of kinetic
energy to m 2. Because the force has the con-
24—9. and
The positions of mi and m* at the beginning (top line)
stant value F during the interaction, the energy
the end (bottom line) of an interaction. Comparing the two lines,
transferred into kinetic energy of m 2 is F times the d plus the distance m moves
; is equal to d plus the distance mi
distance that m
moves during the collision. Also,
2 moves. Thus mi and m? move the same distance during the
As = Ax 2 — Ax v
lfm 2 moves the distance Ax 2 in the direction away
at the end from m„ the separation is increased by this
A Xl s + As of interval distance ; but if m x
moves by Ax x
in the same direc-
24-10. During a short time interval, while mi and m; interact, by that distance.
Axi is the distance mi moves and Ax> is the distance mi moves, Now when the force of interaction F in this
s is between mi and m 2 and $
the original separation As is , + interval is repulsive, the kinetic energy trans-
As therefore is the
the separation at the end of the interval.
ferred to m 2 is FAx 2 . This is the work done in
change in the separation. Comparing the top line of the figure
with the bottom line, we see that s + Ax2 = Axi + (s + As).
accelerating m 2. On the other hand, the kinetic
Then, subtracting (Axi + s) from both sides, we get the result energy taken from the motion of m x
is FAxv
Ax 2 — Axi = As. This energy is transferred from the motion of m x
equal and opposite for the two masses ; and as we Since, Ax — Ax = As, we can write the change
2 x
— •* As u
1
s
o
u.
s s+As d
Separation
Separation
24—11. When the separation changes from s to i+ As, the
change in the total kinetic energy is given by the shaded area.
24-12 (a). The graph of a force which is a function of the
separation of two bodies. The force is zero beyond the range of
interaction.
that the masses go apart still farther but there is trated in Fig. 24-12 (a). Consider for a moment
no force acting on the masses. Consequently what happens to the total kinetic energy when the
£K stays the same. The collision is over and the separation of the two bodies decreases by the As
kinetic energy remains at its final value, the same shown in Fig. 24-12 (b). The force is almost
value that it had before the collision began. constant; and FAs, represented by the shaded
« i {
II
o
u.
As Separation
by As, the kinetic energy Ek changes by FAs — the shaded to a separation s, they lose a total amount of kinetic energy
large separation to separation s they lose all the netic energies EKl
change by equal and
and EK2
kinetic energy represented by the area under the opposite amounts over the whole interaction;
F versus s curve. Then, in going apart again, they that is
action in which the force depends only on the This vector relation is always true for two bodies
separation. An interaction of this kind is called forming an isolated system; in particular, there-
an elastic interaction or an elastic collision. fore, it is true for elastic collisions.
The interactions we see about us, such as col- The similarity between the equation relating the
lisions between billiard balls, or between a base- changes in momentum and the equation relating
ball and a bat, are never perfectly elastic, but the changes in kinetic energy goes further. A
many are very nearly so. As we saw in Section change in momentum is given by the impulse FAt,
24-5, when a moving billiard ball strikes one at which is the measure of the transfer of momentum
rest, practically no kinetic energy is lost. When from one body to another, just as the transfer of
we come to the physics of atoms and of elementary energy is given by the work FAx.
particles such as the electron, we shall find col- From the fact that in these two transfers no
which are even more nearly
lisions elastic. When momentum and no kinetic energy is lost, we can
one electron hits another one, no loss of kinetic learn a great deal about the final motion of the
energy is normally detectable, although in col- two masses which interact. The two equations
lisions with very rapidly moving electrons a contain a large part of the information needed to
noticeable amount of energy may be radiated determine the final speeds ot' and v 2 '. In particu-
away. lar, if the motion takes place along a straight fine,
WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY 397
m, +m :
In making Fig. 24-8, we used a constant F with-
in the range of interaction d; and we chose
and that
2/Mj
m x = 3m 2 Then from Newton's law we found
.
m + x
nu
off the figure. If you calculate v t and v 2 from the
,
' '
If the collision is not head-on, we need some more equations in the last paragraph based on the
information to tell us how far off the center it is conservation of momentum and of kinetic energy,
and therefore in what direction the masses will go you will get the same results.
We
can determine the final speeds v x and lead to a specific prediction for the final speed
:
/ from the collision discussed in
that result of m x when its initial speed is given. Further-
Section 24-5 by using the equality and opposi- more, by putting this value of vx into
tion of the changes of kinetic energy and of V2 ~ Vl +^ We get
momentum. Here the form
2m x
vz "1
nil +m
i
i
2 2 )
which tells us the final speed of the second
for the changes of £K will be useful. Notice mass.
that we can write this equation as Actually in getting this answer for the final
speeds,we have put in quite a bit of informa-
-{m
i
vx
,
-m v x)
x /»i' + v\
tion. Most of this information was intro-
x x [
2 )
duced when we assumed that the collision
=(»*,•- o) (5^2) •
was head-on so that the masses move only
along the x axis. If we had allowed one
We see that each side of this energy equation mass approach the other off center (Fig.
to
is the product of the momentum change of 24-6), the problem would be more compli-
one mass times the average of the initial and cated to handle, and we would have to put in
final speed of the mass. Because we know that the information representing the distance off
the momentum changes are equal and oppo- center in order to get the answer. We also
site, we can cancel — Ap = —(m v — m v )
x x x x x
specified that m 2 is initially at rest. These
on the left with Ap = (m 2 v 2 — 0) on the
2 equations do not apply if m 2 is in motion
right. We therefore obtain the additional at the start of the interaction. The more
information that general equations that apply then are, how-
ever, easy to derive by the same method.
Vi +v x
= v2 .
the equation of the conservation of mo- We assumed that there was a change in
mentum momentum in the interaction. It is possible
even in our head-on collision to get another
— (m vx —m v x) = m2v2
x x
answer: if v = v x and v 2 = 0, the mo-
x
Sometimes visible masses (particles whose tracks the force we use is the net force. The kinetic
we can see) collide with particles which are in- energy we get this way is the energy of motion of
visible to us. Then we can still try to apply the the body as a whole, excluding the energy of
conservation of kinetic energy and of momentum, internal motions like vibration or rotation of the
assuming that every invisible particle has the same parts about the center of mass.
mass. Second, we can compute the work done by any
In much this way James Chadwick discovered one of the forces acting during a specified part of
the neutron in 1932. In his experiments protons the motion, and add together the amount of work
at rest by unknown invisible particles
were hit done by each. The sum will be just equal to the
which came from a region where beryllium was work done by the net, or resultant, force. To see
bombarded by the alpha particles from polonium. how this result comes about, suppose that the
After the collisions the tracks of protons could be motion of the body is along the x axis. Then the
: :
m + mp
w Po 4 Be deS
\\ /^ J
lb le
,-
P°* * In his experiments, Chadwick measured the
speeds vp ' and ou'. He found that the ratio
M
7fc particles -
protons or
r —. was about 7.5. Therefore
work done by each of the forces Fa Fb, . . . etc., the work done by this force represents the transfer
acting on the body is: of energy from the outside agency to the moving
body. If the force is opposite to the direction of
W & = F^x, W h = Fb *x, .
In each case it is the component of the force in the the outside agency. The net result of the whole
direction of the motion times the distance x which process will depend on whether the resultant force
the body moves. The total work is then the sum is in the direction of motion or opposite to it. In
the first case more energy is transferred to the
W=W + W + ...=
K h (i="ax +Fbx -f- . . .) x = F*x,
moving body than is taken from it. In the second
where Fx is the component of the net force along case more energy is taken out of the moving body
the direction of motion. than is supplied to it. In this way we can general-
In physical language each force represents the ize the results of this chapter to apply to as many
push or pull of some outside agency on the moving bodies or as many external forces as are present
body. If the force is in the direction of motion, in a complex situation.
400 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY
24-10. Loss of Kinetic Energy in a connection between heat and the missing kinetic
Frictional Interaction energy when we recall that the temperature of a
that does not depend just on the separation be- molecules (Section 9-6). This means that heating
tween two bodies — energy may be turned into a a body, raising its temperature, increases the
different form. It may become heat rather than kinetic energy of its molecular motions. The
the kinetic energy of the over-all motions of the energy which does not appear as kinetic energy
bodies. of the motion of the table as a whole may thus be
Consider the motion of a mass sliding on a table found in the increased energy of motions of the
top. The frictional force exerted by the table top molecules in the heated regions of the table and
on the mass slows the mass down. The work done the mass.
To what is the energy transferred? There is an down. Also, the shape of the ball is changed:
equal and opposite force exerted by the mass, and, on the rebound, the interaction stops when
acting on the table, but the table hardly moves the ball is closer to the floor than when the inter-
under the influence of this force. Consequently action began (Fig. 24-16). The force between ball
this force on the table does practically no work, and floor at this position is now zero, whereas
and the kinetic energy of the table does not when the ball was moving down at this position,
increase appreciably. The kinetic energy of the the force was not zero. As a result, the total
mass is taken out, but it is not put into the kinetic kinetic energy is less after collision than before
energy of the table (Fig. 24-15).
A horizontal frictional force F m acts in region 1 on the lower manently deformed by the interaction and, on the rebound, the
surface of the mass, taking kinetic energy out of It. The loss
interaction ceases before the ball reaches the separation at
measured by the work done as the mass moves, slowing which the interaction started. As a result, the speed on the
ofEk is
down as a result of this frictional force. A frictional force F rebound is less than the speed at which the ball came in.
does no work, since the table does not move. The table gains
no 5k- Where has this energy gone? Apparently it accumulates and the ball of putty bounces back, moving very
in the region of contact around 1 and 2, where we observe an slowly. The putty ball seems to lose kinetic
increase in temperature. energy permanently, but we find the putty hotter
after collision with the floor than it was before.
It is, however, common observation that the This interaction is much like that between the
surfaces of the mass and of the table which have sliding mass and the table. In this example,
been in contact become hot. The energy taken however, the friction may all occur inside the
out of the moving mass is associated with this putty ball when one part of the ball moves with
heating. We can already get some idea of the respect to another.
WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY 401
A collision in which the forces are smaller when that the forces of interaction are zero and all end
the bodies separate than when the bodies come up far apart again, the kinetic energy at the
together is called an inelastic collision. After beginning and at the end is the same. Some
inelastie collisions extra heat usually is observed. bodies may have gained kinetic energy; others
In Chapter 26 we shall discuss heat as a form of may have lost it but the total comes back to what
;
energv For the present we shall keep our atten- it was.This statement about the equality of the
tion on situations in which friction and heating total kinetic energy at the beginning and at the
bodies, the total kinetic energy after a completed kinetic energy can eventually be regained. As
interaction is the same as the total kinetic energy long as the forces of interaction depend only on
before the interaction. The collision of the two the relative positions of the bodies, the "lost"
bodies is elastic. kinetic energy is actually stored in the system.
We can make the same kind of statement when This stored energy we call potential energy. It is
many bodies interact. If they all start so far apart the subject of the next chapter.
(b) you run with it a horizontal distance of Assume that the single difference is:
10 meters in two seconds at constant velocity in (a) A has twice the velocity of B.
catching the bus? (b) A moves north, B south.
(c) you lift it 0.80 meter getting into the bus? (c) A moves in a circle, B in a straight line.
(d) you carry it 20 meters down a ramp that (d) A is a projectile falling vertically downward;
makes an angle of 30 degrees with the horizontal? B is a projectile moving vertically upward at the
same speed.
(e) A consists of two separate pieces attached
by a light string each equal in mass to the mass
of B.
8. Compare the kinetic energies of two objects, A 15. A man pulls with a string on a 20.0-kg mass
and B, identical in every respect except one. initially at rest on the floor. He exerts a force of
WORK. AND KINETIC ENERGY 403
I
Z
4 21. A moving electron "hits" a stationary proton
head-on. The forces between the two depend on
the separation only. (The mass of a proton is
1840 times the mass of an electron.) What frac-
tion of the electron's kinetic energy is transferred
to the proton?
4 6 8 10 12 14
thefirst body is moving to the right at 0.50 m/sec interaction force is zero when the separation is
and the second body is moving to the right at greater than 0.10 meter and is 4.0 newtons when
404 WORK AND KINETIC ENERGY
the separation is less than this distance. (Note 29. Rub the palms of your hands together briskly.
that some of the answers in this problem are easier Do you do any work? What happens to the
to get if you use the conservation of momentum.) energy?
(a) What is the kinetic energy of the masses
before the interaction? 30. I push a finger steadily across a glass table top so
(b) What will be the kinetic energy of each mass that it moves at a constant speed of 3 cm/sec under
when the separation is at a minimum? Recall that arm exerts on the finger? What energy does it
the speeds at minimum separation are equal. transfer into the finger each second?
(d) What is the minimum separation? (Your (b) How large and in what direction is the force
answer to part (c) tells you the net loss of kinetic of friction on my finger? What work is done by
energy of the two masses at minimum separation.) the force of friction on my finger each second?
In what direction does it transfer energy in or —
24. An antiaircraft shell has a kinetic energy EK and out of my finger?
a momentum p. Just then it explodes. What can (c) What is on the finger? What
the net force
you say about: work does the do per second on my
net force
(a) the momentum of the pieces? moving finger? What happens to the kinetic
(b) the kinetic energy of the pieces? energy of the finger?
(d) What is the force exerted horizontally on
25. (a) In Fig. 24-6 make the necessary measure- the table by my finger? How far does the table
ments and calculate the ratio of the kinetic energy move? What work on the table does this force
before and after impact of the billiard ball marked do each second? In which direction does it trans-
with the dot. fer energy — in or out of the table?
(b) What fraction of the initial energy of the (e) What happens in the region where finger
dotted ball gained by the undotted ball?
is and table are in contact?
CHAPTER 25
In the last chapter we focused our attention on 25-1. The Spring Bumper
the transfer of kinetic energy from one moving Here is a simple example of energy being stored
body to another. We found that for complete (Fig. 25-1). Consider a mass m sliding with
collisions the loss of kinetic energy of one body constant velocity on a horizontal frictionless
must equal the gain of kinetic energy of the other table. The mass collides with a spring bumper
as long as the force of interaction depends solely attached to a large body so massive that it hardly
on their separation. Then with the help of the law moves. When the moving mass hits the spring,
of conservation of momentum we were able to the spring is compressed. It exerts a force back
calculate the final speeds of two bodies colliding on the moving mass, slowing it down. The kinetic
head-on in terms of their masses and their speeds energy of the moving body decreases until the
prior to the interaction. speed is zero. At this point the kinetic energy
In this application, the law of conservation of of the moving body has disappeared, and the
momentum, — A/^ = Ap 2,
and the law of con- spring is compressed a maximum amount. All
servation of kinetic energy, — A£Ki = A£E 2»seem the energy is stored as potential energy. After
strikingly similar; but there is an important that the mass picks up speed in the opposite
difference. The changes in momentum are equal direction. Finally it leaves the spring with its
and opposite in any time interval, and the momen- original speed and kinetic energy. All the kinetic
tum is therefore conserved instant by instant energy lost during the compression has been
throughout the interaction. On the other hand, regained. At intermediate compressions, the
even in elastic collisions the total kinetic energy energy was partly kinetic and partly potential.
is not the same at all stages of the interaction. In the last chapter we saw that kinetic energy
Only at the end of the interaction does it return will be completely regenerated the force depends
if
to its initial value. During the collision, the total only on separation. Here compression plays the
kinetic energy first decreases and then increases. same role as separation. When the kinetic energy
At intermediate stages some of the kinetic energy is storedand can be recovered completely, we
has disappeared. suspect that the pattern of the force exerted by
What happens to this lost kinetic energy? the spring is the same on the way in, while the
Because it all comes back, it must be stored some- spring is being compressed, and on the way out,
how in the interacting system. We call this stored when it is expanding.
energy the potential energy of the system. Measurements of the force as a function of com-
406
POTENTIAL ENERGY 407
by the
lost kinetic
W,
U—-x H"4
mm - s *-
mm
v =
At maximum compression, the mass
has come to rest. All its kinetic
v-^
As the spring is still
%. wmm
The mass has returned to the place
where it first hit the spring. It now
has its original speed v and its
IWvVVW!
,
y
WsfWWi
The mass continues to move away
with speed v and its original kinetic /S/
energy.
x =
25—2. A graph of the restoring force F exerted by a good 25-3. The work done in compressing a spring is measured by
spring, as a function of its compression x. the area under the F versus x curve from zero to any compression
x. This represents the potential energy stored in the spring at
losing kinetic energy, the transfer of energy from the compression x.
good spring, one with a single force-compression such a graph of U versus x for the spring with
curve, this work is always the same when the same the force-compression curve of Fig. 25-2.
>•
CO
41
c
UJ
u ^>
F
a f E = Amv- -f- U
mvcf i
X 2
u
v /
u.
II
N /
\ /
A/
Li-
f /
//
\
« . »
Compression \
\
therefore
When we fasten a mass m to the end of any
spring and set the system in motion, it oscillates
U= J{altitude)(base) back and forth. The expression
= %(kx)x = \kx 2 .
\mv 2 +U = E
This formula gives the potential energy for a
enables us to calculate the speed v from the poten-
spring with a linear restoring force.
The graph of U versus x can
tial energy U at any stage of the motion (Fig.
be checked experi-
25-6). For example, if the spring exerts a linear
mentally (whether was obtained from a formula
it
restoring force, we know
that the mass oscillates
or from the areas under the force-compression
in harmonic motion.
simple (Section 21-8.)
curve). Compress the spring different distances x
Also we know that U = \kx z for such a force.
and let it go, each time accelerating a known mass.
For simple harmonic motion, then, we see that
Measure the kinetic energy with which the mass
ends up. Its value should be the same as U at \mv 1 + \kx = z
E.
compression x.
For example, suppose we have a spring of force
The kinetic energy when the mass leaves the
constant k = 2 newtons/meter. We attach a
spring is equal to the potential energy when the
mass m = 8 kg to and pull it out 1 meter from
it
mass is at rest, because all the potential energy is
its rest position. Then we let the mass go. What
turned into kinetic energy on the At way out.
will be its speed as it passes through the rest
intermediate points the gain in kinetic energy and
position? With what period will the mass oscil-
the loss of potential energy are equal, and the sum
late back and forth? To answer the first question,
is constant: that is,
we first notice that the mass is not in motion when
> +U 2 = E. we let it go. The kinetic energy \mv z is therefore
zero, and the constant total energy E is equal
The constant E is the potential energy at maximum 2
to the potential energy %kx Therefore, when .
On the other hand, when the mass passes the rest In Section 21-8 we learned that the period is
rriA rriB
@ » •
\-> d A
® • interaction starts
@— •-
j— v. ^ minimum «pporotion — pqunl vploritipi
p0 *l cage put on
®-+ •—
©-*• • »
POTENTIAL ENERGY 411
s\stem seems to have less energy than it had visible spring. All we have is the forces, and we
originally.However, If we remove the cage so say that this potential energy is stored in the
that A and B can push apart, we get back to the force-field of the interaction. The force-field
original kinetic energy, provided the interaction behaves an imaginary spring.
like
forces depend on the separation alone. Here we Actually we should say things the other way
are considering only those interactions which round. In a spring the potential energy is really
provide the same forces at the same separation, stored in the force-fields of interactions between
whether A and B are approaching or moving its atoms. The visible shape of the spring merely
apart. Such forces make the collision elastic. tells us whereatoms are.
its
While the cage is on, we have less kinetic energy To understand more fully what happens to the
than we had originally; and we say that the miss- atoms, consider what happens when two large
ing kinetic energy is stored as potential energy. masses hit with a bang. As they come into
We can keep it stored as long as we like. And "contact" atoms of one body approach the nearest
whenever we allow the two interacting masses to atoms of the other so closely that large interaction
move apart again, the kinetic energy will increase forces arise and energy is stored in the inter-
bv just the amount that we stored when we trapped atomic force-fields of both masses. We might
them in the cage. picture the collision of two freight cars as com-
Whenever the two masses are held at a given pressing inter-atomic springs [Fig. 25-8 (b)]. A
separation, there is a definite potential energy. better picture would show the atoms with no
This does not depend on how fast the system is real springs, but only their force-fields to store
moving or on how the masses were pushed to- energy [Fig. 25-8 (c)].
gether. And all this energy will come out as Obviously only some "contact" collisions (for
kinetic energy when we let them go. The whole example, those of rubber or steel balls) can store
arrangement is very much like the spring bumper
25-8. How
— where we could have stored the potential stored to
In (a) two freight cars are
make them rebound? We
colliding. is the energy
might imagine that the crash
energy by applying a latch to hold the spring compresses a very large number of small springs between the
compressed. However, this time we have no atoms (b). A better picture (c) would show no interatomic
springs, but energy is stored in the force fields between the atoms.
(b)
3?w;?
412 POTENTIAL ENERGY
temporary
directions for
components of
each motion
25—9. A graph of force versus separation for two interacting
masses. The shaded area represents the work required to bring
When we look at one large mass colliding ine- two masses depend only on their separation
lastically with another, we see that the forces are there is a definite potential energy at a given
not the same on the outward trip after collision separation. The masses may be moving in any
as on the inward trip. Some of the visible direction.
kinetic energy of the motion of the large masses somewhat more
Let's look at such a collision in
disappears (We calculate it by
permanently. detail. The motion of each mass can be split
using \mv 2 for each large mass and do not go into into two components, one along the line joining
atomic details.) Because this lost kinetic energy them and one perpendicularly across it (Fig.
is not directly returnable, we do not regard it as 25-10). One of these components is in the
potential energy. direction of the interaction force F and the other
For elastic collisions, the potential energy is perpendicular to it. From Chapter 24 we
depends only on the separation s between the know that when and motion are perpendicu-
force
masses A and B. It is given by the work necessary lar to each other, no work is done. So the compo-
to bring them to this separation from a separation nents of the motions perpendicular to F are not
larger than the range of interaction. It is the involved in any transfer of energy. On the other
area under the force-separation curve shown hand, when force and motion are in the same
shaded in Fig. 25-9. Because the potential direction, work is done, energy is transferred.
energy is only a function of separation, it does Consequently (since the force is in the direction
not depend on the method of bringing the masses of the separation), the force of interaction times
to separation s. We
have already seen that we the change in separation measures the transfer
can let the masses collide head-on with any kinetic from potential to kinetic energy just as it does
energy or push them together by hand. The for a head-on collision.
resulting potential energy is the same. We can apply the same treatment to any isolated
The potential energy is useful because it is a system of masses, however complex, so long as all
function of the state of the system at the moment the forces are Newtonian forces that is, so long—
and not of its history. Because it is independent as the forces of interaction between each pair of
of history, we do not need to restrict ourselves to masses are equal and opposite and depend only
collisions that occur along a fixed straight line. on the separation. Under these conditions, the
So long as the forces of interaction between the potential energy can be defined and the total
I'DIIMIM ENERGY 413
mechanical energy (kinetic plus potential) of and other objects. Consider the system formed
an isolated system remains constant. b\ the earth and by a mass m which we assume
We can now see that potential energy may be to be \er\ small compared with the mass of M
related to the energy stored in fuels: in gasoline the earth. If we release the body m above the
or in the nuclei of atoms, for example. In using earth's surface, it will fall. Simultaneously the
fuels we do not release the energy bv removing earth will rise (slightly) toward the body. Each
a cage: but under appropriate conditions, we mass gains kinetic energy while the potential
can turn the energy stored in fuel into the kinetic energy of the system decreases.
energy of the motions of large masses — or into At any one instant of time the momenta of the
the kinetic energy of the random motions of body and the earth are equal and opposite.
molecules. By using the concepts of kinetic and Therefore the speed v of the body and the speed
we can understand many of the
potential energy, V of the earth satisfy the equation
complex transformations of energy that go on
in nature. mv = MV or V= —
M
nt
v.
U= mgh.
U= mgh,
then = U' mgh'
and U' - U= mgih' - h),
U = U + mgh. 25—11. We may choose any height we want for the location of
Because U' - U = (U + mgh') - (U + mgh) zero potential energy. The choice is arbitrary and makes no
= mgih! - h), difference, since we deal only with changes in potential energy.
mgd = EK — £k '
The left side of this equation gives the total energy
POTENTIAL ENERGY 415
^
- total energy E
"^.
*V ,vi ^^
8)
>v
C EK = E - mgh mgr max
UJ _^^^*w.
^ U' = mgh' ^
<-* » » ^w
^O h h' ife,
Height
£ at one time, and the right side gives the total 25—12. A graph of the energy of a body moving near the
earth's surface. If gravity is the only force acting, the total
energy at any other time. The equation shows
energy E remains the same although the kinetic energy and
that this total energy
the potential energy change.
E = U + EK
above the earth. What will be its speed when it
is the same at any two different times. It is
is2 meters above the earth?
constant, although the values of U and EK may
We can readily calculate its speed if we know
change. This conservation law applies to the
its kinetic energy. And since the total energy E
system when from external influences
it is isolated
does not change, the kinetic energy of the mass at
which might do work on it and thus change the
2 meters above the earth will be the difference
total energy. It should be clearly understood
between the total energy and the potential energy
thatno other forces are acting. The relationship
at 2 meters. The total energy is the sum of the
between total energy, potential energy, and kinetic
initial potential energy (at 3 meters height)
energy is shown in Fig. 25-12.
Written out, the equation U + EK = E is U = mgh = (1)(9.8)(3) = 29.4 joules,
mgh + \mv l
= E. and the initial kinetic energy
This equation is often valuable because it gives EK = \mv = 2 i(l)(l) 2 = 0.5 joules.
us information about the speed of m at different
That gives
places without reference to the detail of the motion
from one place to the other. For example, when E = U + EK = 29 A + 0.5 = 29.9 joules.
a projectile moving upward passes the height h,
At 2 meters height the potential energy is
it has the same speed v that it will later have at
the same height on its way down. This must be U' = mgh' = (1)(9.8)(2) = 19.6 joules,
true because mgh is the same on the way up
and therefore at 2 meters height the kinetic energy
and on the way down; E is always the same;
is
and therefore, \mv 2 must have the same value even
though the direction of motion has changed. EK = E -
'
U' = 29.9 - 19.6 = 10.3 joules
As a specific application of = \mv 2 = 10.3 joules.
E = mgh + \mv 2
,
When we substitute m= 1 kg and solve for v we
find
let us suppose that a mass of 1 kg is moving in any
direction with speed 1 m/sec at a height of 3 meters v = 4.54 m/sec.
416 POTENTIAL ENERGY
General
In the last section we determined the gravita-
tional potential energy when a mass m is near
the earth. We
assumed that the strength of the
gravitational field was constant. On the other
hand, we know that when two masses move over
25-13. As the diver moves from the diving board to the water, larger distances, the gravitational force between
there are continual changes from kinetic to potential energy and them changes. What is the correct expression
back again.
for the gravitational potential energy in this more
In each of the above motions, the total energy E general case? What, for example, is the gravita-
remains constant so long as the force of gravity is tional potential energy of a satellite?
the only force. But we can change the total As we know from Chapter 22, the force of
energy E
by pushing the mass, thus doing some attraction between the earth M and a satellite m
work on it. If we then release it, the mass will is GMm/r 2
, where r is the distance to the satellite
move with a new constant value of E. from the center of the earth. The force-separa-
In this section, just as in the example of the tion curve in Fig. 25-14 is a graph of this function.
mass colliding with a spring bumper, we have The area under this curve between two differ-
been able to find a potential energy which depends ent separations measures the work done as the
only on the position of the mass. This potential separation changes. For instance, the green-
energy decreases by exactly the amount the kinetic shaded area represents the work needed to in-
energy increases. Just as in the case of the spring crease the separation from r to r' Using mathe- .
bumper, the sum of the potential and kinetic matical methods somewhat more complicated
energies remains constant. than we wish to discuss here, we can find the area
Two examples may serve to illustrate the great under the force-separation curve from any separa-
importance gravitational potential energy has tion r to infinity. This is the gray-shaded area
for us. In a pile driver, for example, we increase extending infinitely to the right from r. It is
the gravitational potential energy by raising a
large mass. Then by releasing the mass and GMm
allowing it to fall freely, we let the gravitational
potential energy turn into kinetic energy. This This, then, is the work to pull the bodies apart
energy drives piles into the earth. from separation r to infinite separation. This
By building dams we can hold water at a
greater distance from the center of the earth *The output of work horses was determined by James
than that at which it would usually stay. By Watt in order to make a comparison with the output of
his steam engines. More accurately, his standard is
allowing the water to drop from the top of the dam 746 joules/sec and is called a horsepower in honor of the
to a lower level, we convert the potential energy horse. A joule/sec is called a watt in honor of Watt
•
A Proof That U = —
GMm GMm(^--Y
t IS THE -(Ur.- Ut) =
Correct Expression for the
Also, if we are correct, it is equal to the
Gravitational Potential Energy
gravitational force F times the change in
The work, which changes the kinetic energy separation : F(r' — r) that is,
;
r'
Ids
h r
rr
r' (r -r)
rr'
F= -
GMm
r
which is the correct gravitational force.
(The minus sign merely says that the force is
attractive, so that the kinetic energy decreases
if r' is greater than r.) Obtaining the right
force shows that we must have started with
the right expression for the potential energy.
A different Ut would lead
expression for
and when we found that
to a different force,
force we would know that the presumed
expression for Ur was wrong.
Separation
U =T
— is therefore the correct gravi-
25—14. A graph of the force of gravitational attraction versus
tational potential energy.
the distance to the center of the earth. As the separation in-
Now that we have the potential energy, we can speed v,. to which we must bring the satellite is in-
get the total energy E by adding the kinetic energy dependent of mass. Since the escape kinetic
EK to it. The result is energy is mv e 2 /2, the escape kinetic energy per kilo-
gram is ve /2.
2
Consequently we can compute the
E = EK + U = EK - GMm r escape velocity (this is the common expression
for the speed v c) from
we found for masses moved by springs
and
Just as
for objects
the total energy
moving near the earth's surface,
is conserved. For any motion
v
j- =
2
—
GM = 6.24 X 10 7 joules/kg.
under the influence of the gravitational attraction [The units may seem strange here, but work them
alone, what is gained in potential energy as the out and you will find that 1 joule/kg = 1 (m/sec) 2 .]
bodies separate is paid for by a reduction in Then multiplying by 2 and taking the square
kinetic energy. For instance, as a satellite goes root, we get
around the earth it goes slowest when it is farthest
^e = 1.12 X 10 4 m/sec = 11.2 km/sec.
away and fastest when it is nearest the earth. As
the earth goes around the sun the same relations This is the escape velocity which must be given
hand, for total energies less than zero (that is, localized at points which push or pull on each
negative), the satellite will have its speed cut to other with equal and opposite forces along the
at a separation r where its potential energy line between Even the gravitational
them.
is equal to the total energy. on a mass near by appears
attraction of the earth
to come from the point at the earth's center. But
-GMm = t_ it is not clear that all mechanical systems involve
r
only such simple forces of interaction, nor that
At this separation EK has become zero: there is theirparts can be treated as points. What
no kinetic energy, the satellite is at rest; and happens to energy in mechanical systems where
under the influence of the gravitational attraction we cannot be sure that all interactions are
of the earth it will start back toward the earth. Newtonian?
It cannot get farther away, and in most orbits To answer this question, suppose we have a
(where it never comes to rest), it cannot get even toy merry-go-round (see Fig. 25—15) which is
this far. driven by a weight-and-pulley system. Several
When a satellite has less than enough energy turns of string are wrapped round the shaft,
to escape from the earth, we say that it is bound and then the string goes through a pulley and
to the earth. Now recall that we chose the zero down to the mass M. If we let the merry-go-
of energy so that the satellite can just escape round go, it will start to rotate, gradually speeding
when the total energy is zero. If the total energy up as the mass Mone would try to
falls. No
is greater, the satellite escapes with an excess of analyze this system by finding a set of Newtonian
kinetic energy; and when there is less, the satellite interaction forces between all the atoms. But
cannot escape at all. In order to make it escape,
we must supply the deficiency. If the total energy
is — 10 10 joules, that is, 10 10 joules less energy
than are needed for escape, we must supply +10 10
joules. The energy that we must supply to over-
come the binding is called the binding energy.
This energy is just the total energy with the
opposite sign. When the binding arises from
the gravitational attraction, therefore, the binding
energy is
Binding Energy = —E =
GMm mv 2
by viewing the merry-go-round as a collection of between the two forms, but (when allowance is
small masses and finding their speeds, we can made for the amount transferred into heat via
calculate the kinetic energy of each piece. Then, frictional interactions) the sum remains constant.
adding up, we can find the total kinetic energy This common experience suggests that the con-
of the whirling merry-go-round. We can also servation of energy in mechanical systems may
measure the distance that the mass has fallen. M not depend on the detailed form of the inter-
When we do such an experiment with a merry-go- actions. We believe that it applies generally to all
1. A mass of 4.0 kg sliding with a speed of 3.0 m/sec (a) Draw a graph of F versus x from x = to
on a frictionless horizontal table collides with a x = 0.40 m.
queer kind of spring bumper. The bumper exerts (b) What is the potential energy stored in the
a constant force of 120 newtons on the mass as it spring when x = 0.10 m? What is the kinetic
moves in (compressing the spring) and the same energy of the mass at this point?
force on the way out until the spring is back where (c) What happen if the spring is com-
will
it was. pressed 0.10 m by hand and then the 3-kg mass
(a) Is this an elastic collision? How do you is placed in contact with the spring and the hand
know? is removed?
X Ek
Meters Joules
0.1 0.25
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.2 1.00
0.3 2.25
Compression (meters)
0.4 4.00
0.5 6.00
25-16. For Problem 3.
(a) Plot the potential energy of the spring
4. Pretend vou are given two springs of different
against the compression x.
sizes. How would you set them up so that the
(b) Does the spring exert a linear restoring
force-compression curve of the system looks like
force?
Fig. 25-16?
(a) (b)
600 600
t
c
O 400 --
^
_^-^^
5
t:
c
^ —-^
200 r
/
X i i
meters
(c)
0.3
422 POTENTIAL ENERGY
11. A 0.50-kg mass free to slide on a table is attached 17. A 0.200-kg stone is thrown upward from a point
to a linear spring with a force-extension ratio k 20 meters above the earth's surface at an angle of
of 50 newton/m. The mass is pulled back and re- 60 degrees with the horizontal and with a speed
leased so that it vibrates with an amplitude of of 20.0 m/sec.
0.10 m. (a) What is its total energy?
(a) What is its maximum velocity? (b) What will be its total energy when it is
(b) What is its velocity when it is 0.06 m away 15.0 m
above the earth's surface?
from its equilibrium position? (c) What will be its speed 15.0 above the m
earth?
12. A spring restoring force F = 200x
bumper with
where F newtons and x in meters is com-
is in 18. A mass m 1 moving with speed v x hits a mass m2
pressed 0.100 meter. A 0.500-kg mass is placed head on. The mass m 2 is originally at rest, and
next to the end of the spring and the whole thing the collision is elastic. If 2 equals 10 24 u m m
let go.
estimate the ratio of:
(a) With what momentum will the mass leave (a) the initial kinetic energy of x to the final m
the spring? kinetic energy of m x.
(b) We do the same thing with masses 0.125 kg, (b) the final kinetic energy of m 2 to the initial
2.00 kg, and 8.00 kg. What is the momentum of kinetic energy of m y. A mass colliding elastically
each as it leaves the spring? with a spring bumper solidly fastened to the earth
(c) What is the energy of each as it leaves the loses practically no kinetic energy as a result of
13. Fig. 25-19 is the graph of the displacements as this statement? Be prepared to discuss this.
a function of time of two interacting masses Note: For parts (a) and (b), use the equations
m = 3 kg and m = 1 kg. nil ~ m i 1m
x 2
Vi = Vi and
,
v2 = \
Vi
(a) What is the initial kinetic energy of m,? mi +m 2 mi +m 2
(b) What is the final kinetic energy of m?. for the final speeds of m, and m 2.
POTENTIAL ENERGY 423
25-19. (Above) For Problem 13. 25-20. (Below) For Problem 15.
1
'
i
// 45°
0.5 m
p
\ m /
424 POTENTIAL ENERGY
25-21. For Problem 19. the separation between them in meters. If each
31
of the electrons has a mass of 9.00 X 10~ kg and
gravitational potential energy plus kinetic energy) electron are 0.50 X -10
m
apart and the force
10
in one period of the motion. of attraction between them is given by
The energy lost is what fraction of the
(b)
2.3 X 10-
maximum kinetic energy during the motion? F=
(c) Into what form of energy does the lost
energy probably go? newtons, when r is in meters?
Note: A "period" of the motion is the time it Remember, the electron will not stand still long
takes the rotor to go completely around the sup- with a force on it. Assume it is moving in a circle
port and return to its initial position. around the proton.
20. Can you design a simple come-back toy? The 26. A drain pipe pointing slightly downhill sticks out
outside is a cylindrical container. When the con-
from a retaining wall at the side of the road. A
tainer is rolled away from you on a table, it will
ball thrown up the pipe comes back with a greater
come to rest in a short distance, reverse its direc-
speed than that with which it was thrown. If this
tion of motion, and come back to you.
happened to you, would you be surprised? What
21. When an object of mass m
moves from r to r' in would you suspect?
the earth's gravitational field the potential energy
changes by A U = — GmM\
(H> where M is
27. With about what fraction of the original mass can
a rocket using chemical fuel "escape" from the
the mass of the earth. earth?
HEAT, MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
CHAPTER 26
When a book sliding on a table comes to rest, tum is mv. When it strikes the wall and comes
energy seems to have disappeared, but the book to rest, this momentum is transferred to the wall.
and the table are slightly warmer. We cannot The wall is given an impulse of size mv.
maintain the idea that energy is conserved unless Now consider a small time interval t during
we can include heat as a form of energy. In this which n such molecules hit the wall. The total
chapter we shall extend our knowledge of energy impulse perpendicular to the wall is mvn. If the
to include heat. We already know something number n of colliding molecules is great enough,
about heat and temperature from ordinary experi- the wall responds as if to a steady force. This
ence and from our study of gases in Chapter 9. force times the time t is just another way of
As we mentioned there, experimental evidence expressing the total impulse. Consequently,
indicates that temperature measures the average
Ft = mvn.
m: : of the gas molecules. As we would say now,
the temperature appears to be proportional to From this equation we see that the average force is
the average kinetic energy of the molecular
motion. We shall now re-examine the model of
_ mvn
~ ~T
a gas developed in Chapter 9 and use our knowl-
edge of dynamics to get more insight into the We want to
relate the force from this stream of
connections between temperature, heat, and molecules bombarding the wall to the force
energy. Later in this chapter, we shall see how to exerted on an area of wall by the molecular
establish measures of thermal energy for all sorts bombardment of a gas. For this purpose we
of bodies, for liquids and solids as well as gases. wish to know how many molecules there must be
in the little region of space near the wall to provide
26-1. Gas Pressure the bombardment we just considered (Fig. 26-1).
When we developed the molecular model of We can find out by finding the volume near the
a gas, we found that the model of moving mole- wall from which the n molecules came.
cules bombarding the walls of a container related Suppose that the molecules land on an area A
the pressure of a gas to the number, speeds, and of the wall. Then all of them must have come
masses of the molecules. We now want to find from a little volume with the base A and altitude
the detailed form of this relation. vt. No molecule which started out at the begin-
Let us start by considering a single molecule ning of time t any farther away can have reached
approaching a wall, moving straight at it with the wall, because vt is the distance the molecules
speed v. If the molecule has mass m, its momen- travel in time /, and if they start farther away they
425
•
number n
volume 'vtA.'
and n = vtA —
F
Pp = =mV 2
N
A V
This is the kind of result we want. The last
equation expresses gas pressure in terms of the
26—1. (a) The molecules move toward the wall with speed v.
From what volume do the molecules come that reach the wall
area A in time it (b) The dots show the original positions of the
molecules. The arrow heads show how far they get in time f —
unless they hit the wall. Notice that all the molecules starting
within the distance vt of the wall hit it. All those starting farther
number of molecules per unit volume and the cules per unit volume N/V and to the kinetic
kinetic energy per molecule. energy htw 2 of each molecule. This result agrees
In order to simplify our computations, we have with Boyle's law and with the idea that the
assumed that molecules stop when they hit the Kelvin temperature is proportional to the kinetic
wall. In making a model of the behavior of gases energy. At a given temperature, then, mv 2 has
this assumption is unrealistic. A molecule may the same value for all kinds of molecules. Con-
stick to the wall for a while, but certainly a num- sequently, the model predicts that the pressure is
ber of molecules must move away from the wall proportional to the number of molecules and
just equal to the number that move toward it. inversely proportional to the volume they occupy,
Otherwise the container will soon be emptied of regardless of the nature of the gas. This is just
gas. Indeed not only must an equal number of what we found for real gases as long as the mole-
molecules move away from the wall but they cules are far apart.
must move away from the wall with equal but In establishing the relation
opposite momentum. for example, they
Pp = mv 2^
If,
2 —
went back into the gas moving more slowly, the
energy of molecular motion of the gas would de-
we have introduced all the essential factors in a
crease. This would happen only when energy is
molecular model of gas pressure. However, there
flowing out of the gas, not when the behavior of
are two final improvements we shall make in the
the gas remains the same.
model we shall make the molecules move about
We
:
P-%E«Z.
r — 3-Ck y-
gives the pressure of a gas of molecules bouncing
back and forth between the two walls in a con- This equation says that the pressure is § of the
tainer. It expresses the pressure according to a kinetic energy of a molecule times the number of
rather good model of a gas. molecules per unit volume. This form of the
In a moment we shall make the model even equation emphasizes the role of the molecular
better, but we already find in this model all the kinetic energy in determining the pressure.
features we discussed in Chapter 9. Briefly the Finally in a gas the molecular speeds are not
pressure is proportional to the number of mole- all the same and the molecules may have differ-
:
PP = mv 22^
—
ent masses. Here, however, the last equation cule averaged over all the molecules. The aver-
tells us what to do. It says that on a long enough age times the number is the same as adding
average each molecule contributes to the pres- together the contributions of the individual mole-
sure in proportion to its kinetic energy. The cules.
same equation will therefore tell us the pressure We should be careful to say that the kinetic
if we interpret EK as the kinetic energy per mole- energy involved is the kinetic energy associated
HEAT, MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY 429
with motions of the centers of mass of the mole- pressure they expand in the same proportion (or
cules. It is not the kinetic energy of the motion at constant volume the pressure rises in the same
of the parts of the molecule vibrating or rotating proportion for all of them). In Section 9-4, this
about the center of mass. We can see that only identical behavior of PV/N for all gases as the
the kinetic energ\ of center of mass motion is in temperature rises led us to select gases to define
question by remembering that the m; :
arises from the basic temperature scale. We used
the momentum mo of each molecule times the
speed i bringing the molecules to the wall. It is
PV
the velocity of the molecules toward the wall that
determines how manv get to the wall per second to define the absolute temperature scale. We
and how big an impulse each gives the wall. adjusted the proportionality factor k, so that the
This is the center of mass motion, and the gas value of the temperature of melting ice is 273°
pressure therefore depends on the average kinetic Kelvin. (Then there are 100 degrees between the
enersv in this motion. temperature of melting ice and the temperature
of boiling water as in all common scientific
thermometers.)
26-2. Temperature and Molecular Kinetic Now we can make our most important con-
Energy; Thermal Energy clusion. We know that the proportionality
factor 6 in Boyle's law measures the temperature;
In Chapter 9 we learned that all gases at low
enough density behave just alike.The predic- and we know that 6 is § of the average kinetic
model of gases fit this energy of a molecule. Consequently (as we
tions of the molecular
anticipated in Chapter 9 and in Section 26-1),
common behavior. Boyle's law
the temperature is a measure of the thermal ki-
netic energy — a measure of energy of the random
molecular motions.
relates the pressure P to the number N of molecules Just how much energy is there on the average
N/V of any gas at a particular in the center of mass motion of one molecule at a
per unit volume
temperature. Experimentally the proportionality
particular temperature? From
factor d depends only on temperature, not on the PV =
6 = kT
nature of the gas. N
The molecular model, as we found in the last
section, predicts that we can calculate k. (For example, you can use
atmospheric pressure 1.01 X 10 5 newtons/m 2
N a mole of any gas, that 6.025
is X 10 23 molecules;
;
(§£k)
and 22.4 liters = 2.24 X 10- 2 m 3
, which is the
where £K = mi 1
/! is the average kinetic energy volume that a mole occupies at 273°K and this
of the center of mass motion of a molecule in the pressure.) The result is
Because 6 is the same for all gases at the same This gives us the numerical relation between the
temperature, we learn that the average kinetic temperature and the average molecular kinetic
energy is the same no matter what the mass of the energy. Since
molecule.
f£K = 6 = kT,
As we change the temperature from melting
ice to boiling water or to any other value, all we find that the average kinetic energy of a mole-
low-density gases still behave alike. At constant cule is \kT. Putting in the value of k we get
430 HEAT, MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
When we feed energy into some gases, it all appears (a). Complex molecules, like those in (b), can also rotate and
to go into the energy of the motions of the centers vibrate. Therefore, part of the incoming energy goes into rota-
of mass of the molecules. If we feed 12.4 joules tion and vibration, and not all of it raises the temperature.
The energy we put in is completely accounted for bration of the atoms in a molecule are often called
by the increased motion of the centers of mass of thermal energy. Actually not all thermal energy
the molecules. is necessarily kinetic energy; it may include the
The molecules of the noble gases are especially mutual potential energy of the atoms as they
simple. They are single atoms (He, A, Ne, etc). change their separations inside the molecules.
More complicated molecules — like 2, N CH
2, 4 Briefly, thermal energy is any energy that is fed
which are made of two or more atoms do not — into a sample when we raise its temperature and
behave the same way. To raise their tempera- comes out when the temperature falls.
ture one degree Kelvin may require more than When thermal energy is fed into a gas, some of
12.4 joules per mole. Raising their temperature itmay go into internal potential energy — inside
takes more energy because the atoms in a com- the molecules. When the molecules are closer
plicated molecule vibrate and rotate around the together, as in a liquid or solid, they continually
center of mass (Fig. 26-3). And when we feed exert appreciable forces on each other. Then, in
in energy, only part of it ends up increasing addition to their kinetic energy, there is an average
the energy of center-of-mass motion; the rest mutual potential energy of the interactions be-
goes to increase the energy of rotation and vibra- tween the molecules; and when we feed energy
tion. Since the temperature measures only the in from the outside some of it goes into changing
part of the energy in the center-of-mass motion, the average potential energy of the interacting
more energy must be fed into the gas to produce molecules. The thermal energy then includes
a given rise in the temperature. potential energy of molecular interaction.
Ill \l. MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY 431
The distinction between temperature and move back and forth inside with speed v relative
thermal energy (or heat) should now he clear. The to the box. The apparent kinetic energy %MV 2
temperature measures only the average energy of is only a part of the total kinetic energy. The
the center-of-mass motion. It gives the center- total kinetic energy £ K is made up of the kinetic
of-mass energy per molecule. The thermal energy energy of the box M u moving at speed V, plus the
also includes the energy in all the other internal kinetic energy of the balls. If the box were trans-
motions and even the potential energy which parent, you would see one ball m moving at speed
changes when the molecules move farther apart V + v and the other going at speed V — v. The
or closer together with changing temperature. total kinetic energy EK is therefore
The thermal energy per molecule can therefore be
different in two samples even though the temper-
EK = |Mb F + |m(K + 2
v)
2
+ \m{V v)
2
boiling, its temperature stays constant, but we where the total mass is = M M + 2m. h As the
must supply a large amount of energy to pull the last term on the right shows, in addition to the
molecules apart. When water vapor condenses, kinetic energy \MV 2
of bulk motion, the total
the molecules cluster together without appreciable energy may contain any amount of energy of
change in kinetic energy, but a large amount of internal motion. That energy cannot normally
"latent heat" is and must be taken away
released be seen from outside.
while the average separation of the molecules and On the other hand, the apparent momentum of
the average intermolecular potential energy de- the bulk motion momentum.
is the total By
crease. The latent heat is usually classed as adding the momentum of each mass, we get
thermal energy; not the energy of center-of-
it is
balls of equal mass m moving back and forth in- energy of the visible bulk motion is only
Suppose that one ball goes north at speed v
side.
EK = ±{M+m)V
' 2
.
\whnj E *
432 HEAT, MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
peared from view. For example, if a 5-kg pro- The temperature of a gas is a measure of the
jectile is fired into a 50-kg sandbag (and stays in average nu 2 of its molecules. At least in the case
the bag!), 50/55 or 91 per cent of its original ki- of simple gases, the number of molecules affected
netic energy becomes invisible. times the change in temperature measures the
What has happened to this energy? We think energy which is fed into or out of the random
that when the bullet knocks into the sand, it sets thermal motions. For other substances (for which
the molecules in the sand and in itself into more we do not have such a simple model), the energy
rapid motion, with accompanying changes of po- fed in may also go into changing internal potential
tential energies. It has thus transferred a great energy, increasing the separations of atoms, for
deal of its kinetic energy into the energy of the instance, as well as into therandom mc : 's of the
random motions of the atoms and molecules in its thermal dance. we keep
Nevertheless, as long as
surface and along its path through the sand. Be- the bulk volume of any substance the same, we
cause these internal motions of the atoms inside might expect that the increase of internal energy
the bag are little motions that go in all directions, would be reflected in a temperature change. Heat,
we do not see them ; and we lose track of this part we may guess, is a form of energy and ; a hotter
of the energy while seeing only the small amount body contains more internal motion than a colder
of energy that goes into the bulk motion of the one.
bag. Now we can look back on the history of the idea
We would like to believe that no energy has that heat is energy. had early been recognized
It
really been lost; but if we can see only a very that heat phenomena might be explained in me-
small part of the total energy, how can we know chanical terms. Bacon, Galileo, Boyle, Hooke,
that all the energy is still around?
must find We Newton, and others conceived that the tempera-
a way to measure the energy that has gone into ture of a body might be related to the "degree of
internal motions or changes of atomic separations. motion" of the particles of which it was made.
In principle perhaps we could look at the position Boyle gave an illustration in the motion of a nail
and motion of every microscopic or submicro- driven into a board. When the head prevents
scopic particle of matter but in practical life we
; further motion of the nail, repeated blows of the
need some way of evaluating the energy stored in hammer then serve to heat the nail the motion of :
large chunks of matter without resorting to micro- the hammer can no longer be imparted to the nail
scopic examination. as a whole, Boyle said, and so is transferred to the
Here we are at the threshold of a great extension "corpuscles" in the nail, making them move more
of the idea of conservation of energy. What we quickly, and so producing a hot nail.
need is a measure of internal energy changes that There are many claimants to the full proof that
depends on a few common measurements like heat is energy. Count Rumford heated cannon by
temperature and volume. This will allow us to boring them, using mechanical energy supplied by
extend the conservation of energy to a whole new horses. The energy became heat. Soon after-
domain. With such a measure we can evaluate wards, the use of steam engines made it clear that
energy changes without seeing the actual position heat could also be turned into mechanical energy.
and motion of every microscopic particle of the The idea that heat is energy was clearly formulated
object with which we deal. by the German physicist Julius Robert Maver
We already have clues to the evaluation of the (1814-1878) and the British physicist James Pres-
energy stored in internal motions and positions. cott Joule (1818-1898).* By the time of Mayer
When the bullet stops in the sand, they both heat * Mayer was a physician whose animal heat led
interest in
up.When a car is stopped suddenly, its apparent him to the study of heat in general. owner of
Joule, the
a successful brewery, was a pupil of Dalton. Joule made
kinetic energy is lost; but the brakes heat up. many distinguished contributions to science, especially
When a meteor is slowed down in the earth's in the fields of electricity and heat.
HEAT, MOIECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY 433
and Joule, there were available main processes placed in an insulated container, for example
of energy conversion: heat to mechanical energy, in a large vacuum bottle. In the water there is a
electricity to heat, electricity to mechanical paddle wheel which can be turned by a falling mass
energy, etc. Joule made measurements of many m as shown in Fig. 26-4. When the bearings of
such conversions. In each experiment, he ex- the paddle wheel are well lubricated, the work
pressed his results in terms of heat, measured by done by the gravitational forces on the mass m
warming up some water, and mechanical energy, measures the energy transferred from gravitational
measured bv raising a load against gravity. He potential energy of m and used to churn up
used the constancy of the conversion factor be- the water. When the mass is stopped, the paddle
tween those two measures to show that heat is wheels stop, and the water quiets down. Finally
a form of energy. This is our next job. it is at rest ; but we find that the temperature of the
water has increased. From beginning to end only
26-4. The Equivalence of Mechanical and two things have changed. The mass has fallen
Thermal Energy slowly through the distance h, so that mgh gravita-
We have just asserted that when gross mechani- tional energy has disappeared, and the water has
energy — the energy of random molecular motion. mechanical energy and "heat" are equivalent,
If
But such an assertion must be backed by more we snail always obtain the same temperature rise
than the qualitative observation that heat is found
when mechanical energy is lost. 26—4. The apparatus for a Joule experiment, to observe the
conversion of mechanical energy into heat. As the masses go
The British physicist Joule showed that the
same amount of heating occurs —
the same ther-
down, the paddle wheels turn, churning
ferred and not on the force or distance or the reached : the temperature of both liquids
becomes
design of the paddle wheels. For example, if we the same and remains constant. We measure the
double the mass of the falling body and allow it final temperature of the water and oil. and we find
to fall only half the original vertical distance, the that each is one degree higher than it was at the
work done by the gravitational forces is the same start.
as before. And we find that the temperature rise We conclude the following: of the (x -+-
y)
of the water is exactly the same, even though the joules of work done on
the water, y joules have
process has been carried out considerably faster. been transferred to the oil by heat flow. We
make this conclusion because we know that
26-5. Heat Flow exactly y joules of work are necessary to produce
The dissipation of mechanical energy through a temperature rise of one degree in the oil. The
frictional forces is not the only method of increas- remaining x joules have produced the one-degree
ing the temperature of an object. You can warm temperature rise of the water. Thus we have
your hands either by rubbing them together or by shown that the work necessary to produce a
dipping them into hot water. When they are in definite temperature rise in a given liquid is the
hot water, there is a transfer of energy from the same whether the energy is transferred to the
more lively random molecular motions of the hot liquid by heat flow or whether the mechanical
water to the more sluggish random molecular energy is dissipated directly in the liquid.
motions of your cold skin. When such a transfer
of thermal energy from a hotter to a colder body 26-6. Quantitative Relation of Energy
occurs, we say that heat flows from the first to the Dissipation and Temperature Rise
second body. Let us be specific about the energy that must be
We can trace a given amount of energy from dissipated to raise the temperature of a gram of
C
gross mechanical energy into internal thermal water by 1 C. If we dissipate mechanical energy,
energy of a given sample through either of two we find that we must transfer 4.2 joules. Alter-
routes. The energy may be converted from natively, we can put the energy in by heat flow
mechanical to thermal energy in the sample or it from hot oil. We can calibrate the hot oil by a
may be converted to thermal energy elsewhere Joule experiment. Then we find that the oil
and reach the sample by heat flow. By experi- must lose 4.2 joules by heat flow to warm the
ment we can show that the method of transfer water. Whichever way they are received, 4.2
does not matter. The same amount of thermal joules of energy will raise the temperature of the
energy winds up in the sample either way. water just the same amount.
Suppose that we have two containers, one We can combine the two ways of heating up a
containing a certain amount of water, as in the mass of material. Suppose we have a gram of
Joule experiment, and the other a different amount water surrounded by a bath of hot oil, all insu-
of another liquid, such as oil. We perform the lated from the rest of the world, and with a little
Joule experiment described in the last section insulating shaft leading to paddles in the water.
separatelyon each liquid and we find that it takes
; Now we dissipate 1 joule of mechanical energy
x work to raise the temperature of the
joules of in the gram of water by whirling the paddles:
water one degree and that it takes y joules of work we also allow 3.2 joules to flow into the water
to raise the temperature of the oil one degree. from the oil as indicated by the fall in tempera-
Now we start again with the water and oil at their ture of the surrounding oil bath. We then find
original common temperature. We churn the that the total transfer into increased internal
water alone until we have dissipated (x + y) joules energy of the gram of water is 4.2 joules. This is
r
of mechanical work. The temperature of the indicated by a l C rise in temperature, the same
water rises more than one degree. Then we place rise in temperature that occurs if we let 4.2 joules
HEAT, MOLECULAR MOTION, AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY 435
flow into a cram of water purely bv heat flow or Joule experiments and heat-flow experiments fail
dissipate it by mechanical means alone. In toanswer all the questions we can ask about heat
general, the transfer into internal energy is given and mechanical energy. Can we turn heat into
mechanical energy at the same rate of exchange at
essential difference between transfers in the two thisenergy of radiation in the same wav that we
directions. We can easily change all of a supply had to include the momentum of radiation to
of gross mechanical energy into heat; but we can explain the behavior of bodies which emit or
normally change only a fraction of the heat absorb light.
We pour
available into gross mechanical energy. Experiment and theory combine to assure us
the heat into an engine at a high temperature; that energy is indeed conserved when radiation
some of it must be poured out again at a lower is included. But, whereas the transfer of thermal
temperature; and the remainder turns into energy by ordinary heat flow can be viewed as a
mechanical energy at full value. The fact that microscopic version of the transfer of energ\
whatever energy is changed in form is converted through work, the transfer through radiation
at full value is a version of the first law of thermo- is different. We cannot be satisfiedthat we
dynamics. The question of how large a fraction understand that mechanism until we have studied
can be converted is the subject of the second law radiation. Here we shall not try to go through
of thermodynamics. the details. Even without studying the mechan-
We now believe that heat and mechanical ism, however, we can extend the conservation of
energy are just two different forms of energy, and energy to include radiation by performing
no energy is lost or gained in turning one into the experiments like those with which we extended
other. Energy, like momentum, is conserved; the conservation of energy to include heat flow.
but to see that it does not change amount we have We can use a measured amount of energy to run
had to find measures of heat and keep track of the a light for a while and absorb the emitted radia-
amount that is locked up in internal energies as tion on a black surface. The surface gets hot and
well as the energy of bulk motions and raised we can measure the energy which goes into heating
weights. No single experiment leads all by itself the black surface and the energy left as heat in
to our that energy is conserved.
conviction the source of light. We find the sum is equal to
But we assume conservation in thinking about the energy we fed in. Part of the energy has gone
all kinds of physical and chemical processes. from the light source to the absorber. And it has
Innumerable such processes go on daily: chem- gone without loss or gain.
icals react, heat is released, engines run. And
energy bookkeeping balances out time after
totally reflecting walls
time. If any substantial amount of energy were
disappearing, we should have felt the loss long
since. If there were mysterious sources from
which energy entered, the gain should have become
apparent. It is on this overall check of conserva-
tion as well as on innumerable detailed checks
of all sorts of transformations that our belief in
energy conservation really rests.
inside the reflector that ordinary heat flow cannot of our knowledge, the total energy in a region
take place. Nevertheless, body loses
the hot changes only when an exchange of energy occurs
energy and the cold one gains energy. The energy between the region and its surroundings. Then,
flows from one to the other as radiation. We if our region is the whole universe, we can expect
find the total energy is conserved. no change of the total energy — because, by
Like the transfer of momentum the transfer of definition, there is nothing outside the universe.
energ\ by radiation takes time. The light from This assumption, that the total energy of the
the sun transfers its energy and momentum to us universe is constant, is the basis of most cosmo-
here 8.3 minutes after it leases the sun. As far as logical theories. But that is a daring generaliza-
we know, nothing ever moves faster. Energy tion from our limited experience. We live in a
transferby other mechanisms is slower, but small corner of the universe, and we have tested
usually the distances are so short that we may fail the validity of our physical laws over a very
to detect the time lag. limited period of time. It is conceivable that
For many ordinary mechanical systems — these laws, including the law of conservation of
such as billiard balls colliding or the earth going energy, are not rigorously correct. In our limited
around the sun or even the operation of a steam view, energy is conserved with great precision;
engine —
the part played by radiation in energy but a tiny rate of destruction or creation may have
transfer is so small that we can usually ignore it. escaped our notice — if, for example, the total
But radiation must be considered not only when energy of the universe had doubled in the course
we look into the energy transfer from stars but of several billion years, we probably should not
also whenever we consider atoms emitting or be aware of this change. Indeed, some cosmo-
absorbing light. logical theories assume a continuous creation
All physical happenings, from the evolution of energy.
of a star to the life of a firefly, are in essence trans- Here is one of the live scientific questions of
formations of energy from one form to the other. today. Cosmologists are working hard to find
Even on a cosmic scale, we can trace its flow. out whether energy is completely conserved over
Phvsicists have now learned about the nuclear the whole universe. And just now, for the first
energy that supplies the radiant energy of the time, there is a possibility of actual experiments
stars. Our physical knowledge is consistent with to decide between the rival theories.
a universal conservation of energy. To the best
1. A machine gun fires a stream of 10-gram bullets (b) If the sticky region is cut out, leaving a hole,
400 rounds per minute. The bullets,
at the rate of what is the pressure on the hole?
moving at velocity 300 m/sec, hit a wall of solid Be prepared to discuss your answers in class.
rock and stop dead. Calculate:
(a) the force on the wall. 3. In a certain gas § of the energy of the molecules
energy of the bullets arriving at
(b) the kinetic is tied up in motion of the atoms around each
the wall in one minute. other and f in motion of the centers of mass.
(c) the kinetic energy of the bullets in 1 meter (a) On the average, what is the kinetic energy
length of the stream as they approach the wall. of the center of mass motion of one such molecule
Compare twice this answer with your answer to (a). when the temperature is 300°K?
(b) If the temperature is raised 1°C, what
2<
2. Suppose there is a tiny sticky area on the wall of energy must be supplied to a mole (0.6025 X 10
a container of gas. Molecules hitting this area molecules) of the gas?
stick there permanently.
(a) Is the pressure there greater or less than on 4. A gas in a cylinder pushes a piston out, increasing
the ordinary areas of the wall? its volume by AK
The gas exerts a pressure P
:
on the face of the piston, which has an area A. (e) What is the velocity of oxygen molecules at
The force exerted by the gas moves the piston a room temperature and two atmospheres pressure?
distance Ax, transferring energy FAx to some
outside machinery. Show that the work FAx is 9. A large bag of sand is hung from a tree by a long
equal to PAV. rope. A boy shoots a bullet into the sand bag
Note: This is a very useful expression for work and the bullet stays in the bag.
whenever we deal with a gas or a liquid pushing a (a) Describe the energy changes.
piston: work equals the pressure times the change (b) Suppose a 10-gram bullet is moving at
in volume. 300 m sec when it hits the bag, and the bag is a
1990-gram bag of sand. Calculate the amount of
5. One mole of an ideal monatomic gas (in practice,
kinetic energy
helium or argon) is placed in a cylinder at tem- (i) the bullet had originally.
perature 273 °K. The gas is at atmospheric pres- (ii) the bullet and bag have after collision.
5
sure, 1.02 X 10 newtons/m 2 . At this pressure
(iii) that disappears.
and temperature the gas occupies 2.24 X 10 m -2 3
.
(c)What fraction of the original kinetic energy
A piston in the cylinder is then pushed in to of the bullet goes into heat?
decrease the volume by 2.45 X 10
-4
m3 .
pheric pressure at all times. Note: this is a reversal of the logic of Joule's
(a) What volume water vapor occupy if
will the great experiment. You know that 4.2 joules will
it behaves as an ideal gas? (Water vapor is not always raise the temperature of a gram of water
an ideal gas, but the error due to the assumption 1°C; Joule was trying to find this out.
will be less than 10 percent.)
(b) What work must be done in pushing the 12. * A project: (a) Make or obtain a small spring of
piston out against atmospheric pressure as the steel wire. Stretch it and let it go many times.
whole of the water vaporizes? Hold it to your cheek to feel whether it grows
hold the water in a thin plastic bag like the ones (d) If the climber walks down the mountain
used in a deep-freeze —
but this makes a good every afternoon, he loses the potential energy he
deal of mess if the egg beater touches the bag.) gained. Why does that not help him to reduce
fb) Repeat the experiment for twice the time; his diet?
and again with half or twice the mass of water.
20. Suppose you have two large boxes of negligible
In each case, estimate the heat delivered by the
egg beater per minute.
mass. Box A
contains one mole of hot helium
at 60°C, the other box, B, contains one mole of
(a) Do this experimentally by running the contact with all their outer surfaces insulated.
lamp in ink (why ink'?). (You can use an auto- After some time, both gases are at the same
mobile headlight bulb connected to a 6-volt bat- temperature. What is the temperature and why?
ten. Do not use a bulb of higher voltage, (b) Instead of being placed side by side, the
because of danger of shock !) two boxes are joined together to make one large
(b) Do this by calculation from other knowl- box, without change of volume, so that the gases
edge: note that one kilowatt hour, which is mix. What will be the final temperature of the
likelv to cost you 3 or 4 cents, is worth 3.6 X 10
6
mixture?
joules. (c) Now suppose that box B contains one mole
of cold nitrogen at 10°C instead of the argon.
16. A high-speed swimmer uses 120,000 joules of The hot helium and cold nitrogen are allowed to
energy in a half-minute race. Three quarters of mix as in (b) above. Will the final temperature
the energy is released as waste heat; the rest is be the same as in (b) or higher or lower?
dissipated by his hands and legs, by mechanical (d) Give a clear reason for your answer to (c).
work.
(a) In 30 seconds he swims 50 meters. Esti- 21. A new small airplane is to be tested. To main-
mate the average force opposing his motion. tain secrecy, the test is conducted in a large,
(iii) thermal energy of internal atomic (c) Why is there more kinetic energy after-
motion? wards than before?
(iv) thermal energy in the form of inter-
molecular potential energy? 26. * A project: Experiment with the radiation from
(v) internal energy in some form? a glowing electric heating element. Place a sheet
(vi) no additional energy in the box? of asbestos tile (or a piece of damp cardboard
(b) By running a light bulb, do you produce will serve temporarily) between the heater and
(i) momentum of bulk motion? you. Make a small hole about 1 in. in diameter
(iii) momentum of thermal motion of atoms? to let radiation through to you. Hold the back
(vi) no momentum in the box? of your hand near the hole and feel the effect of
Be prepared to discuss your answer in class. radiation on your skin. Then trv the following
changes
24. (a) A cylinder containing helium gas is closed (a) Place a sheet of cardboard between the hole
with a movable piston which has negligible fric- and your hand, and remove it quickly.
tion. A man pushes on the piston and drives it (b) Place a sheet of window glass between the
in quickly, compressing the helium. The helium hole and your hand and remove it quickly.
heats up. Why does the helium heat up? Discuss (c) Cover your hand with aluminum leaf (most
the mechanism of the heating up in terms of easily done by clenching your fist, licking the
molecular behavior. back of your hand to make it wet with saliva, and
(b) A cylinder with a movable piston contains placing a sheet of very thin aluminum leaf gently
compressed helium. The piston is released and on it). Try the metal-coated skin near the hole.
the helium pushes it out and cools. Explain in (d) Keep the aluminum leaf on your hand but
terms of molecular behavior how the helium cools. paint a little black paint or India ink on top of it.
(c) A large box with a good vacuum in it con- Again try that near the hole.
tains a small bottle of compressed helium. A
trigger is arranged to remove the stopper of the 27. * A project:Use the skin of the back of your hand
helium bottle. When the helium is let out of the or, better, your cheek to detect the radiation from
bottle no change of temperature is observed after a hot surface. For the source, use either a bright
the release is all over. Explain, from the point of metal can of boiling water or, better, a bright
view of molecular behavior, why the helium does sheet of copper which has just been made very
not change temperature when it expands into the hot with a gas flame. In each case, paint one side
big box. of the source black (a mixture of soot and alcohol
(d) Although compressed helium shows no final serves well). Then make your estimate near each
change of temperature, some other gases show a surface, bright and black, in turn.
noticeable cooling after they have expanded into
vacuum from high compression. What does that
tell you about these other compressed gases?
FURTHER READING
25. A rocket of mass 2 X 10 3 kg has been fired in an Dyson, F. J., "What Is Heat?" Scientific American,
attempt to "escape" from the earth. However, September, 1954. A description of our modern
when it is several thousand kilometers from the and a brief history of their development.
ideas
earth, its speed is only 30 m/sec, so it is evident Gamow, George, "The Evolutionary Universe."
that the rocket will fall back into the atmosphere. Also in The Universe, cited above.
The control center on the surface therefore sends Hart, Ivor B., James Watt and the History of Steam
a radio impulse which fires off a small explosive Power. Henry Schuman Co., 1949.
charge (several kilograms) in the rocket. It Holton, Gerald, Introduction to Concepts and Theo-
explodes into two parts —
one of them, with ries in Physical Science. Addison-Wesley, 1952.
mass 0.5 X 10 kg,
3
continues forward at Heat, molecular motion, and the conservation of
330 m sec. energy are dealt with in Chapters 17, 18, and 20.
Calculate the velocity of the other fragment.
(a) Hoyle, Fred, "The Steady-State Universe." The
(b) Calculate the kinetic energy of the original Universe, A Scientific American Book, Simon &
rocket, and of each piece after the separation. Schuster, 1957.
ELECTRICITY AND
PART IV ATOMIC STRUCTURE
CHAPTER 27
In Part III we learned that every material body munications have changed our whole way of life.
attracts every other material body with a force On the scientific side, we have learned that electric
known as the gravitational force. This gravita- forces control the structure of atoms and mole-
tional attraction has practical consequences only cules. Electricity is associated with many bio-
when one of the interacting bodies has
at least logical processes — for instance, with the action
enormous mass, something like a whole planet. of our nerves and brain.
However, gravitational forces are not the only
forces acting at a distance between material 27-1. Attraction and Repulsion
bodies. Sometimes other forces are enormously Between Electrified Objects
greater. A small magnet will lift a steel nail off We shallnow examine some of the basic facts
the table against the gravitational attraction of of electric and magnetic behavior and discuss
the entire earth. A comb rubbed on your sleeve their interpretation. Let us begin with a simple
will lift bits of paper. These are examples of electrical experiment. Rub a glass rod with a
magnetic and electric forces, respectively. piece of silkand then place it horizontally in a
The existence of such forces has been known stirrup hung on a silk thread (Fig. 27-1). Then
since antiquity. The ancient Greeks were familiar rub a second glass rod, and bring it near the first.
with the peculiar properties of the lodestone, an The two rods repel each other.
iron ore (magnetite) which is a natural magnet.
The word magnet comes from the name of the
cityof Magnesia in Asia Minor, near which this
ore was found. Also, the Greek philosopher
Thales is said to have observed the action of elec-
tric forcesabout twenty-five centuries ago. He
found that when amber is rubbed, it attracts light
objects. The word electricity comes from "elek-
tron," the Greek word for amber.
It was only during the Renaissance, however,
443
444 SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY
as the two glass rods did. (Fig. 27-2.) blocks of matter belong in a third group: for
Finally rub a glass rod with silk and a plastic example, neutrons (Section 24-8) do not act like
either positive or negative electric particles.
rod with fur. Place one rod in the stirrup and
bring the other near it. We now find that these Although the electrical forces between particles
rods attract each other. are enormously greater than the gravitational
We can perform similar experiments with a forces, when ordinary "uncharged" pieces of
number of other materials. Objects of the same matter are placed near each other, they exert no
material which have been "electrified" by the appreciable electric forces on each other. This
same procedure always repel. Different electri- does not mean we have to give up the idea that
fied objects may either attract or repel. there are positive and negative electric particles
in matter. Since a positive and a negative particle
We find that electrified objects fall into two
Only two one exert forces in opposite directions on any third
groups. "electric states" exist,
electric particle, we merely note that the forces
similar to that of the glass rod and one similar to
that of the plastic rod of the previous example.
exerted by the two kinds of particle can cancel.
Following the common usage, which dates back When the effects of the positive and negative
to Benjamin Franklin, we shall say that the glass particles cancel exactly, we say the object is un-
rod and all other electrified objects which behave charged or electrically neutral. We can even
like it are positively charged. Similarly we shall picture a neutral atom in this way.*
say that the plastic rod and all other electrified If we add some positive particles to an electri-
objects which behave like it are negatively charged* callv neutral object, there is no longer a balance.
Any two positively charged objects repel each The effect of the positive particles is greater than
two electrified glass rods do. Simi- the effect of the negative particles: and we say
other, just as
larly any two negatively charged objects repel the object is positively charged. We can also
the silk will repel a negatively charged plastic rod. touching the metal rod and has pulled off some negative par-
ticles. The ball and the metal rod are now positively charged
ond repel each other, (c) With the initially charged rod re-
27-3. Insulators and Conductors
moved, the ball and metal rod are still charged; they still repel.
We often classify different materials by saying
that one is an electrical conductor and another an
insulator. This classification is based on experi- touch the metal rod with the electrified glass,
ments like those we shall now discuss. Suppose positive particles will pass from the glass to the
we hang a light metal-coated ball on a silk thread. metal and spread along it to the ball. Again, the
Then we support a metal rod horizontally on a rod and the ball will both become positively
glass or plastic stand so that one end touches the charged and will repel each other.
ball (Fig. 27-3). Now we electrify a piece of glass, Now let's picture what happens when we re-
and rub the glass against the other end of the place the metal rod with the plastic one. In the
metal rod. As we rub the glass against the metal, plastic neither positive nor negative particles can
the ball swings away. We repeat the experiment, move freely. Thus only the part of the rod in
using a rod of plastic in place of the metal rod. direct contact with the charged glass acquires an
Now the ball does not move. (Fig. 27-4.) We excess of positive particles. The rest of the rod
therefore see that the metal and the plastic rods remains electrically neutral, and so does the ball.
act differently. Consequently, there is no force pushing the ball
To account for this difference we need only away from the rod.
assume that in a metal some electric particles are Substances that behave like the metal in this
free to move from point to point, while in the kind of experiment we call conductors. Sub-
plastic no electric particles can move freely. Sup- stances that behave like the plastic we call in-
pose, for example, that the free particles in the sulators. moving
All conductors contain freely
metal are negative. When the positively charged and insulators do not.
electric particles
glass touches the neutral metal rod, the glass pulls Toward the end of this chapter we shall learn
some of the free negative particles off the metal how to determine the sign of the freely moving
rod and the ball. Both the ball and the rod there- particles in different kinds of conductors. We
fore become positively charged, and they repel shall find that when liquids and gases conduct
each other. Even after the glass is removed, there electrically, both positive and negative particles
will be a shortage of negative particles on both move. In metals, however, the conductivity is
the rod and the ball, and they will continue to due motion of electrically negative
solely to the
repel. particles. To keep the discussion brief, in the
We can equally well assume that the free parti- next few sections we shall assume that only nega-
cles are electrically positive. Then, when we tive particles move.
446 SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY
27—4 (a). A metal rod on a beaker is in (b) We touch the end of the metal with a charged rod, and the ball at the
contact with a light metal-coated ball. other end is repelled.
(c) After the charged rod is removed, the (d) We repeat the experiment with a plastic rod in place of the metal one.
metal rod still repels the ball. The ball stays still.
27-4. Some Experiments with an diverge if we used a glass rod rubbed with silk in
Electroscope place of the plastic rod. In this case, however,
An an instrument for detecting
electroscope is the leaves would be electrically positive.)
the presence of electric charge. The simplest ver- Give a charge to an electroscope and then touch
sion of this instrument is an old-fashioned gold- the knob with an uncharged metal ball on an in-
leaf electroscope. It consists of two thin gold sulating rod. (Fig. 27-6.) The leaves fall a bit
leaves hanging from a metal rod in a glass jar because we have taken some charge away. The
(Fig. 27-5). We shall now explain how it works. charge is shared between the electroscope and the
If we touch the knob at the upper end of the ball. Try again with a bigger ball. The leaves
metal rod with a charged piece of plastic, the gold fall much farther, because the bigger ball takes a
leaves spring apart. What has happened? Elec- bigger share of charge. The same thing happens
trically negative particles passed from the plastic ifwe join the electroscope knob to a big ball with
to the metal rod and spread immediately to the a wire. Some of the charge runs along the con-
leaves. The leaves repel each other because they ducting wire to the big ball. With a very big ball,
are both electrically negative. Since they are very practically all the charge goes to the ball, and the
light, a small charge is enough to cause a visible electroscope is left with so little charge that the
divergence of the leaves. (The leaves would also leaves fall completely. We can use the largest
SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY 447
available ball of all, the earth. When we connect 27—7. When you touch the knob of a charged electroscope
with a stick of graphite, the leaves fall. Both you and the
a charged electroscope to the earth, practically all
to notice. (This process of sharing charge with negative particles must have gone from you to
the earth is often called "grounding.")* the electroscope neutralizing the positive charge
Although you are not as large as the earth, you on the leaves. In either case, from these experi-
too are a conducting ball. If you charge the ments we conclude that the human body is an
electroscope and then touch the knob with a electrical conductor.
finger, the leaves collapse. If there was initially We can determine what other substances are
an excess of negative particles on the metal rod conductors. For example, suppose we charge
and leaves, some of these particles must have gone the electroscope again and touch the knob with
onto your body. They may have passed through a stick of graphite, such as the lead from a pencil.
your body to the ground. But even if your shoes (Fig. 27-7.) The leaves fall immediately, show-
are insulators, the electroscope leaves will fall. In ing that graphite is also a conductor. On the
this case, you are sharing the charge with the small other hand, the leaves of a charged electroscope
electroscope. do not move if we touch the knob with uncharged
If the electroscope is positively charged, you glass,hard rubber, porcelain, or plastics. These
will still discharge it by touching the knob. Some substances are electric insulators. If we touch
•The earth has some patches of nonconductor desert — the knob with a wooden match, the leaves fall,
27-8. Electrostatic induction, (a) Two metal rods are in con- near by. The right-hand one has a negative charge and the
tact; a positively charged object is near by. Negative par- left-hand one positive, (c) The rods retain their charges even
ticles are attracted to the right, leaving a positive charge to the when the charged object is taken away.
left, (b) The rods are separated with the charged body still
27—10. Using an electroscope to detect a charge and determine and more negative charges are repelled toward the leaves, and
its sign. In (a) we bring a positive charge near a positively they fall. Finally, if a big negative charge gets very close, we
charged electroscope. The leaves diverge still farther. In the may push so many minus charges on the leaves that they are
series of pictures (b) we move a negative charge nearer and given a net negative charge. They then diverge again.
nearer to the knob of a positively charged electroscope. More
charges. particles are attracted to the end near the positive charge. A
Electrostatic induction allows us to use an positive charge is left on the rest of the conductor. Since the
us say positively. Then we bring the unknown repelled by it. However, the repulsion is weaker
charge near the knob. If the charge is positive, than the attraction because the positive induced
it induces a negative charge on the knob and thus charge is farther from A than the negative one.
increases the positive charge on the leaves. Con- As a result, there is a net force on the conductor
sequently, the leaves diverge farther [Fig. 27- pulling it toward A.
10 (a)]. If, on the other hand, the unknown There is a similar but smaller force of attraction
charge is negative, the induction goes just the between a neutral insulator and a neighboring
other way. The net positive charge on the leaves charge. In an insulator, neither the positive nor
decreases, and the leaves fall [Fig. 27-10 (b)]. the negative particles can wander freely from
Electrostatic induction also enables us to un- their atoms, but they can be pushed or pulled
derstand the force of attraction exerted by an over short distances. For example, we may
electrified body on a neutral conductor. Suppose imagine that an insulator is made of positively
that the electrified body A is positively charged charged particles nailed down so that they remain
(Fig. 27-11). It will induce a negative charge on in place in the insulator, and negative particles
the nearest part of the conductor and a positive held near the positive ones by springy forces.
charge on the part farthest away. The negative The springy forces prevent the negative particles
induced charge is attracted toward the positive from moving any great distance. But when we
450 SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY
particles free to move through the insulators, but the positive and
negative particles in each molecule can be displaced slightly.
The negative particles are thus all slightly nearer the plus charge,
giving again a net force of attraction. Note that in fact the 27-14. A simple electroscope shielded by a metal case —a
molecules are extremely small and so are the charges on them. coffee can. Instead of thin metal leaves, the sensitive element
This diagram is far from a realistic picture. is a metal-coated drinking straw hung by a pin that fits through
two holes in the frame.
Consequently, they move a short distance away is sensitive to charges anywhere near by. Such
from the positive particles toward the attracting charges exert forces on the leaves, both directly
body (Fig. 27-12). Because the negative particles (when the leaves are charged) and by electrostatic
are slightly nearer the positively charged body induction. For many purposes, however, we
than are their positive counterparts, the force of would like an electroscope to respond only to
attraction on them is slightly greater than the re- charges on the leaves or near the knob.
pulsion exerted on the positive particles. As a We can cut out unwanted electric effects by
result, there is a net force of attraction between replacing the glass bottle with a metal case and
the insulator and the positively charged body. using an insulating sleeve to keep the case and
the leaves electrically separated. (Fig. 27-13.)
27-6. Improved Electroscopes and Suppose we bring a positively charged body, A,
Electrometers near an electroscope with a metal case. The
charge on A induces negative charges on the near
When the gold leaves of an electroscope hang
side of the metal case, and positive charges are
in a glass bottle (as in Fig. 27-5) the electroscope
left on the opposite side. We find experimentally
that if the electroscope is completely surrounded
insulating sleeve by a metal shield, the leaves are entirely unin-
fluenced by the presence or absence of charges
such as A outside the shield.The induced charges
exert forces on and apparently these
the leaves,
no change
here when forces just balance the force exerted by the posi-
A is removed + tive charge of A. A shielded electroscope is
conducting
insulator
,
thread glass scale
ISO
^ stem
I
"lens
/xKZ X—^ ,
^^^
r-T,^ /^^
jh
V
X^^X-^ — s\ -
r ^^^•^
1
(b) The stem of a quadrant electrometer. A very light "needle" Fig. 162.
is suspended in the hollow space inside the four quadrants, form-
ing a torsion balance. The needle is given an initial charge by
(c) A complete quadrant electrometer.(From S. G. Starling and
a battery, and the charge to be measured is put on the quad-
A.J. Woodall, "Electricity and Magnetism," Longmans, Green &
rants. The charges are distributed in such a way that a very
Co., New York.)
small charge gives a large deflection.
27-16. Charging an electroscope with batteries. The three 27—17. An electroscope connected to a battery stays charged
radio "B" batteries required to produce this deflection of the even though the stem and the case are joined by a high-resistance
leaf are equivalent to 180 flashlight cells in series. The effect wire. Since the resistance wire is very fine and hos to be very
of a single flashlight cell would not be detectable. long, it is wound up in a coil around the circular form. If the
battery is disconnected, the electroscope discharges.
charge separation produced by enough batteries trometer by momentarily connecting the stem
(Fig. 27-16). A couple of "B" batteries (avail- and the metal case to the terminals of a battery.
able at radio stores) will charge up a civil-defense When we disconnect the battery the electrometer
dosimeter so that the thread has been shoved en- stays charged. But if we then join the stem to the
tirely across the scale. metal case with a metal wire, the electrometer
The charge that a batteryputs on an electrometer quickly discharges. Electric particles must have
is thesame kind of electricity that we put on from moved through the wire between the stem and the
a rubbed glass rod or from any other charged case. We shall assume that these are negative
body. When the plus terminal of a battery is con- particles.
nected to the knob of an electrometer and the Now suppose that we leave the battery per-
minus terminal to the metal case, the knob gets manently connected to the electrometer. Then if
charged with the same kind of charge that we get we connect the stem to the case with a poorly
from rubbed glass —
positive charge. When the conducting wire (Fig. 27-17), the electrometer
battery is connected the other way round, the remains partially charged.* There is now a con-
knob becomes negatively charged; and these tinuous flow of electric particles in the wire. As
negative charges can be canceled off by just a these negative particles reach the positive battery
small part of the positive charge from rubbed terminal, they cancel some of the positive charge
A battery, then, is a complicated chemical they drain negative charge from it. The battery,
mechanism which shoves plus charges to the posi- on the other hand, keeps providing a supply of
tive terminal and minus charges to the negative charges at the terminals. Chemical changes con-
terminal, despite the forces of electrical attraction tinuously drive negative particles across inside
which tend to pull these charges together. When the battery from the positive to the negative
the battery is connected to the metal case and to terminal (or positive particles in the other direc-
the stem of an electrometer, the case and stem tion). The rate at which the battery moves these
are given opposite charges. The charges quickly charges is controlled by the rate at which the
accumulate until after a brief time the electric charges outside the battery flow through the wire
forces shoving the charges back toward the and cancel.
^^
stun oi \lll\ll\l FACTS \l«n 1 ELECTRICm 453
A flow of electric particles in a conductor is But now let us bring some radioactive material
called an electric current. In particular, the near the charged electroscope, or let us direct a
stead) flow imposed b\ a batters is called a steady beam of X rays toward it.The electroscope will
ait. Electric currents have man\ different gradually discharge. Furthermore, if we remove
effects. For example, a metal wire carrying a big- the radioactive material (or shut off the X-ray
enough current heats up. We can build instru- beam) before the electroscope has lost all its
ments to detect these effects and thus measure charge, it will stop discharging.
electric currents. In the next few sections and in We can interpret these results by assuming that
Chapter 29 there is much more discussion of elec- the X rays, or the radiations from the radioactive
tric current and its measurement. material, break up the gas molecules into elec-
trically charged fragments. Some of these frag-
27-9. Conductivity of Gases; Ionization ments may be identical with the ultimate building
Let us charge an electroscope, for example by blocks of matter that we have been talking about.
momentarily connecting the stem to the positive may be composed of several such particles.
Others
terminal and the case to the negative terminal of Some may be made of a charged fragment of a
a battery. The electroscope, of course, is full of molecule that has attached itself to a neutral
air. What would happen
some of the air mole- if molecule, thus producing a heavier charged unit.
cules were electrically positive and some elec- The charged molecular fragments or more com-
trically negative? The positive molecules would plex units are called ions; and a gas containing
be attracted toward the negatively charged case ions is said to be ionized.
and the negative molecules toward the positively While an ordinary gas is an insulator, an
charged stem. The arrival of the electrically ionized gas behaves like a conductor. A posi-
negative molecules would neutralize the excess tively charged object immersed in an ionized gas
of positive particles present on the stem, and the attracts the negative ions; a negatively charged
electroscope would gradually discharge. (Fig. object attracts the positive ions. In either case
r-is.) the ions, as they come in contact with the object,
gradually neutralize the original charge.
There are many experiments we can do to show
R that the conductivity of gas results from ioniza-
//v®
+ *\ tion. For example, we can make sure that the
discharge of an electroscope placed in a beam of
X rays is not due to a direct effect of the X rays
r ^ •i
*e
\
on the stem of the electroscope. The experiment
V V
v -
illustrated in Fig. 27-19 shows that the X rays are
acting on the gas. In this experiment we pump
air into the electroscope through a tube, part of
^^>-_ - ^^^ which can be irradiated. We charge the electro-
Even exceedingly thick shields made of materials paths of charged particles in gases (Fig. 27-20).
against these penetrating radiations that originate ions; and the operation of the cloud chamber is
outside of our atmosphere. Thus gases are al- based upon the observed fact that vapors condense
ways slightly ionized and therefore slightly con- more easily around such ions than in open space.
ducting. This conductivity, however, is so small One form of cloud chamber (the expansion
that it can only be detected with very delicate chamber) consists of a glass box with a movable
apparatus. wall (Fig. 27-21). The chamber contains a mix-
ture of a vapor like alcohol and a gas such as air
27-10. The Cloud Chamber or argon. The vapor, which is normally liquid
at room temperature, condenses easily. If we
Figs. 1-6 and 7-17 show the visible tracks left
by fast-moving particles in the near-boiling liquid suddenly pull the movable wall outward, the en-
of a bubble chamber and in photographic emul- closed gases expand and their temperature drops.
sions. Actually only fast-moving charged parti- If the temperature falls enough, the vapor con-
cles leave these tracks. Each track is an indirect denses into droplets everywhere, and a general
effect of the electric forces exerted by the passing fog will appear. If the temperature change is
charged particle upon the atoms of the emulsion somewhat smaller, the vapor condenses only
or the liquid. around ions. Consequently, if a charged particle
traverses the chamber at about the time of the ex-
pansion, the trail of ions along its path will be-
a] [bj
tronsparen cover
^ >A ,
"_ ..
Boor - ^
^r= = *l
^H !
i
rJ
s
copper tube-^ *"j
i
COOlont-4—
| i
This cloud chamber is cheap to make, and it runs plate. Then we stick the metal plates (called
continuously. With it we can see the passage of electrodes) into a glass of water.
an occasional charged cosmic ray. Also, by If the water is pure, the meter shows no current.
putting a bit of radioactive material in the cham- Since the molecules in liquids are free to move,
ber we can see the tracks of the charged frag- the absence of current proves that the water
ments emitted in radioactive decay as in Fig. molecules are electrically neutral.
27-23. When we dissolve some table salt in the water,
the meter shows a current in the circuit. The
27-11. Conductivity of Solutions same thing happens with many other chemical
Some liquids are electrical conductors; others compounds such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric
are insulators. The behavior of water and of acid, copper sulfate, potassium chloride, etc. We
water solutions is particularly interesting. In can explain the conductivity of these solutions by
order to study this behavior experimentally we assuming that the table salt (or the other dissolved
shall use the arrangement shown in Fig. 27-24. substance) breaks up into positively and nega-
In series we connect a metal plate, an electric tively charged fragments, which we shall again
current meter, a battery, and a second metal call positive and negative ions. This explanation
27-24. Apparatus for studying electrical conduction in a liquid. The charge is carried through the solution by positive and nega-
When salt is dissolved in the water, the meter shows a current. tive ions.
456 SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY
is much like the explanation of electric conduc- tion gives us a very suggestive clue; and together
tion in gases. In liquids, however, unlike gases, with other pieces of circumstantial evidence it
salt (such as silver nitrate), we find that the nega- by attracting them back into the metal.
tive electrode becomes coated with a film of Now suppose we heat the metal. As the tem-
silver. This suggests that when copper sulfate or perature increases, the speeds of the particles
silver nitrate breaks up in solution, the metal must increase, just as the speeds of gas molecules
atoms are carried by the positive ions. The mo- do. At high-enough temperatures an appreciable
tion of these ions in the electric current involves fraction of the particles should have sufficient
a detectable transport of matter. speed to escape. Like rockets moving fast enough
The phenomenon described above is known as to escape from the gravitational attraction of the
electrolysis. It is commonly used in electro- earth, these high-speed particles should not fall
plating and in many other manufacturing proc- back into the metal. They should get out beyond
esses,such as refining copper, producing hydro- the reach of the attractive forces.
gen gas, and producing aluminum. In Section With the apparatus shown in Fig. 27-25 we can
29-4 we shall see how to use electrolysis to meas- do experiments to see what actually happens when
ure electric current. we heat a metal. The essential part of this equip-
ment is a hollow metal cylinder with a thin metal
27-12. Electrons in Metals wire filament stretched along its axis. The
Metals are the commonest kind of conductor. cylinder and the filament are sealed in a glass
What kind of electric particles are free to move in vessel, which is thoroughly evacuated. To heat
them, making them conduct? Are these particles the filament we connect it to a battery — marked
positive or negative or both? No single experi- A in the figure. We also connect the filament
ment is capable of answering this question in through a current meter to the negative terminal
such a clear-cut manner as in the case of conduct- of a "B" battery. The positive terminal of the
ing gases and liquids. However, one observa- "B" battery is connected to the cylinder.
27—25. Apparatus for investigating electrical conduction in ance wire from the "A"-battery circuit. The current meter con-
metals. The electric current from battery A heats the filament. nected to the "B" battery shows when charge flows through the
We can raise the temperature of the filament by removing resist- space between the filament and the cylinder.
evacuated
resistance wire current meter
glass
" envelope
metal
cylinder
"A" batteries
SOME QUALITATIVE 1 ACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY 457
When the filament is at ordinary temperatures, position of either the cylinder or the filament.
there is no current in the "B"-batterv circuit. The electrons that have come out of the tungsten
But if we gradually raise the temperature of the must be identical with the electrons already in-
filament, the meter will eventually register a cur- side the nickel.
rent, indicating that electric particles pass through This conclusion is supported by similar evi-
the empty space between the filament and the dence from metals in contact. We can leave a
cylinder. As we raise the temperature of the nickel wire connected across the brass terminals of
filament further, going from orange hot to white a battery and let a current run for days in suc-
hot. this current increases very rapidly. cession without noticing any change in the wire
We repeat the experiment, reversing the con- itself or in the battery terminals. A great many
nections to the "B" battery. The cylinder is now electrons have gone from one metal to the other
negatively charged and the filament positively. across the contact, but no change takes place in
In this case the meter shows no current, even the brass or the nickel. The electrons of nickel
yvhen the filament is white hot. and brass are thus indistinguishable.
What do these results mean? Suppose first Finally, we conclude that electrons must be
that the hot filament boils out negative particles. among the ultimate building blocks of all metals
When the filament is negative and the cylinder and in fact of all atoms. Today the correctness
by the fila-
positive, these particles are repelled of this conclusion is beyond doubt. We shall
ment and attracted by the cylinder. Therefore meet more of the evidence for it in later chapters.
thev travel from the filament to the cylinder;
thev then flow through the metal wire to the posi- 27-13. Diodes, Electron Guns,
tive batterv terminal and from the negative ter- Cathode-Ray Oscilloscopes
minal through the metal wire back again to the Thermionic emission has many practical appli-
hot filament. Thus the emission of negative parti- cations; one of the most important is in radio
clesfrom the filament effectively bridges the gap tubes. The device we used to demonstrate thermi-
between the filament and the cylinder so that a onic emission is a simple type of radio tube called
steady current is observed in the circuit. a diode (Fig. 27-26). (In radio language the hot
Suppose, on the other hand, that the filament
emits positive particles. They would bridge the 27—26. A photograph of a commercial diode. The white metal
gap when the filament is positive and the cylinder tube in the center is heated internally and emits electrons. When
negative; and we would then observe a current it is charged negatively and the outer cylinder is positive, the
in the "B"-battery circuit. Consequently the fact electrons move through the space between.
deflecting plates
holt bright spot
bright spot
v/llw/rA
position
of spot when
"V^\+ no charge
on deflecting
1 plates
IUjT
27-27.
«* J
s in
The simple diode can be converted
1 to an electron gun 27—28. The electron gun can be made to serve as an electrom-
by drilling a hole in the cylinder and extending the glass enve- eter by putting a pair of horizontal metal plates in front of the
lope. One end of the tube is coated with a fluorescent substance hole. If, for example, we put a positive charge on the upper
that glows where the beam of electrons strikes it. plate and a negative charge on the lower, the electron beam will
be deflected upward. The movement of the spot away from its
wire from which the electrons are emitted is called center position is a measure of the charge on the plates.
single flashlight battery connected across the de- returns quickly to the starting point. At the
flecting plates produces a visible deflection of the same time the first pair of plates produces a ver-
spot. Consequently, we can use this oscilloscope tical deflection corresponding to their charges.
as an electrometer. And if we couple it with an As a result of the two deflections the spot traces
amplifier like the one in a radio, it can be a far a curve which gives a graphical picture of the
more sensitive instrument than the electrometers way the charge on the vertical plates changes with
we described previously. time (Fig. 27-30).
SOME QUALITATIVE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY 459
. horizontal deflectors
connected to sweep
The cathode-ray oscilloscope has many appli- 27—30. A photograph of a trace on the face of an oscilloscope
Suppose that you have electrified a plastic rod (c) Sometimes, if you touch the wooden frame
by rubbing it with wool. and then touch the metal handle, there is no
(a) Do you expect the wool to become spark or shock in either case —
although there
charged? would have been if you had touched the handle
(b) How could you find out if it does? first. Suggest an explanation.
strong positive charges, one at each end of the you find some sign of conduction, try cutting the
line of blocks, close to but not touching the tape to half width, and repeat the test. Also try
blocks. You then poke the blocks apart with using twice the length.
an insulating (uncharged) rod, while the objects
with strong positive charges are near by. Finally
11. * A project: (a) Charge an electroscope and
bring a lighted match near the knob. What do
you remove the two positively charged objects.
you observe? Does it make any difference
(a) What charge is now on each block?
whether you have a positive or negative charge
(b) Explain how the blocks acquired these
on the electroscope?
charges by describing the motion of negative
(b) Hold a match far enough from the knob
particles.
so the electroscope does not discharge. What
8. * As a project you can make a device called an happens when you fan the heated air very gently
electrophorus. You will need an old phono- toward the knob? How do you explain this
graph record and a metal plate somewhat result? Is the discharge the direct effect of heat-
smaller than the record. Attach an insulating ing the knob, or does heating make the air con-
handle at right angles to the plate. smallA ducting?
aluminum pan (an empty frozen-pie container)
with a candle stuck to it will do. 12. We have seen that electric charge will flow
Charge the record by rubbing it with wool. through certain solutions, such as copper sul-
Place the pan on the record and ground the pan fate in water. In this case there is a deposit of
momentarily with your finger. Then remove the copper built up on the negative electrode. Re-
pan and use it to charge an electroscope. What call the explanation given for this in Section
charge does the pan have? What charge does 27-11, and think how this process might be
the record have? To charge another pan in the used as a current-measuring device. Be pre-
same way, would you have to recharge the elec- pared to discuss your ideas in class.
trophorus? 27-13 is concerned with a simple type of
13. Section
9. Before the invention of the magnetic telegraph, radio tube called a diode. A triode is similar,
numerous schemes were proposed for long- but it has a second cylinder of open wire mesh
distance signaling over wires, using electric re- between the filament and the plate [Fig. 27-31
pulsion or attraction. Suggest a simple arrange- (a)]. Suppose first that the wire mesh (or "grid")
ment for such communication. is connected to the earth so that the grid remains
uncharged. Then we connect a battery [Fig. conducting object situated outside the laboratory
27-31 (b)] so that there is a negative charge on (e.g. a wet oak tree).
the grid. Compare the currents in the "B" (3) The conducting wire is removed.
battery circuit in these two cases. (4) B is taken away.
(5) The conducting wire is again touched
14. Suppose we have a large number of identical to A.
particles. Am two of them at 10 cm separation (a) Suppose that only negative particles are
repel with a force of 3 X 10 -10 newtons. movable in the conductors (and neither negative
(a) If one of them is at 10cm from a group nor positive in insulators) and say what charges
of n others, how strongly do you expect it to be move where in each of the stages of the experi-
repelled? ment described.
(b) Suppose you measure the repulsion and (b) Now
suppose the conductors are made of
find 6 X 10 -6 newtons;
it is how many particles some material in which only positive particles
were there in the group? can move (there are some, but they are special).
Repeat the explanation asked for in (a), in full
15. Suppose we have a large number of positive and detail.
negative electric particles, all exactly the same (c) Now suppose that the conductors have
(except for sign). This means that any pair of both positive and negative particles that move
them either attract or repel depending on their freely (which is what you would have if the con-
signs, but the magnitude of the force between ductors were blocks of insulator painted with
them is the same as long as the separation dis- brine). Repeat the explanation asked for in (a),
tance is the same. For example, the force be- in full detail.
tween anv two of them at 10 cm is 3 X 10~ 10
newtons.
A single positive particle is 10 cm from a group
containing P positive particles and M negative
particles.
(a) How strongly will it be repelled? You are
unable to count the particles, but you measure FURTHER READING
-6
the force and find it is 6 X 10 newtons. What
does this tell you about P and Af? Furry, W. H.; Purcell, E. M.; Street, J. C,
Physics for Science and Engineering Students.
16. We think the earth has a slight electric charge. Blakiston, 1952 (Chapter 22).
How would you go about testing for it? Gilbert, N. E., Electricity and Magnetism. Third
Edition, Macmillan, 1950.
17. In the following experiment changes or motions Skilling, Hugh H., Exploring Electricity. Ronald
of electric charge occur. An oblong horizontal Press, 1948.
conductor A (Fig. 27-32) is supported on an in- Steinbach, H. B., "Animal Electricity." Scientific
sulating stand A'. A conducting ball B hung on American, February, 1950.
an insulating thread carries a strong negative Taylor, Lloyd, Physics, the Pioneer Science. Dover,
charge. A is uncharged. 1959 (Chapter 40).
(1) B is then brought near A. Wilson, Mitchell, American Science and Invention.
(2) A wire then connects A to an enormous Simon & Schuster, 1954 (Franklin: pp. 16-23).
COULOMB'S LAW AND THE ELEMENTARY ELECTRIC CHARGE
CHAPTER 28
So far, our study of electric forces has been quali- attraction (see Section 22-10). Fig. 28-1 is a dia-
tative. It indicated that the electric attraction and gram of this kind of apparatus. When the
repulsion between large bodies due to attraction
is charged sphere A is put in place, the electric force
and repulsion between the subatomic particles of it exerts on the charged sphere B pushes the hori-
which they are made. Our next task will be to zontal arm around. The arm then comes to
describe experiments that provide quantitative rest in a new position with the suspension twisted.
information about these forces. The more the suspension is twisted, the greater
the force must be. From the angle of twist, there-
28-1. Force vs. Distance fore, Coulomb could measure the electric force.
The way in which the attraction or repulsion And by changing the distance between the charged
between charges depends on distance was es- spheres, he measured the force as a function of
tablished experimentally by the French physicist separation. Because the charges are distributed
CharlesCoulomb in 1785. In his experiment
Coulomb used a torsion balance, like the instru-
ment Cavendish used later to study gravitational
original paper.
462
coulomb's law and THE ELEMENTARY ELECTRIC CHARGE 463
o o
(a)
© ©
square in the inverse square), to within one part
in 40,000. It is now known to one part in 10 9
.
electric particles varies as the inverse square of tion we need a scheme to divide the excess of
their separation. particles in a known way in half, into thirds, —
Since 1910 a great many experiments have been etc. Suppose we touch a charged metal sphere
done with subatomic particles. We can fire them with an identical uncharged sphere (Fig. 28-2).
at one another or at the charged nuclei of atoms. Then the electric particles will move around until
As we shall see in Chapter 32, these experiments they are shared equally by both spheres. Each
also show that the electric force between the sphere will have half the original charge.
particles varies as the inverse square of the separa- What happens to the electric forces when
tion. charges are shared? Measure the force of re-
pulsion between two charged spheres A and C at
28-2. Electric Charge and Electric Force a certain separation. Then halve the charge on
In an electrically neutral body the effects of A by sharing it with an identical sphere B. The
positive and negative electric particles cancel. force of repulsion between A and C (still at the
A positively charged body contains uncanceled same separation) is also cut in half. Further-
positive particles and a negatively charged body more, we get the same force when A is replaced
contains uncanceled negative particles. Thus the by B, the identical sphere with which it shared
charge of a body depends on the uncanceled ex- its charge. Apparently, charge and force are
cess of positive or of negative particles, measured proportional, as we might have guessed.
from neutral. Such experiments give us a way of comparing
charges quantitatively. Two charges are equal if
*When charged bodies are far apart compared with they experience equal forces at a given distance
their dimensions, they are often called point charges
because the detailed positions of the charges on the from any third charge. One charge is twice an-
bodies are then unimportant. other when it experiences twice the force. Fur-
464 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
o1— . i —
o (
When we
we gave
first began speaking of electric charge.
word only a qualitati\e meaning.
this
1
r
the line between the charges. We can draw a 28-6. Two fixed charges A and B on a plane exert forces on
negatively positively
charged charged
their surfaces at right angles. This is easy to un- proportional to the charges on the plates.
COULOMB'S l \\v AND 1111 IIIMINTARY ELECTRIC CHARGE 467
(c) Two rods with the same charge. (f) A single charged metal plate.
468 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
the original length and twice the original factor 4 from the fourfold charge and the
factor 5 from the square of the doubled
force on charge exerted by charge
shaded patch
distance. The net effect — because 4x|= 1
in
— is to give exactly the original force.
The falling off of the force from a given
shaded patch is amount of charge and the increase in the
area of plane visible amount of charge seen through the mega-
through cone
phone always compensate 1/r 2 and r 2 — .
28-4. Measuring Small Electrical Forces landmarks distinguishing modern physics from
As we shall see, ions have charges of very few ancient.
particles, often an excess of only one or two. By
studying them we shall find that electric particles This discovery allows us to specify the charge on an
all have charges of the same Charge comes size. object by counting the extra number of electric particles
of one sign as compared with those of the other sign.
in separate grains; and every grain, whether posi-
It makes our picture of charge simple. Of course, the fact
tive or negative, is of the same magnitude as any that elementary charges all have the same magnitude does
other. The identity of the grains of charge, like not guarantee that particles are the same in all other
respects. As we shall see later, there are particles of
the identity of atoms of matter, provides us with several different masses, all with the same charge. Even-
natural units. Their discovery is one of the great tually we classify particles by a number of properties.
coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge 469
on ions. Objects visible to the naked eye are too Now we come to the point of the game. The
massive for our purpose. Microscopic plastic little plastic spheres usually carry a few ionic
spheres about 1.8 X 10~6 meter in diameter turn charges; and because air molecules are neutral,
out to be about right (Fig. 28-12). Although the charge on a sphere stays the same for quite a
they are large enough to be seen as spots of light long time. If we place ordinary charged bodies
through an optical microscope, the mass of each near a falling sphere, they will exert electric forces
is only 2.9 x 10
-15
kg —
about 3 micro-micro- on these ionic charges, forces comparable with
grams. Since these spheres are manufactured for the small gravitational force pulling the sphere
calibrating the distances seen with electron mi- down. When such an electric force is present,
croscopes, a large number of almost identical the driving force pushing a sphere along is the
spheres are available. vector sum of the gravitational force and the elec-
In air these spheres move rather slowly. Driven tric force. Therefore, by changing the charges
downward by the gravitational force, they fall near by, we can change the driving force exerted
1 millimeter in about 10.6 seconds. Looking at on the sphere. When the driving force changes,
them, we see that they fall steadily (Fig. 28-13) the speed of the sphere changes. If we increase
with only a slight amount of Brownian motion,
28—13. Photographs of a plastic sphere driven downward by
and no apparent acceleration. On the average gravity, taken through a microscope at one-second intervals.
the net force on them must be zero. This zero net The sphere falls about the same distance in each interval across
force is the vector sum of the gravitational driv- a grid slightly over 1 mm long.
470 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
+ charges on
under surface
28-16. By choosing the right battery and the right plate separa-
tion, we can hold a sphere motionless between the plates. The
electric force and the gravitational force must be equal: (a) shows
the way the plates and the battery are arranged; (b) is a
sketch of the same apparatus with schematic plates.
28-17 (a). We can make the sphere move upward by adding 28—17 (b). A sequence showing the sphere being hauled up
another battery in series, pushing more charge onto the plates. by the electric force when another battery is used as shown in (a).
ing another battery in series [Fig. 28-17 (a) and This experiment suggests that the drag of the air
(b)].) way we can keep the sphere
In this in view is just proportional to the speed; so when the
for a long time while we play with it. driving force doubles, the speed doubles, bringing
From observing the sphere fall under gravity the drag back into balance.
alone we already know that a driving force of If we can known driving forces on
exert other
2.8 X 10 -u newtons results in a steady velocity the sphere, we can check that the speed with
of 1 mm every 10.6 seconds. We also know how which the sphere moves is directly proportional
to get an electric force of this size on the sphere. to the driving force. To establish another known
Now we are going to find out what steady speed force, we adjust the electric force so that it hauls
results from a different driving force. We can the sphere up at a speed of 1 mm in 10.6 seconds
get a known force just twice the gravitational at- — just equal to the downward speed imposed by
traction by turning the electric force upside down gravity alone. [We get this upward speed, it
and adding it to the gravitational one. All we turns out, with two batteries in series as in Fig.
have to do is to connect the balancing battery in 28-17 (a).] Since the driving force that gives this
reverse so that the charges on the plates are inter- speed must be equal in magnitude to the gravita-
changed. Then an electric force of 2.8 X 10~ 14 tional force, the electric force upward must be
newtons is pushing down on the charged sphere twice the gravitational force downward. There-
in addition to the equal gravitational force (Fig. fore the electric force with two batteries con-
28-18). The driving force is therefore 5.6 X 10~ 14 nected is 5.6 X 10~ 14 newtons. When we turn
newtons. Watching the sphere through the mi- this force upside down and add it to the gravita-
croscope, we observe that it now falls steadily, tional pull on the sphere (Fig. 28-19), we get a
zoins. 2 mm instead of mm in each1 10.6 seconds.
28—19. When we have two batteries in series, we know [see
Fig. 28-17 (a)] that the electric force is twice the gravitational
28—18. With the connections of the balancing battery reversed, force. Now if they are reversed so that the electric force acts
the electric force now acts downward. The driving force is downward, the driving force is three times the gravitational
twice the gravitational force. The speed is 2 mm in 10.6 sec. force. The sphere moves down at a speed of 3 mm in 10.6 sec.
• F*
+ t
* Fe
\
/0^~^_
472 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
If,
2v
I
+
*J
28-21.
474 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
agrees with the theoretical conclusion stated in the 28-22. The masses of the five bags of marbles. The horizontal
last section where we asserted that the field should broken lines are to make comparison easier.
be constant.
5 in bag A, 1 in bag B, 3 in C, 2 in D, and 4 in E.
28-5. The Elementary Charge (You would probably rattle bag B to see whether
Suppose somebody gives you a set of stiff paper your idea was correct.)
bags, sealed shut, with various numbers of On the other hand, if there are huge numbers of
marbles in them. He challenges you to tell marbles in each bag, you probably will not sus-
whether the marbles he put in are all alike and pect that every marble has the same mass. For
how many are in each bag — without breaking example, suppose that the collections of marbles
the seals. You weigh the bags and find the have masses of 5.76 kg, 6.27 kg, 3.24 kg, 4.82
masses for the marbles given in Table 1. By kg, etc., that is about 1030, 1120, 580, 860 .. .
plotting these masses as in Fig. 28-22, you see marbles. With such masses, even if you suspect
that they are all multiples of 0.00560 kg. Then that the marbles are identical, you will find it
you might very well decide that all the marbles hard to convince yourself. In order to be sure
have equal mass. This would make sense, be- that all the collections are whole numbers of
cause with marbles of 0.00560 kg there would be identical marbles, you would have to measure to
a small fraction of 1 -marble accuracy. That
means weighing to something like 1 part in
Table 1
10,000, which is a much more difficult and much
less convincing job. If the numbers of identical
Mass of marbles Supposed number Mass per
Bag in the bag of marbles marble objects involved are still larger, like the numbers
A 0.02800 kg
of atoms in a mole —6 X 10 23 of them — the job
would be hopeless.
B 0.00560 kg Because there are so many atoms even in a
C 0.01680 kg very small sample, the masses of atoms were not
D 0.01120 kg established by weighing small numbers of them.
E 0.02240 kg
A less direct
method was used (see Chapters 7-9).
For the same reason, the elementary unit of
coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge 475
charge was not discovered by measuring large off with a downward velocity of 0.54 mm per
charges and seeing that they come in multiples 10.6 sec. Later a dose of X rays made the sphere
of a single unit. The charges we normally deal pick up some more ions. The sphere then rose
with involve huge numbers of elementary electric at the speed of 0.50 mm per 10.6 sec. Next it
charges, millions of millions of them, and the went up at the speed of 0.96 mm per 10.6 sec. It
presence or absence of one more charge is far too was necessary to let the sphere fall and to haul it
hard to detect. Consequently, the earliest evi- up to convenient positions for measurement
dence for an elementary charge came indirectly, several times. But with enough patience, enough
in the nineteenth century. Because this evidence charge changes and speed measurements, we
is indirect and because it is tied to other aspects took the data in Table 2. There in the left-hand
of atomic theory, we shall deal with it in Section column are the observed speeds, and in the right-
2^-4. Here instead we shall look at some hand column the forces to which they correspond.
evidence which became available early in this We know from Section 28-4 that each millimeter
-14
century. At that time micro-microbalances like in 10.6 seconds means a force of 2.8 X 10 new-
the one described in the last section were being tons. Consequently, 0.54 mm per 10.6 sec cor-
developed for measuring ionic charge. In 1909 responds to 0.54 X (2.8 X 10~ 14 newtons), that
-14
R. A. Millikan perfected a balance much like is to 1.51 X 10 newtons. The other forces were
the one we have and he performed a
described, calculated in the same way.
series of experiments which clearly show the exist-
ence of the elementary unit of charge. Where we Table 2
use plastic spheres of known mass, he used tiny
oil drops — and he had to measure their masses
Speed in
moved
millimeters
in
Electric force
on the charge added
exerted
to
while examining their charges. Our experiment 10.6 seconds. the sphere since balance,
units of 10"
14
is therefore easier than his but otherwise it is (-(- indicates rise, in newtons
nearly the same. *
and — fall)
charge.
Exactly what happens next depends on chance Figure 28-23 shows several series of observa-
— on what ions the sphere happens to pick up, tions of the motion of the sphere. In each se-
or on what charge the X-ray beam knocks off the quence of observations, spread out horizontally
sphere. In one run the following sequence took on the figure, the charge on the sphere is different.
place. From balance the sphere suddenly started You can see the effect of the different electrical
forces by comparing the vertical motions during
*In Millikan's time there were no standardized plastic Notice that in the four
equal time intervals.
spheres and no electron microscopes with which to see
that they are all the same. He was forced to do sequences the vertical motions are in the ratios of
something different. 1 to 2 to 3 to 4.
476 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
mmmm tm
28—23. Four sequences of pictures taken at 1-sec intervals, needed to balance the sphere before its charge was changed.)
showing the motion of a standard sphere. (The plates were con- How are the four speeds related? What does this relation
nected to the same battery at all times, giving them the charge tell you about the forces and the charges on the sphere?
COULOMBS 1 \\V AND THE ELEMENTARY ELECTRIC CHARGE 477
4 \ (1.4 X 10- u ) 1
i '
1 iL
1 i
H3 X (1.4 X 10- 14
4
1 i
division
3
:: '9 V (1 A V lO -14 ^
per
i-^- i i
force
newtons
2
Upward
" 10- 14
1 X (1.4 X )
10 --.::::
,™i„^
,
: :::::-:j
_.J %mMM^te&mm<iimim\
:
"i I
sphere in
balance
-1
o
i F^l X M-4 x io- 14 P
•:.".: ............
* '
^
)
?
c
a -2
Fig. 28-24 is a graph of the forces from Table 28-24. The arrows indicate the forces measured on a plastic
amount ever goes on or off the sphere. There is also work fornumbers of elementa y
large
a smallest grain size. But that is not all: the charges? A number of elementary
really large
evidence says much more. The atoms of elec- charges will not stay on a microscopic object.
tricity are all of the same size. There are no Perhaps even more important, not all objects are
charges of 1^ units or t or any amount like that microscopically small. Consequently, in a literal
— only 1, 2, 3, 4 of these smallest grains. All the sense, the answer is, "No, the micro-microbalance
charges are made up of the basic units. will not work."
This is a sweeping conclusion, and we must How, then, are we going to measure a large
check it in other ways. We worked only with charge as a number of elementary charges? There
the changes in the charge on the sphere. What are several ways, but the most obvious is to build
of the original charge? Is it a multiple of the unit a bigger balance. We want a balance large enough
for charges? The answer is "yes." In our ex- to accommodate a sphere from a Coulomb experi-
periment the electric force to balance the sphere ment (see Sections 28-1 and 28-2) or some similar
against gravity was 2.8 X 10 -14 newtons, and the object. If we can measure the charge on such an
force on each unit charge was 1.4 X 10 -14 new- object in terms of the number of elementary
tons. The sphere therefore started with 2 of the charges, we should then be able to measure all
same unit charges on it. charges as numbers of elementary charges. In-
What would happen if we had a different initial deed, we shall see in the next section that once
charge on the sphere? In our experiment the we have measured one big charge, the Coulomb
-3
plates were 3.1 X 10 meters apart; and our experiment will let us measure any other in terms
standard balancing battery was made by putting of elementary charges.
three 90-volt "B" batteries in series. If the same The new balance must be large enough to ac-
sphere starts with 3 charges, it must be balanced commodate a reasonably large object, and at the
by using a different battery to charge the plates. same time we must know the electric force on an
We then find that two 90-volt batteries make the elementary charge between the plates. (Unless
balance. Also we then find that the force on the we know on an elementary charge in
the force
apparent unit of charge is 0.9 X 10 -14 newtons the balance, we can use it only to measure big
— that is, two-thirds of the old force. But this charges in terms of an arbitrary unit of charge.)
is just right, for two-thirds the original balancing If we could do an accurate Millikan experiment in
battery should give only two-thirds the force on a large balance, we could compare a big charge
the same charge. So the elementary charge again directly with an elementary charge. Unfortu-
comes out the same. nately, to do a Millikan experiment with a large
We can do other experiments like this with balance is impractical. However, there is a way
spheres of different size and different material, around this difficulty: we can build a large bal-
arid many were done by Millikan. For example, ance in which the force on each elementary charge
with a sphere of twice the mass, the balancing between the plates is exactly the same as the force
force is twice as big. The ratio of speed to driv- on an elementary charge in the micro-micro-
ing force is also different. But when we take all balance. To design the large balance in this way,
the changes into account, we find that all the ex- we must learn how the dimensions of a balance
periments give the same natural unit of charge. are related to the force it exerts. Then we can
We can use different gases; we can ionize them increase the size of the balance without changing
in different ways; we can even send in electrons the force.
or other charged particles —
we always find the In order to scale up a balance, we shall have
same unit. We shall call it the elementary charge. to change both the area of the plates and their
separation. We
can learn the effect of each of
28-6. A Large Electrical Balance these changes by experiment, both with the micro-
With a micro-microbalance we can measure microbalance and with widely separated charged
the charge of an object as a certain number of plates exerting forces on large charges.
elementary charges. We know that this method When we same
use plates of larger area at the
will work when the number of elementary charges distance apart and connected to the same battery
is small and the object is microscopic. Will it (Fig. 28-25), the force on a charge between them
coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge 479
is the same. When we separate the plates, how- ing the separation or the battery, the force on an elementary
ber of batteries in the same proportion. The place the plates 3 1 cm apart, a hundred times the
exact area of the plates does not matter. There- separation of the plates in our micro-microbal-
fore, to scale up the electric micro-microbalance ance. We shall charge them by using a hundred
480 coulomb's law and the elementary electric charge
Y//////////S Y/////S//M
to 100
batteries
in series
of the 270-volt balancing batteries placed in 28—26. A large electric balance. The electric force on the
charged sphere measured by the extension of the spring. The
series.* (This is a lot of batteries, but we need to is
the Force Between Elementary connected from the batteries, we note the position
F = k M-2
k = ^ is
ing
the key to measuring charges.
we can always two equal charges. After get
By charge-shar-
we set
measuring the force between them at a definite
obiects,
J
;-= r^*
(elem. ch.) 2
is
work with all sorts of experiments has gone into
measuring k accurately. The results of all these the direct measure of the force between two
experiments are in close agreement, and the elementary charges one meter apart. They exert
-28
value given by the best experiments is almost just 2.306 X 10 newtons on each other. No
doubt that force looks absolutely negligible. But
exactly 2.306 X 10- 2 ' °^°""^ Consequently,
( in fact it is huge. The gravitational attraction
we now write Coulomb's law as between two hydrogen atoms at this distance is
Our picture of particles of electric charge leads per second in the beam, we can catch the beam in
to the idea of the conservation of charge. When a metal bottle (Fig. 28-28). The electrons which
we charge bodies by rubbing them, we transfer enter the bottle stop in the metal walls, and even
charged particles from one to another. What one if they eject other electrons from the inner sur-
body gains in charge the other one loses. When faces of the wall, hardly any particles will find
we charge the plates of an electric balance with their way out of the small neck of the bottle. The
a battery, the battery transfers charge from one bottle therefore is charged up only by the charge
plate to the other. The charges of the plates are brought in by the electrons. After a sufficiently
equal and opposite. long time, the bottle will acquire enough charge
In certain very unusual circumstances we can to be measured, and we can therefore determine
"create" charged particles, but we shall find that the charge brought into the bottle in each second.
we always create them in pairs, and the charge of By dividing the charge per second by the number
one particle is equal and opposite to the charge of electrons per second in the beam, we then find
of the other. Sometimes nature "creates" charged the charge of an electron. It is exactly one nega-
after the creation. deed, the first experiment of this kind was done
All our evidence indicates that the total amount by Rutherford and Geiger in 1908 in order to
of charge never changes. Like the conservation find the charge of these atomic fragments, which
of energy, the conservation of charge is a law of we usually call alpha particles. They found that
nature which extends over everything we know.
(a)
28-9. The Electric Charge of Electrons
and other Particles of Matter
We alreadyknow that electrons have a negative electron
multiplier
electric charge, but we have yet to find out whether I
Two electrified objects A and B are separated by Suppose that we place three small charged spheres,
0.03 meters, and repel each other with a force of with equal charges on them, as shown in Fig. 28-
4.0 X 10" 5 newtons. 30. A and C are fixed in position and B can
(a) If we move body A an additional 0.03 move. C exerts a force of 4 X 10~ 6 newtons on B.
meters away, what is the electric force now? (a) What force does A exert on Bl
Does it make any
(b) difference which body (b) What is the net force on Bl
we move? Explain.
alone.
(a) What is the electrical force on them if they
are moving upward?
28-32. For Problem 5.
(b) If they are moving downward?
5. Two charged balls A and B each with mass m are 10. The following table gives possible data on the
placed as shown in Fig. 28-32. The ball A is free motion of the same plastic spheres used in
to move; B is fixed in position. the Millikan experiment described in Sections
(a) How the force Fe between them
does 28^ and 28-5.
depend upon X°.
(b) Find the relationship between the electric Distance moved in 10.6 Electric force exerted on
force Ft and the weight mg in terms of X and /. seconds, in millimeters the charge added to the
(c) If the charge remains the same and the sepa- ( + indicates rise and sphere since balance, in
ration X is cut in half, how must the weight have
- fall) units of 10" 14 newtons
28-33. For Problem 7. 11. Only one of several identical metal spheres is
4.0 charged. The charged sphere A experiences a
-4
force F = 1.0 X 10 newtons when placed mid-
way between certain charged parallel plates.
Sphere A
(a) then touched to one of the un-
is
meter?
(b) What is the electric force of repulsion?
(c) What is the ratio of electrical to gravita-
tional forces?
(d) What is the electric force of repulsion and
the gravitational force at 0.5 meters?
(e) How has the ratio changed?
J
\
19. A thin layer of radioactive material emitting beta
particles is painted on a small conducting sphere.
The sphere is then hung on an insulating thread
in an evacuated chamber (Fig. 28-37).
After 50 days we measure the charge on the
^kf
sphere and find it to be 4.32 X 10 10 positive
elementary charges. (The sphere has been kept
in an evacuated chamber, so very few charges
have leaked off.) In a separate experiment with
a Geiger counter we find beta particles shooting
out at the average rate of 1.00 X 10* per second.
(V.
small sphere
CHAPTER 29
This chapter deals with the motions of charges in atoms. When charged particles accelerate, their
electric fields. We shall use these motions to de- kinetic energy changes. Energy is transferred to
termine the masses of charged particles and to the particles. The energy transfers (from chemi-
discuss the currents in electric circuits. In par- cal stored energy, to the energy of moving charges,
ticularwe shall find the masses of positive hydro- to thermal energy) will allow us to consider all
gen ions and of electrons, because these charged kinds of electric circuits from a single point of
particles will be central to our later study of view.
29-1. Motion of Electrons and Protons in We know that the force on each elementary
charge between the plates is proportional to the
a Uniform Electric Force Field
In this section and the next we shall describe
number of batteries and that it falls off in inverse
and the separation of the charged plates is three of kinetic energy. And if the body carries q ele-
times that of the plates in the micro-microbalance. mentary charges, it acquires a kinetic energy q
487
488 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
1
© ! + -
on the right in Fig. 29-2, is made of a conductor.
1
1
<® and the ions move its entire length without chang-
+ -
© e + -
ing their speed. It takes the ions only a few mi-
croseconds (a few times 10 -6 seconds) to go the
+ -
+ - whole distance. Although this time interval is
detector
W~-"--
If.
to 90 volt
5 cm
battery
©@©® w
) ®©@ ©+©©,®®
®® ©© @® ©
I*
to
battery
90 volt
M
pulse from A'
€>
29—4. When we momentarily discharge the plates, we let ber to the detector. The discharge is recorded as a spike on the
through a short pulse of ions that goes straight along the cham- oscilloscope, marking the time that the pulse begins its flight.
490 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
identical.) When the beam of ions hits the de- the oscilloscopemoves the distance between the
tector, a second spike then appears on the face spikes in the same time that the hydrogen ions
of the oscilloscope (Fig. 29-7). The two spikes move the 50 cm through the chamber. (You may
occur at different places on the tube face because want to look again at the same reasoning applied
they are made at different times. During the in- to the simpler experiment described in the box.)
tervening time interval the sweep circuit in the With a modern oscilloscope, the sweep circuit
oscilloscope has moved the electron beam hori- can move the electron beam horizontally across
zontally across the face. The electron beam in the face of the tube from one side to the other in
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN BLBCTRIC FIELDS 491
e©@® ©®
W
ft
to 90-volt
battery
29—7. When the ion pulse strikes the detector, a second spike
a few hundredths of a microsecond. To measure appears on the oscilloscope. The distance between the two
spikes measures the time of flight of the ions.
the speed of the ions, we adjust the sweep circuit
to make the whole curve represent 5 microseconds. But this mass is familiar to us. To within our
The two spikes on the curve are then well sepa- accuracy same as the mass of the hydrogen
it is the
rated on the face of the oscilloscope. By measur- atom. We computed that mass in Chapter 8.
ing the distance between the spikes, we measure There we found that the mass of a mole of hydro-
the time it takes the beam to cross the long gen atoms is very close to 1 gram, and the number
chamber. We obtain the time interval from the of atoms in a mole is 6 X 10 23 so the mass of one ,
which the hydrogen ions are moving after that ac- We have already had indications that electrons
celeration is 1.31 X 10 5 meters per second. By are small building blocks common to all atoms.
putting this value of v into \mv 2 = 1.44 X 10 -17 Presumably a hydrogen ion is a hydrogen atom
joules, we can compute the mass of the hydrogen that has lost an electron. Furthermore, we never
ion. It comes out to be 1.7 X 10 -27 kg. see a positive fragment of hydrogen with two
492 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
positive elementary charges either in these or any In measuring the masses of the ions, we can
other experiments. one of many indica-
This is change the details of the experiments so that we
tions that the positive hydrogen ion is an elemen- use different known electric forces and different
tary building block. It is the proton. And as we separations between the plates. We then get
mentioned in Chapter 28, protons are also found different values of mv z /2. But we always get the
in alpha particles and fragments of heavier atoms. same masses. We can use other methods to
When hydrogen is split into charged fragments, measure the masses —
and we shall describe an-
as we found out, the proton has almost the
just other one in the next chapter. The results are
whole mass of the atom. The electron therefore the same. Indeed, the masses of many ions are
must be very light. We can use the same appa- now extremely well established, and they lead to
ratus to measure the electron mass and thus accurate masses of the atoms.
verify this conclusion. The experiments we have just described tell us
hydrogen ions are made by taking an elec-
If about two of the fundamental building blocks
tron out of a hydrogen atom, the source of ions from which atoms are made, protons and elec-
at the left of our apparatus should also provide trons. In interpreting these experiments, we
electrons. By turning the battery around, we naturally used the Newtonian mechanics that we
can accelerate the electrons that drift through the studied in Part III. Because our results are sensi-
hole in the left-hand plate and reject the hydrogen ble and consistent, we can now conclude that
ions. (Alternatively we can use the electrons Newtonian mechanics can be applied over an
boiled out of a hot filament — with either source enormous range. It gives an accurate description
we get the same results.) Since the electrons are of the motions of large masses at large distances,
pushed across between the plates with the same of the planets in the solar system; it applies to
force through the same distance, they will gain moderate masses at the moderate dimensions of
the same value of mv 2 j2 — that is everyday life: and it also applies to the small
masses of electrons moving through relatively
mv 2 /2 = 1.44 X 10- 17 joules.
small distances at huge speeds. Consequently, it
Because they are much lighter than the positive is reasonable to try to apply the same mechanics
ions, they will be moving faster when they pass and the same forces to the electrons within atoms.
through the hole in the second plate and cross In particular, we can make a model of a hydrogen
the long chamber. Consequently, when we atom in which a single electron moves around the
measure the speed with which the electrons pass relatively massive proton under the influence of
through the long chamber, we find that we are the Coulomb force. Because the Coulomb force
closer to the limits imposed by our apparatus. has the same inverse-square dependence as the
With the sweep circuit adjusted so that the dis- gravitational force between the sun and a planet,
tance across the tube face corresponds to a time we model a planetary model of the
shall call this
interval of about 0.12 microseconds we can see atom. In the planetary model of hydrogen, the
the two spikes recorded on the face of the oscillo- electron moves around the proton in an elliptical
scope. They are about nine-hundredths of a mi- orbit like a planet around the sun. The planetary
crosecond apart. However, to measure the exact model, as we shall see in Section 32-5, meets with
time interval between them to better than 10 per some difficulties, but it is a good first approxima-
cent accuracy requires an unusually fast oscillo- tion to actual atomic behavior. Since Ruther-
scope and very sharp spikes. Taking 0.090 mi- ford introduced it in 1911, it has played a central
croseconds as a first approximation, we find that role in our understanding of atoms.
the speed is about 5.6 X 10 6 meters per second.
Consequently, the mass of an electron (computed
in the same way as the mass of positive ions) is *With modern fast oscilloscopes and amplifiers, we can
about 0.9 X 10~ 30 kg. Accurate measurements measure time intervals to within 10~ 9 sec. Therefore it
is now possible to use this technique to get an accuracy
of the mass of the electron give 0.911 x 10~ 30 kg,
of about 1 per cent. Earlier, precision measurements
about a two-thousandth of the mass of a hydro- were made by other methods which we shall come to in
gen atom.* Section 30-9.
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 493
positive charge as fast as the positive beam fills rection from the electric current. For example,
it. In other words, a beam of negative particles they go from A to the positive terminal, causing
constitutes an electric current in the direction the effective transport of positive charges from
opposite to the motion of the negative particles. the terminal to A. Looking at the whole circuit
In general an electric current can be brought we see that the electric current is flowing from the
about by the motion of both positive and negative positive to the negative battery terminal around
particles. The total electric current is made of the external circuit. Inside the battery, on the
the number of positive elementary charges pass- other hand, the current goes from the negative
ing per second (contributing to the electric cur- to the positive battery terminal. The battery
rent in their direction of motion) plus the number moves more positive charges to the positively
of negative elementary charges passing per second charged terminal and negative charges to the
(contributing to the electric current in the direc- negative terminal despite the electric repulsions.
tion opposite to their motion). In this process the battery uses chemical energy
You already know an example of an electric to force the charges onto the terminals.
current made of charges of both signs moving in The net rate of flow of elementary charges is
opposite directions. In an electrolytic cell such the same all around the circuit. This must be
as that shown in Fig. 29-8, ions move in both di- true because, when the current is running steadily,
rections. The positive ions moving from A to C charge does not accumulate in any region of the
are part of an electric current toward C. The circuit. The same number of elementary charges,
rest of that electric current is given by negative therefore, goes in one end of any region as comes
ions moving in the opposite direction. out the other (Fig. 29-9).
The total electric current does not begin or end The steady electric current cannot be measured
in the electrolytic cell. It comes in through the by observing changes in charge; but we may
wire from the positive battery terminal to A and imagine an observer who can count elementary
it goes out through the wire from C to the charges passing any particular point in the cir-
negative battery terminal. In each of these wires cuit. If he watched the charges passing through
the moving charged particles are electrons, and the wire at a particular place, he would find /
494 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
Currents
The observer who can see elementary charges
passing is imaginary. But in certain circum-
stances, we can make equivalent observations.
For instance, we have already counted electrons
in a weak beam from an electron gun. In this
section we shall describe the measurement of the
number of elementary charges by observing the
amounts of mass transported by ions in solution.
For this purpose we connect a number of elec-
29—9 (c). In the region of the circuit shown, electrons flow trolytic cells in series with a battery as shown in
through the wire and ionsmove in the electrolytic cell. Because Fig. 29-11. With this arrangement, the same
no charge accumulates, we know that the sum of negative and
amount of charge flows through each cell. The
positive ions passing through the center of the cell must equal
h
< ^
1
mm
£-_©f£
::®":
aluminum hydrogen gas copper silver
deposits bubbles up deposits deposits
trodes are made of platinum (or carbon) which the mass of a mole of the metal we can compute
does not react chemically with either of these the number of moles deposited. Similarly, we
solutions. We also include a cell filled with di- can determine the number of moles of hydrogen.
lute acid such as hydrochloric acid (HC1), whose When these computations are made a remarkable
molecules contain hydrogen instead of a metal, fact appears. For each mole of silver deposited
and a complicated cell containing aluminum in there is a mole of hydrogen atoms, half a mole
the compound A1 2 3 The electrolytic cells for
. of copper, and one-third of a mole of aluminum.
copper, silver, and hydrogen ions are ones that Since a mole of any element contains the same
you can handle. The cell for the aluminum ion number of atoms, we see that the charge carried
is different. Aluminum oxide, A1 2 3 is dissolved
, by one ion of silver is the same as that carried by
in molten cryolite, and the aluminum which goes one ion of hydrogen the charge carried by one
;
to the negative electrode is also molten. This ion of copper is twice that carried by one ion of
kind of cell is actually used in refining aluminum. silver; and the charge carried by one ion of
As ions move through the solutions, the nega- aluminum is three times as large. In general, we
tive electrodes become coated with the metals find that the charges of all ions in solution are
present in the dissolved salts. Also, hydrogen small whole-number multiples of a unit charge,
gas bubbles out at the negative electrode of the the charge of the silver ion (or of the hydrogen
cell full of acid. This shows that when the mole- ion). made by Faraday
This great discovery was
cules of the salts are ionized, the positive ions in 1833. was the first cogent evidence of the
It
carry the metal atoms with them (or perhaps they existence of an elementary charge.
are positively charged metal atoms). When these The smallest charge carried by an electrolytic
ions arrive at the negative electrodes, the metal ion, the charge of the silver ion or hydrogen ion,
atoms usually remain attached to the electrodes. must be equal to the elementary charge we found
It also shows that the hydrogen ions are positive, in the Millikan experiment in Section 28-5. There
and when they are neutralized at the negative are a number of reasons for being sure that this
electrode the hydrogen gas is formed. is so. For example, when an electrolytic hydro-
By weighing the electrodes before and after gen ion moves to the negative electrode in an elec-
an electric current has passed through the cells, trolytic solution, it is made neutral by an electron
we can determine the mass of metal that has been from the platinum. Then the neutral hydrogen
deposited in each cell. From this mass and from atoms combine to form hydrogen gas which
496 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
bubbles out at the negative electrode. Because amount of charge transported across an elec-
the platinum supplies ordinary electrons — there trolytic cell. For instance, when only hydrogen
are no other — and because the hydrogen gas re- ions come to the negative electrode, the number
leased is the same
any other hydrogen, the
as of elementary charges transported is the same
hydrogen ions in solution must be the same as as the number of hydrogen ions that arrive.
the hydrogen ions whose mass we measured in Consequently, by measuring the mass of hydrogen
Section 29-2. Like those hydrogen ions, these released and dividing by the mass of one atom,
ions must carry exactly one positive elementary we find the number of elementary charges.
charge which can be neutralized by the negative We can use a similar method to measure a cur-
elementary charge of the electron. rent. For instance, by putting an electrolytic
At the other electrode same electrolytic
in the cell containing silver ions in a circuit and measur-
cell, negative ions are neutralized and neutral ing the rate at which silver is deposited, we can
gas molecules are formed. The negative charge measure the electric current in elementary charges
of each ion is taken off at the metal and carried per second. Since one elementary charge is
away by an ordinary electron. transported for each silver atom deposited, the
In general the ions of any kind which come to electrolytic cell becomes an electric current meter.
the electrodes in any electrolytic cell are turned Indeed, electrolytic cells depositing silver are
into neutral atoms or molecules, and this neu- often used as standards to measure currents.
trality is brought about by combining with ordi- Usually, however, it is more convenient to em-
nary electrons from a platinum electrode or by ploy a different form of meter. We can use any
supplying ordinary electrons to the electrode. device which responds differently and reproduci-
All the ionic charges must therefore be multiples bly to different currents, but we must calibrate at
of the elementary charge, and presumably the least one of these other meters. We calibrate any
smallest ionic charge is the same as the elementary other meter by putting it in series with the elec-
charge we detected in the Millikan experiment. trolytic cell. Since the same current passes
By itself the kind of evidence we have men- through both meters, we can mark the scale of
tioned is reasonably convincing. There is no the other meter with the values of the current in
reason to assume that there are two kinds of unit elementary charges per second measured by the
charges in the universe; and the unit charge found rate of deposition of silver in the electrolytic cell.
in electrolysisseems to fit together perfectly with
the unit charge found in the Millikan experiment. 29-5. Experimental Checks:
We shall be able to give another check on this Energy Transfer; Electric Force;
conclusion in the next section. Furthermore, by
Elementary Charges
the end of this part of the book we shall have
In Section 29-1 we used a known electric force
plenty of evidence to show that atoms are made
F to accelerate ions across a distance d. The ions
of electrons and of positively charged particles
started from rest and acquired the final speed v.
which exactly neutralize them. Since we already
We used the relation
know that each electron carries one negative
elementary charge, it then follows that anything
Fd = \mv 2
built of atoms must either be neutral or carry a to predict their kinetic energy after the accelera-
whole number of elementary charges. Because tion. Now that we can measure an electric cur-
everything including ions is so built, we again rent or a total charge transported in terms of ele-
conclude the ionic charges are multiples of the mentary charges, we can do an experiment which
elementary charge. shows that Fd correctly predicts the kinetic
We now know that hydrogen ions and silver energy %mv 2 that the ions gain.
ions each carry one positive elementary charge; For this experiment we use electrons boiled off
each copper ion carries two positive elementary a hot wire. We them in a known elec-
accelerate
charges, and each aluminum ion carries three tric two parallel metal plates,
force field between
positive elementary charges. (Also, the charges just as we did in measuring the mass of an elec-
of some negative ions are indicated in Fig. 29-1 1.) tron in Sections 29-1 and 29-2. The electrons
We can use this information to measure the total which are accelerated from the negatively charged
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 497
plate crash into the positively charged plate and kinetic energy per Millikan elementary charge.
lose their kinetic energy. This energy is trans- The agreement between the predicted and the ex-
formed into thermal energy, heating the plate. perimental results now shows that the electrolytic
With reasonable currents the heating of the plate unit charge and the elementary charge found in
can be great enough so that an appreciable rise in the Millikan experiment must be the same. There
temperature occurs within a tew seconds. By is only one elementary unit of electric charge.
measuring this temperature rise we can determine Measurements like those we have discussed in
the amount of energy transferred. And by this section were performed in 1897 by J. J. Thom-
measuring the current we can determine the num- son. When he determined the mass per elemen-
ber of elementary charges. We thus obtain the tary charge of the electron, he made such thermal
kinetic energy per elementary charge. The re- measurements of the kinetic energy per elemen-
sults of these experiments confirm our predic- tary charge in a stream of moving electrons. Then
tion that the kinetic energy per elementary charge to complete the determination of the mass, he
is given bv the electric force F acting on an elemen- performed another experiment. He measured
tary charge times the distance d through which the motion under the influence of a known force.
the charge accelerates. Although the details of that experiment were en-
It ma\ seem d
that this verification that FX tirely different, it was equivalent to the experi-
gi\es the kinetic energy is unnecessary. Indeed ment we described in Section 29-2, where we
there is no surprise in our result, but we can draw measured the speed of the electrons. His experi-
two valuable conclusions from it. In the first ment actually measured their momentum mv, and
place, when we computed the work Fd which he then found the mass m and the speed v from
measures the transfer of energy into the kinetic the known values of mv and of the kinetic energy
energy of motions of the electrons, we used the \mv z We shall study the method he used in the
.
is same at
the any speed between zero and this serves as a medium through which kinetic energy
enormous value. is supplied to the charges in the external circuit,
Secondly, these experiments show that the unit and inside the battery charged particles are moved
charge found in electrolytic experiments is the against the electric forces from the charges at the
same as the elementary charge found in the Milli- terminals. In the rest of this chapter, we shall
kan experiment. We measure the currents with look at the electric fields and at the energy in
meters which are calibrated against electrolytic more detail. Although we shall not find it prac-
cells. The number of charges w hich transfer their tical to establish the exact electric-field patterns
kinetic energy into heat at the positive plate is for most circuits, we shall arrive at an understand-
therefore given as the number of electrolytic unit ing of the over-all flow of energy in all sorts of
charges. Consequently, our experiments measure circuits.
the kinetic energy per electrolytic unit charge. So far in this chapter we have employed bat-
On the other hand, we predict kinetic energy in teries as the source of the energy dissipated as
terms of the force in the Millikan experiment. thermal energy elsewhere in the circuit. How
Consequently, the kinetic energy predicted is the much energy does a battery supply and on what
498 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
does that amount depend? We shall find that a We have used the ion currents because they are
battery which uses stored chemical energy to sup- easy to understand. They are not essential to our
ply electrical energy usually supplies the same en- result. If we connect a current meter and a high-
ergy for each elementary charge. resistance wire in series between positive and
Consider, for example, the energy supplied by negative terminals of a battery, we can measure
the battery to each elementary charge in an ion the number of elementary charges transported
beam accelerated from one parallel metal plate to past any point in the circuit in a specified time.
another. In Chapter 28, we learned that the elec- In such a circuit almost all the energy that the
tric force field between the plates
uniform and, is moving charges acquire from the electric field is
with the battery connected, the magnitude of the turned immediately into thermal energy in the
force is inversely proportional to the distance be- high-resistance wire. By measuring the heat dissi-
tween the plates. Consequently the force on an pated in the wire, we can calculate the energy sup-
elementary charge times the distance between the plied by the battery per elementary charge (Fig.
plates always comes out the same. As we have 29-12). We find that the energy supplied per
just verified in Section 29-5, this force times dis- elementary charge is the same in this different
tance gives the energy transferred to a charge. circuit as it is for an ion beam between parallel
No matter how we change the plate separation, metal plates.
same and the
the force times distance stays the All these experiments indicate that a battery is
energy supplied per elementary charge by the a device which supplies a definite amount of
battery is the same amount. With a 270-volt energy per elementary charge ; and in particular,
-17
battery made up, for example, of the three bat- a 270-volt battery supplies 4.34 X 10 joules per
teries used in the Millikan experiment, the force elementary charge. The energy supplied per ele-
times the distance between plates always equals mentary charge is known as the EMF of the bat-
4.34 X10~ 17 joules per elementary charge. It is tery. You should read this name as "ee em eff."
= 4.34 X 10- 17 joules /elem. ch. electromotive force, but this name is misleading
for we are not dealing with a force in the usual
or
sense at all. Almost everyone now calls the
(0.7 X 10- 14 newtons/elem. ch.) X (6.2 X 10~ 3 m) energy per elementary charge the EMF rather
= 4.34 X 10 -17 joules /elem. ch.
than using the old words. We shall symbolize
or any similar product of field and separation. the EMFby the letter S.
Not only can we change the separation between Suppose we take three identical batteries, each
the plates, but we can also change the plate area. of which supplies an EMF of 4.34 X 10~ 17
The electrical force on an elementary charge be- joules per elementary charge. If we connect
tween the plates does not change and, as we ex- ; them in series in a circuit, each should supply
-17
pect, the energy supplied to each ion that passes 4.34 X 10 joules for each elementary charge.
between the plates stays the same. The battery The total EMF — that is, the total amount of
moves more charges when it initially charges up energy supplied by all the batteries per elemen-
the plates, but this does not influence the energy tary charge — should therefore be
supplied per elementary charge moving across in
° UleS
the ion beam. 3 X 4.34 X 10-" j
h
-1.30xl0-"JgHlg--
elem. ch.
,
elem. ch.
The energy supplied per elementary charge does
not depend on the magnitude of the current. By This is exactly what we find; and indeed it is
using a bigger source of hydrogen ions or by boil- exactly what you would expect on the basis of
ing more electrons out of a hot wire filament, we the experiments with the batteries in series that
can increase the ion currents that we used in our we mentioned in Section 28-6. There, when we
earlier experiments. The energy per elementary connected one hundred 270-volt "B" batteries in
charge supplied by the battery does not change. series to make a large electrical balance, we in-
(Later we shall see more evidence that the energy creased the force between the parallel metal plates
per elementary charge does not depend on the in proportion to the number of batteries. Conse-
strength of the current.) quently, the batteries also supplied energy per
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 499
no energy. If there is a current /, the battery sup- F= qE. Because the electric field times the num-
plies energy at the rate ber q of elementary charges placed in a given po-
sition gives the force F exerted on those charges,
78 = (no. elem. ch./sec.)(joules/elem. ch.)
the units of electric field are newtons per elemen-
= joules sec.
tary charge.
The rate at which energy is supplied to a circuit As an illustration, consider the simplest ex-
is known as the power supplied, and the unit of ample — the around q elementary
electric field x
power 1 joule sec is called a watt after James charges located at a fixed point. At a distance r
Watt, the steam-engine maker. In other words, away from this point, Coulomb's law tells us that
the last equation says when the current is meas- the magnitude of the force on a single positive
ured in elementary charges per second and the elementary charge is kqjr 2 and the force points ,
EMF in joules per elementary charge, the power directly away from the charge q v The electric
is /8 watts. field E is, therefore, represented by vectors of
F= -G m m x 2
U. -G m m l 2
point on the plane represents the potential at The height of the "hill" above the plane represents the electrical
tive plate connected to the 270-volt battery, we Then the cell no longer provides the same
found that the energy given to one positive ele- chemical reactions with the same ions moving
mentary charge was 4.34 X 10 -17 joules. Conse- through the same distances. The EMF falls off
quently, the electric potential difference between and we say that the battery has run down. In
the plates was 4.34 X 10 -17 joule/elem. ch. The some cells, by forcing a current to pass in the
electric potential rises 4.34 X 10 -17 joule /elem. ch. opposite direction, we can reverse the chemical
in going from the negative to the positive plate, reactions, thus "recharging" the battery. Here
and we must supply that energy per elemen- "recharging" means restoring the chemical energy.
tary charge to force positive charges to move from We do not change the electrical charge of the
negative to positive. The electric potential falls battery.
by this amount in going the other way, and the The reactions that go on in electrochemical cells
-17
field will transfer the 4.34 x 10 joules to each of many about the same
different kinds transfer
positive elementary charge moving from the posi- number of joules per individual chemical reac-
tive to the negative plate. tion (the same number of joules per elementary
charge), in many cases about 1 or 2 X 10~ 19 joules
29-8. Batteries, Volts, and Amperes per elementary charge. It is therefore convenient
In Section 29-6 we looked
some of the at to use a practical unit of EMF of about this size.
evidence that batteries supply a definite amount The practical unit that is commonly used is called
of energy per elementary charge, but we did not the volt. We define the volt as 1.6 X 10~ 19 joules
examine why or how the battery maintains a con- per elementary charge. A flashlight dry cell, for
stant EMF. Although we shall not attempt a de- example, gives 1.5 volts or 2.4 X 10 -19 joules per
tailed explanation here, we shall try to get a crude elementary charge; and, as we know, the 270-
idea of how thiscomes about. volt balancing battery gives 270 X 1.6 X 10~ 19
Batteries are made by connecting a large num- = 4.34 X 10~ 17 joules per elementary charge.*
ber of electrochemical cells in series. In a single We have defined the volt as a certain number
electrochemical cell charges are forced onto the of joules per elementary charge. Thus if we want
terminals against the electric repulsion of the to measure the number of volts supplied by a
charges already present. Their electric poten- given battery, we must perform an experiment
tial energy is thus increased. This increased using this battery to provide energy to a measured
potential energy of charges at the terminals is number of charges. However, we need to do this
supplied by chemical energy released in chemical only once, because we can keep our calibrated
reactions between the constituents of the cell. In battery as a standard, just as we can keep a good
each individual chemical reaction the chemical meter stick on hand to use in distance measure-
potential energyis reduced a definite amount. ments. (Prescriptions for making standard cells,
Also because each individual chemical reaction the Weston cell for instance, will be found in
number of atoms or ions mov-
involves a definite treatises on electricity.)
ing across the this particular amount of
cell, Using the volt as the unit of EMF will prove
energy is used to push a definite number of ele- convenient not only in practical work dealing
mentary charges up the electrical hills at the ter- with electrochemical cells or batteries, but also in
minals. Therefore the cell gives a fixed energy studying the fundamental structure of atoms.
per elementary charge. Also a battery of cells in The chemical reactions which transfer a few volts
series gives an energy per elementary charge in — a few times 1.60 X 10 joules per elementary -19
direct proportion to the number of cells. charge — are rearrangements of the structure of
As long as the chemical composition and the atoms and molecules. The energy required to
positions of the constituents of a cell stay sub- pull outan electron or to move one around from
stantially the same, each individual chemical re- one atom to another is therefore about a volt
action is just like every other one. So a fixed EMF times an elementary charge. For this reason,
is maintained. When too much charge has been
transferred, however, too many chemical reactions *We have defined the volt as 1.6 lO -19 joules per elemen-
X
tary charge. Often the practical unit of current is de-
have taken place, and the composition of the cell fined first ; and the volt is defined in terms of it. As we
is changed. shall see later, the two definitions agree.
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 503
The unit of current that goes along with this electron away from the atom. Therefore, the
unit of charge is called an ampere. An ampere is binding or ionization energy of an atom is of the
a flow of charge of 1 coulomb per second. There- order of 10~ 18 joules. Since electron volts are
-19
fore 1 ampere = 6.25 X 10 18 elementary charges 1.6 X 10 joules at a throw, this estimate is
ordinary light bulb is about an ampere. It would gether account for the energy necessary to
be clumsy to say that the lamp current is about rearrange or pull apart the electric particles of
10 19 elementary charges per second. Most cur- which it is made.
rent meters are calibrated in amperes, that is in
units of 6.25 X 10 18 elementary charges per
second. The common name for a current meter in elementary charges per second and the EMF
isan ammeter. in joules per elementary charge the power is IS
The volt and the ampere are designed to fit to- watts. In just the same way, if we measure the
gether in the same way that the joule per elemen- current in amperes (coulombs per second) and the
tary charge fits with a current measured in EMF in volts (joules per coulomb), the power Is
elementary charges per second. again is given in watts. The practical units fit to-
In other words, when the current is measured gether in the same way as the natural units, be-
504 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
cause we have designed the coulomb so that, in there is a well-defined electrical potential energy.
moving through an EMF of 1 volt, a joule of Except for the forces exerted by batteries or
energy is transferred. generators, in this chapter we have used only the
Motors, light bulbs, and other electrical ap- same electric forces that we had studied in the
pliances are usually designed to use energy at a last chapter. Now in considering the forces, two
particular rate. The power, which is the energy problems remain. In the place, what can
first
they consume per unit time, is usually specified; we say about the forces on charges moving
and so is the voltage at which they will use this through batteries and generators, the forces that
power. From the power and you can
the voltage apparently move the charges against the Coulomb
determine what current they will draw. For ex- forces exerted by the concentrations of charge
ample, a 60-watt, 110-volt light bulb will draw a standing still? Secondly, what happens when a
current of y^% = 0.545 amperes when an EMF charge exerting a force on another charge is itself
same position. Because the Coulomb forces de- We shall be especially concerned with the appli-
pend only on the separations between the charges, cation of these ideas to electric circuits.
1. Two large parallel metal plates, 6.2 cm apart in 2. (a) In the micro-microbalance experiments of
a vacuum tube, are connected to the terminals Section 28-4, how much work was done by the
of a 1 80-volt battery. A
doubly charged oxygen electric force on the standard charged sphere when
ion starts from rest at the surface of one plate it moved 2 mm upward in 10.6 seconds?
and is accelerated across to the other plate. what forms did
(b) Into this energy go, and
(a) With what kinetic energy \mv
2
does the how much into each form?
oxygen ion crash into the other plate?
(b) If the ion starts halfway between the plates, 3. In a time-of-flight experiment like that described
with what kinetic energy does it hit the negative in the box on page 490, you have adjusted the
plate? sweep circuit of the oscilloscope so that the beam
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 505
Remember that the mass of a helium atom is 4 (e) What was the current in elementary charges
atomic mass units, and the mass of a hydrogen per second?
atom 1 atomic mass unit. (f) If there is a of copper sulfate solution
cell
connected in with this one, with large elec-
series
6. You ionize some gas between parallel metal plates, trodes, how much copper is deposited on the
making equal numbers of negative and positive negative electrode?
ions in every small volume between the plates. Note: A mole of copper weighs 63.6 grams.
There is a battery and a current meter connected
in series with the plates, and a steady current is 8. You are given some metal wire, batteries, and a
flowing through the circuit. The positive plate calibrated ammeter. How can you calibrate a
is on the left, and the negative on the right. second ammeter?
(a) In what direction do you expect the electric
current to go between the plates? 9. You are given a half dozen identical ammeters,
(b) If the current meter measures 10 16 elemen- one of which has a single calibration point that —
tary charges per second, how many positive is,a mark correctly indicating when a 1-ampere
elementary charges are brought per second by the current (that is, a current of 6.25 X 10 18 ele-
ions coming to the negative plate? mentary charges per second) is passing through it.
(c) How many negative elementary charges are You also have a few batteries and a large number
coming per second to the negative plate? of identical metal wires. Answer the following
(d) In one second, how many positive ions cross questions to complete the calibration of the am-
to the right through a plane halfway between the meter.
plates? (a) Assume you have marked a number of am-
meters to read one ampere. Then you connect
7. A steady electric current passes through an elec- three as in Fig. 29-16. Explain how you can get a
trolytic cell of dilute hydrochloric acid for a very 2-ampere calibration point on one of them.
long time. For ten minutes we collect the hydro- (b) Make sketches showing how to connect the
gen gas that bubbles up at the negative electrode. ammeters in order to mark one scale at 3 and 4
At room temperature and atmospheric pressure, amperes.
the gas collected occupies a volume of 148 cm 3 . (c) How would you connect the ammeters so
506 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
as to calibrate one of them to read £ and ^ am- 14. (a) What is the electrical potential energy of a
peres? (Use sketches.) small object carrying three elementary electric
charges and a small metal sphere carrying ten
10. With the same apparatus as in Problem 1, how billion elementary electric charges placed 2 meters
many doubly charged oxygen ions would have to away? Take the zero of potential energy at
go from the positive plate to the negative plate infinite separation.
before that plate is heated up by one joule by (b) Suppose the sphere and particle have
the dissipation of kinetic energy of the ions? charges of opposite sign. How much energy
would have to be used to drag the particle out to
20 meters? Does the choice of the zero of po-
11. Suppose the doubly charged ions in the last prob-
tential energy make any difference?
lem were made by ripping electrons off oxygen
(c) Suppose they have the same sign and you
atoms located halfway between the plates. Then
just let the particle move out to 20 meters. De-
the oxygen atoms are accelerated in one direction
scribe the energy changes that occur.
and the electrons are accelerated in the opposite
direction from the midpoint between the plates.
How much energy will the electrons have dis- 15. (a) Find the electricand the gravitational forces
sipated heating the positive plate in the time that
on an electron and on a proton between two
one joule is dissipated at the negative plate?
large parallel metal plates, 20 cm apart. The
potential difference between the plates is main-
12. Think over the evidence available to you that all tained by 20,000 volts' worth of battery. The
elementary charges are the same. Be prepared to plates are horizontal; consider the upper plate
discuss it in class. positive.
(b) Move the particles up 1 cm. What are
13. (a) You connect a large battery in series with a the forces now?
diode vacuum tube and an ammeter. The am- (c) What are the changes in gravitational po-
meter indicates a current of tential energy and in electric potential energy in
1.9 X 10 16
elem. ch./sec. this motion?
The anode of the tube contains a temperature-
measuring device that allows you to measure how
much energy is dissipated as heat in the anode. 16. (a) protons are released from rest 10 -10
Two m
You let the current flow for 10 sec and find that apart. What
will their kinetic energy be at large
(b) In a similar circuit you connect another What will the kinetic energy be at large separa-
battery to a different diode. In this case, the tion?
current is 3.1 X 10 16 elem. ch./sec and, after 10
seconds operation, 8.9 joules are dissipated in
the anode. What is the EMF
of this battery? 17. Two equal charges, q x and q 2 are nailed in place
,
(c) You now connect your two batteries in on the Y axis, equal distances a above and below
series through an ammeter to a coil of high- the origin of co-ordinates (Fig. 29-17).
resistance wire. The ammeter indicates a current (a) What is the electric potential energy of an
of 2.5 X 10 16 elem. ch./sec. Predict the rate at elementary charge at point x on the axis? X
which energy is dissipated as heat in the high- Note: Measure the potential energy with the zero
resistance wire. chosen when the elementary charge is at infinity.
Express your answers in terms of the constant k
inCoulomb's law, the value of charges q and q z l ,
29—19. Left, the conductors are extended by connecting them to that a battery maintains the same potential difference (see
the stem and case of an electrometer. Right, still more con- Section 29-11). It does not matter where you connect the leads
ductors are connected. Note that the electrometer reading does to the conductors.
suit.Even connecting another battery as in Fig. The magnitude of the electric field in the con-
29-19 does not change the potential difference ductor depends on the length of path. In a uni-
maintained by the first one. In summary, then, form wire the field is the same all along. (It must
we can view a battery in an open circuit as a ma- be the same to drive the same current, as we shall
chine for maintaining a definite difference in po- see in Section 29-13 C.) The field, therefore, ad-
tential, the potential difference given by its EMF. justs in magnitude so that E times the length / of
A conductor in which charge has stopped flow- the wire is equal to £, the EMF supplied. When
ing is an equipotential body. But what of a con- £ = El, the energy supplied per elementary charge
ductor such as a wire connected to the terminals is an elementary charge as it
just transferred to
of a battery? Charge flows steadily through it, moves around the circuit. This ad-
the distance /
driven by an electric field. To find the complete justment of the field £ is made by charges on the
pattern of the field is amore complicated job than wire and at the battery terminals. As we saw for
we wish to do here, but we can tell a good bit open circuits the battery will force charges to re-
about the field nevertheless. First, the field in- arrange until El = g.
side the conductor cannot run into its surface. If If the wire is not uniform, the magnitude of E
it did, chargewould flow onto the surface until a varies from point to point. Then if we plot E
canceling field was built up. Indeed, charge con- against the distance along the wire from the posi-
centrations on the surface are built up as soon as tive battery terminal, the area under the curve is
the circuit is connected. From then on the field equal to the applied EMF.
For instance, (Fig.
runs along inside the wire from the positive bat- 29-21), if the wire is a good conductor for the
tery terminal to the negative terminal. No matter length l and a poor conductor for the length /:
x
how many bends there are in the conductor, inside charge will accumulate at the junction between
it the field will follow around each curve (Fig. the two conductors until the field E2 in /, is suf-
29-20). This field inside is, therefore, relatively ficiently stronger and the field E in /, is sufficiently x
simple compared with the field outside the con- weaker so that the same current flows in each.
ductor. The field outside can run in any direc- The sum, E ll + E2 l2 is then the potential dif-
1 ,
tion from the charges on the surface. Unlike the ference between the positive and negative battery
field inside, it depends on the location of the bat- terminals. This is the energy per elementary
tery, the shape of the conductor, and the position charge (the sum of the forces X distances) that
of the other charged bodies. the field will transfer to each elementary charge
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 509
29—20. When a conductor is connected to a battery, there is an along the conductor from the positive battery
electric field inside the wire that runs from the positive to the
terminal to the negative terminal, the potential dif-
negative battery terminal.
ference measured from the positive terminal to
any point on the wires changes continuously.
From one end to the other of any little length of
wire A/ the potential changes by the amount
AV = EAl where E is the magnitude of the electric
field in this piece of wire. For every elementary
charge passing through the piece of wire of length
A/ the energy A V is transferred firstfrom electrical
potential energy to energy of the moving charge.
Then as the charge makes collisions with the
atoms of the wire, the energy goes into thermal
energy heating that section of wire. We shall be
able to check up on these statements experimen-
tally as soon as we have discussed measurement
of potential difference. (See Section 29-11.) We
then find that our conclusions describe the experi-
mental facts.
We have defined the electric potential difference
V between a point A and a point B as the energy
transferred to an elementary charge moving be-
tween A and B. may seem that if q elementary
It
29—22 (a). If we bring a charged body near an uncharged 29—22 (b). A charged body is brought near a charged con-
conductor, it induces a distribution of charge. These induced ductor. If the distance apart is great enough, the induced
charges exert a force on the charged body, showing that there charges on the conductor will be unimportant compared to its initial
is an electric field from the induced charges. charge. The field from the conductor is not changed significantly.
forces that they do when we move only a single tive charge is gradually transported through the
elementary charge. We know assump-
that this battery in the opposite direction. Thus at the end
tion is not strictly valid in the neighborhood of of the process the canceling negative charge has
conductors. Even a single elementary charge will been supplied to the negative conductor, and a re-
induce a redistribution of charges when it moves placement positive charge has been given to the
from one place to another in the neighborhood of positive conductor. Also, as the charge is trans-
a conducting body (Fig. 29-22). On the other ported through the battery, the battery supplies
hand, if the conductor has a large charge to begin an amount of energy equal to that which goes
with, most of the electric field will arise from that into the kinetic energy of the positive charge
charge. In other words as long as induced charges moving between the conductors. For a singlv
are negligible, the electric force field is nearly un- charged ion, this is equal to the EMF of the bat-
changing, and we can compute the change in po- tery and to the potential difference V between the
tential energy by using qV. conductors. When this whole process is finished,
In addition to the case in which induced charges on the conductors is the same as
the situation
are negligible, we have been dealing with another it was Only the chemical energy
at the beginning.
kind of example in which q V yields correct results. of the battery and the thermal energy of the
When a particular difference of potential V is conductors change. The next charge that goes
maintained between conductors by a battery or across between the conductors will get exactly the
by some other source of EMF, the motion of a same energy as the first one, and if q charges go
charge q from one place to another is accompanied across, they will receive the energy qV.
by just such a redistribution of other charges that On the other hand, if there is no battery, the
the potential difference is maintained. In this positively charged conductor permanently loses
case the source of EMF supplies any needed the charge of the ion, and the negative conductor
energy or absorbs any excess energy. The energy has one of its negative charges permanently can-
transfer is correctly given by qV because the po- celed. The potential difference between the posi-
tential is not allowed to vary. tive and the negative conductor drops because of
Let us end this section by applying the ideas we the reduction in charge. The next charge to cross
have discussed to the motion of an ion which between the conductors will, therefore, be given
moves through space from a positive to a nega- somewhat less energy, and each successive charge
tive conductor. As the ion moves away from the crossing will get a progressively smaller amount.
positive conductor, the positive charge is gradually Consequently, q charges crossing receive less than
replaced behind it. As it approaches the negative the energy qV where V is the original potential
conductor, negative canceling charge gradually difference.
concentrates directly in front of it. If the two As an extreme example, we consider two op-
conductors are connected through a battery, posi- positely charged metal plates. As elementary
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 5 1 1
charges pass between them, the plates discharge; 29-11. Measurement of Potential
the potential also goes to zero, staying propor-
I
Difference
tional to the charges on the plates. Consequently,
We can use a shielded electrometer to measure
although the first charge receives the energy V potential differences (Fig. 29-19). An electrome-
equal to the potential difference between the fully when
ter gives a particular reading on the forces
charged plates, successive charges receive smaller
the stem have a particular value and these forces
;
and smaller amounts of energy until the last are determined by the charge on the stem and the
charge receives no energy at all. The average induced charge on the inside of the shield. For a
amount of energy received by an elementary particular charge on the stem there is a definite
charge is just half the original potential difference.
electric field in between the stem and the inside of
Thus the total energy received by all q charges the shield, and the electric potential difference has
as thev passfrom one plate to the other is \qV. The reading of the electrome-
a particular value.
You can see that this must be true by looking at ter corresponds to this value of electrical poten-
Fig. 29-23 where we have plotted the energy
tial difference. Conversely, whenever the electri-
transferred per elementary charge vs. the number cal potential difference between stem and shield
of elementarv charges then on the plates. When has the same value, the fields and charges inside
all the elementary charges q have been transferred,
the electrometer must be the same, and the elec-
the total energy transfer is given by the area shaded
trometer will give the same reading.
under the curve. Because it is a triangle that We can measure potential difference with an
area is \qV. It represents the energy stored
Often, however, it is more con-
electrometer.
originally when the charges were concentrated on
venient to measure potential difference by using
the plates. In other words \qV is the electric po-
a current meter and a high resistance wire in
tential energy of all the charges in their positions
series (Fig. 29-24). When we apply various dif-
on the two plates. Clearly this total electric po-
ferences of potential V across the ends of this cir-
tential energy is to be distinguished from the elec-
cuit, the electric fields driving charges through
tric potential difference Kand from the energy qV the circuit are proportional to the differences in
that would be given between
to q charges passing
potential. For example, if the difference of po-
the plates if the potential were maintained by a
tential is maintained by concentrations of charge
battery.
on conductors at the two ends of the circuit, the
ch
< current
meter
high resistance
trans/elem
Energy
by the shaded area under the curve. This is the electric poten- Often the high resistance is included inside the case containing
tial energy stored when the conductors are charged. the meter.
512 ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS
fields and the potential difference are propor- 29-12. A Further Check on Potential Dif-
tional to those charge concentrations. Conse-
ference and Energy
quently we see that a higher potential means
A battery maintains a constant potential dif-
larger forces on the charges which are free to move ference and in the absence of currents any good
through the high resistance wire and the current
conductor is all at the same electrical potential.
meter. These larger forces lead to bigger cur-
Consequently by maintaining a fixed potential
rents through the circuit; and the current that we difference with a battery, we can accelerate
read is a measure of the potential difference. With
charged bodies to predetermined kinetic energies
ordinary resistance wires, as we shall see in Sec-
in the electric field between any two conductors.
tion 29-13, the current is actually proportional to
The conductors need not be large parallel plates.
the potential difference, but in any case we can
We can allow some current in the conductors
calibrate the current meter with its high resistance
without losing our knowledge of the potential
wire against known potential differences main-
difference between them. Because charges move
tained by batteries. Once we have calibrated the
freely in the conductor practically no energy is
current meter with its high resistance, it becomes
required to move a charge from one point to an-
a potential-difference meter. Such meters are
other, and the conductor may be approximately at
usually known as voltmeters.
a single potential even though the charges are
Voltmeters are convenient to use as long as the
forced to move. (We shall make these considera-
resistance in them is so high that the current
tions more quantitative in Section 29-14.)
through the voltmeter is small compared to any
We can apply these ideas to get a check on our
other currents we would like to maintain in the
knowledge of potential difference and energy.
circuit, or as long as we can make a potential-
For example, we can compute the energy of the
difference measurement in a time so short that
electrons emitted by the electron gun described
the current does not appreciably change any
in Chapter 27. This gun consists of a hot filament
charge concentrations that we wish to maintain.
which boils out electrons with negligible speeds,
When these conditions are not met, you must use
and a plate which is maintained at a constant
more complicated circuits, for instance the circuits
difference of potential with respect to the filament.
known as potentiometers which you can explore
The electrons are accelerated between the filament
in the laboratory.
and the plate. Then they pass through a hole in
the plate with a kinetic energy which is given by
the potential difference. A thousand-volt po-
tential differencebetween filament and plate will
give each electron a kinetic energy of 1000 X 1.6
X 10 -19 joules, because the charge of each elec-
tron one elementary charge. The electric field
is
•
B. Thermionic Emission. A somewhat similar
•
1 relation between current and potential difference
r*—
J occurs for the electrons boiled out by a heated
When
piece of metal (Fig. 29-28). the potential
S difference between the heated filament and the
U surrounding collecting plate is big, we find a satu-
ration current. Raising the potential difference
does not change the number of electrons that
cross from filament to plate, because all the elec-
trons boiled out of the filament per second at a
10.000 given temperature are already being pulled over
Potential difference
in volts
to the plate. When the potential difference is
I "
I
r small systematic velocity along the wire.
systematic velocity
of the and
is proportional to the strength
to the time between
This
Jo .4 Ir
£_ 1925°K
field
-
I
29—29. A large potential difference moves electrons from fila-
to raise weights, though some of the energy always across the various elements of the circuit. A small
comes out as heat. potential difference drives the electrons from the
Let us think of the circuit sketched in Fig. 29-29. negative battery terminal to the filament. It ac-
Each electron passing from filament to plate is ac- counts for the energy given to each electron and
celerated to a kinetic energy equal to the potential then dissipated in heat as the electron moves
difference maintainedbetween them by the battery. through the wire. A large potential difference
Each electron that goes across takes one negative accelerates the electrons from the filament to the
charge from the filament and cancels one positive plate and accounts for the kinetic energy with
charge at the plate. If you disconnected the which they crash into the plate. Finally, another
battery by opening the switch, the current would small potential difference drives the electrons
soon stop. With the battery connected, when one through the wire back to the positive battery
electron moves across, another one is forced along terminal. The sum of these potential differences
the wire from the negative battery terminal, taking is the energy given to each elementary charge
the place of the one that has left. A current equal moved through the battery. All this energy is
to the current from filament to plate is thus flowing dissipated, heating the wires or heating the plate.
through the wire. A small electric field in the wire All this energy is supplied by the battery.
forces the electrons to move. So when the current How the potential difference imposed by the
flows, the different parts of the conducting wire are battery is divided between the various elements of
not exactly at the same potential. If the wire is a circuit and how large the current is for a given
long and thin enough, and if the current is suffi- potential difference depends on the physical na-
ciently great, the potential difference from one end ture of the circuit elements. In Section 29-13 we
to the other will be big enough for us to measure. have examined the relation between the currents
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELI C IRK FIELDS 517
that occur and the potential differences for a few is still given by the potential difference. Conse-
circuit elements. We can now apply what we quently, the power used in the parallel combina-
learned there to more complicated circuits con- tion is 1\\ where / is the total current the cur- —
taining more than one circuit element. rent that flows through the combination viewed
Suppose that we have two circuit elements for as a single element. This power used is made up
which the curves of current vs. potential difference of the power used in each of the individual ele-
are known, for example, the circuit elements rep- ments. For example, if there are two elements,
resented by the graphs of Fig. 29-30. If these two
elements are connected in parallel as in Fig. 29-31, IV = J.VA-hV,
the potential difference I ' across their ends from
A to B
is automatically the same for both ele-
where Ix and Iz are the currents through the in-
ments. The current that comes in at A and goes dividual elements that we have connected in
out at B splits up, and part of it passes through parallel. In this equation, each of the terms on
each circuit element. The total current is the sum the right is the power used in a particular indi-
of the currents through the two elements. It can vidual circuit element, and their sum on the left
be found by adding the current I that hows x is the total power consumed by the whole group
through element 1 at the particular value for the combined in parallel.
potential difference and the current L that flows If we connect individual circuit elements in
through element 2 at the same value of the po- series, is somewhat different.
the analysis The
tential difference. By adding up the two currents same current must flow through each of the indi-
determined from Fig. 29-30 at each value of po- vidual elements. Let us start by assuming that
tential difference, we can make a graph of the this current has a particular value. By using the
total current / = Ix +L passing from A to B graphs of current vs. potential difference for each
versus the potential difference V (Fig. 29-32). individual circuit element, we can read off the
In this way we combine the two elements in par- corresponding potential Then
differences. to
allel into a new single element represented by the find the potential difference from one end of the
new / versus V graph. This procedure can be ex- series circuit to the other, we must add all of these
tended to handle more circuit elements in parallel individual potential drops. On Fig. 29-30, we
by adding the individual currents at each potential have marked the same current on each of the cur-
difference. Thus, we can always replace a group rent vs. potential difference curves and indicated
of circuit elements connected in parallel by an by the dashed lines how to find the corresponding
equivalent circuit element that acts in the same potential drops. When these two elements are
way as the whole parallel combination. in series, the potential drop across the series
For any potential difference V across the paral-
lel combination the energy per elementary charge
/ •
circuit
/ •
element no. 1
/ /
A B
circuit
element no. 2
l l I
V
29—32. /— V curve for the equivalent circuit element made by
placing the circuit elements of Fig. 29-30 in parallel. It is ob-
tained by adding the currents of the two individual circuit ele-
29—31. Two circuit element* connected in parallel. ments when the potential difference has the same value for both.
;
Now that we have found the behavior of this 29—33. f— V curve for the equivalent circuit element when the
equivalent single circuit element, we can find the circuit elements of Fig. 29—30 are connected in series. It is
charge passing through the circuit. Again the the distance along the V axis to the dotted curve. The potential
needed element 2
power consumed is IV, where V is the potential difference to produce this current in circuit is
element is represented by a term on the right- ference in potential from one end of the element
hand side; and the total power consumption IV to the other. The energy thus transferred into
is just the sum of the power used in each indi- other forms such as chemical stored energy, me-
vidual element. chanical energy or heat, is supplied by the applied
We have seen how the potential differences and EMF; and the conservation of energy shows us
the currents actually come into adjustment in a that the sum of the potential differences is always
real circuit. The results fit into our over-all view equal to that applied EMF.
(a) How would you connect a 90-volt "B" battery Suppose you were given two electrometers which
and a 1.5-volt flashlight cell to obtain the maxi- measure potential differences in the 10,000- volt
mum potential difference? range. One of them is calibrated but the other
(b) How big is that potential difference? is not. You are also given a glass rod and a
(c)Suppose you disconnect the 90-volt battery piece of cloth, but you are forbidden to buy any
turn it end for end; and then reconnect it. What batteries. Can you calibrate the second electrom-
potential difference do you get? eter by connecting it to the first?
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 519
t = 6 cm
distance beam
pushed sideways
=
t- beam when E
V 2500 volts
^^h__
3. An electron gun shoots a stream of electrons be- 29-34. For Problem 3.
tween two deflecting plates of length / = 6.0 cm
(Fig. 29-34). The electron mass is 0.91 X 10" 30
kg. The potential difference between the fila-
ment and plate of the gun is 2,500 volts (2.5 X
103 X 1.6 X 10~ 19 joules per elementary charge).
The E
between the deflecting plates
electric field
is 1,000 newions per coulomb (1,000 newtons per
6.25 X 10 lf elementary charges).
(a) If the deflecting plates are separated by 0.20
cm, what is the potential difference from one de-
flecting plate to the other?
(b) What is the speed of the electrons leaving
the gun?
(c) How long do the electrons take to pass
through the length /?
(d) As an electron passes between the deflecting
plates, it picks up a sidewise velocity because of
the electric force exerted on it. How big is this
sidewise velocity when the electron leaves the de-
flecting plates?
(e) How far is the electron pushed sidewise in
passing between the plates?
15
J£
§ $ 10
c a
»A
/
ZC E
t
o
=
1
D
J /
u—
heating
200 400 600
current
Potential difference
in volts
of
29-36. For Problem 6.
units
amperes
in
6. In the circuit shown in Fig. 29-36, two resistors,
a diode, an electric motor M, and an electrolytic Current
-3
(b) How does the resistance of a wire depend a current of 5 X 10~ 3 amperes passes
(a) If
on its length? through both circuit elements in series, what is
ENERGY AND MOTION OF CHARGES IN ELECTRIC FIELDS 521
1 r
7.-7
+
resistor
-WWWWVWVWV^ special
1
1 « ....=; J
apparatus |
diode
29-38. For Problem 13.
CHAPTER 30
that there is a magnetic field. (Fig. 30-1.) The had equal plus and minus magnetic charges on
direction of the field is the direction taken by a their ends, pulled in opposite directions by the
compass needle which is free to line up. We say magnetic field. It therefore used to be common
that the field points in the direction that runs from to talk about magnetic "poles" (that is, magnetic
the southern to the northern compass tip. Just "charges" of opposite signs). However, if we
as we used grass seeds to show the direction of an break a magnet into two, each piece again acts as
electric field, so we use a magnetic needle to ex- if it had opposite poles at its ends. (Fig. 30-3.)
plore the direction of a magnetic field. In fact, even electrons, protons, and neutrons act
When a compass needle is in a uniform mag- like tiny compass needles. This is a major differ-
netic field, the net force on the needle is zero. The ence between magnets and electrified bodies. We
can put plus and minus electric charges on sepa-
Actually the northern tip of the needle points approxi-
mately to the geographic North Pole as long as we are rate objects, because there are elementary charged
south of the Arctic Circle. particles. We have never separated positive from
522
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 523
the surrounding space. tied the origin of magnetic fields to the motion of
Today this fact is common knowledge, so that electric charges.
it is difficult to appreciate the revolutionary im- The experiment last described is one you can
524 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
fc-y
(b)
loop 1, the compass points along the axis of the loop. This is the
30-8. The direction of the magnetic field at the center of a
direction of the field.
loop of wire, with current flowing as indicated.
you look from the other side, the current runs *Not everything with magnitude and direction is a vector.
In our technical meaning of the word vector, only things
counterclockwise while the field comes toward that add vectorially count. A truck 2 meters wide with
you. To save words later, we shall say that the itsdirection indicator pointed down cannot be added to
axis of the loop has the direction of the field. one 1.8 meters wide signalling for a right turn. Neither
can the rotations of a book around two different axes be
If we use two loops side by side, each carrying added vectorially. Try rotating a book 90" around a
the same current going around in the same direc- horizontal axis followed by rotating it 90° around a ver-
tion, the strength of the magnetic field at the tical axis. Then try doing the rotations in the opposite
order. You do not get the same final result. The rota-
center is greater than it is with only one loop. It
tions do not add vectorially, as we know because vectors
takes more force, for example, to twist a compass can be added in any order.
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 527
fct. *>
on. (Fig. 30-10.) We can make these predictions
for an number of combinations both of
infinite
is 1 amp. The predicted 8 : 3 i shown here is twice 8i and 30° correctly given by the vector addition of the fields
north of east.
of the individual loops.*
Next we can check directly on the magnitude
of the total field. For this purpose we introduce
carrying the same current and placed right next
a third loop of identical size and shape with its
to each other, is twice as big as the magnetic field
center at the same place as that of the other two.
of one of them. The two loops side by side are
We orient this loop so that its axis points in the
just a way of getting a loop with twice the current.
direction opposite to the total field and adjust
We therefore predict that the magnetic field is
the current in it compass at the common
until the
proportional to the current that produces it.
center is no longer forced to line up in any particu-
above prediction is correct we should be
If the
lar direction. When the total field from the origi-
able to use two identical current loops to pro-
nal two loops is thus canceled, the canceling field
duce any combination of magnetic fields. We
arrange the two loops of wire so that they have
a common center and so that we can change the •The magnetic field of the earth complicates quantitative
experiments on magnetic fields. It may be negligible if
direction of one loop with respect to the other
the fields to be investigated are strong. Otherwise, we
(Fig. 30-9). At the center, the magnetic field can cancel the earth's field in part of our laboratory by
from one loop is proportional to the current in means of an equal and opposite field produced by a suit-
able current. We shall assume that in all our experiments
that loop and points along its axis. The same is
the earth's magnetic field either is negligible or has been
true for the field of the other loop. By adjusting appropriately compensated.
»
10
a
s>
5
c
-f
1 1 1 1
u
1
1 2 3 4 5
magnetic field in B,
combined field 8 + 8k. The vector diagram now determines an unknown magnetic field by canceling it with
the magnitude of 8. the field from a standard loop. Actually, be-
cause we know that magnetic fields add vectori-
from the third loop must be equal in magnitude ally, we shall do better if we add a known field
as well as opposite in direction to the sum of the from a standard loop at an angle to the unknown
fields of the two loops. The current in the
first field (Fig. 30-13). First we use a compass to
third loop, therefore, measures the magnitude of measure the direction of the unknown field. Sec-
the sum of the two magnetic fields from the origi- ond with the known field turned on, we use the
nal two loops. Again we can try any number of compass to tell us the direction of the total field.
magnitudes and of directions of the original two We can then read off the magnitude of the origi-
fields. Again we always find that the magnetic nal unknown field from a vector diagram.
fields add vectorially. Vector addition is not the only way we can
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 529
30-15 (a). The compass needles show the direction of the field 30—15 (b). If we replace part of the loop by an electrolytic
at two Doints near a loop of metal wire. See. Fig. 30-15 (b). conductor, the field is not changed. Magnetic effects do not de-
pend on the sign of the charges that carry the current.
instance, the frequency of oscillation of a mag- that the magnetic field reverses its direction. In
netic needle about its rest position depends on particular, when there is a current going around
the field strength (Fig. 30-14).We can calibrate a wire loop in the direction indicated in Fig. 30-8,
any one of these devices in known magnetic fields the magnetic field through the center of the loop
and then use it to measure unknown field strengths. has the direction shown.
In the last chapter we learned that positive
30—4. Magnetic Fields of Steady Electric charges moving in one direction have the same
Currents electrical effects as negative charges moving in
To discover the laws that relate the magnetic the opposite direction. Experiment shows that
fields to the electric currents that produce them, they also have the same magnetic effects. Sup-
we shall experiment first with steady electric cur- pose that we build two geometrically identical
rents, do not change with time.
currents that circuits the first, however, is made of metal wires
;
Changing electric currents and their changing while the second includes an electrolytic conduc-
magnetic fields raise new problems, some of which tor [Figs. 30-15 (a) and 30-15 (b)]. With equal
we shall discuss later. Even for steady currents currents, the two circuits produce exactly equal
we shall not try to give a complete account. magnetic even though in the first circuit the
fields
Rather than develop the procedure for computing current due entirely to the motion of negative
is
the magnetic field from any system of currents, charges, whereas in the second the current is due
we shall concentrate on a few important examples. to the motion of both positive charges and nega-
We already know the magnetic field is propor- tive charges. Thus in describing the magnetic
tional to the current 7P which produces it. Also, if effects of steady currents we need not worry about
we reverse the direction of current flow, we find the sign of the particles which move.
530 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
Measurements with different loops show that rent near by. The other parts of the current do
the magnitude of the field at the center of the loop not contribute much field because the magnetic
varies inversely with the radius of the loop. That effects decrease rapidly with distance. (You
is, check by moving the other parts of the cir-
this
cuit.) The field lines form concentric circles
£l00 p = (Const) -* around the wire [Fig. 30-6 (a) and Fig. 30-7];
and the strength B of the field at a distance d from
Moreover, we also know the value of the con- the wire is inversely proportional to d. Conse-
stant in terms of our standard magnetic field B s .
quently, B has the form
When the loop is 2tt cm (2ir X 10~2 m) in radius
find that
or
B = 2 X 10- 3
With
Const -
=
.
s
field at the center of a loop is You can remember how the direction of the
field is related to the direction of the current by
B loop =
"( 2ttX 10- 3 the "right hand" rule. In imagination place your
amp/ r
right hand, with the thumb in the direction of the
When / is measured in amperes, r in meters, B Xoop current ; then your fingers curled around the wire
comes out as a multiple of B s. point in the direction of the field (Fig. 30-17), the
In 1820 the French physicists Biot and Savart way the north tip of a compass would point. No-
announced the results of the first quantitative in- tice that this rule also gives the direction of the
vestigation of a magnetic field produced by an field through a loop of wire.
electric current. This was the field near a straight As a last example consider a conducting wire
wire (Fig. 30-16). Near the middle of such a wound in a helical coil. It is called a solenoid. A
wire, the field arises almost entirely from the cur- solenoid may have a single layer, or many layers
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 531
of wire like thread on a spool. A steady current planets about the sun; perhaps the charges also
in the solenoid produces the magnetic field spin around like the earth. In any case, their
sketched in Fig. 30—6 (c) and photographed in motion produces magnetic fields. In many ma-
Fig. 30-7. If the length of the solenoid is large terials the moving charges act like current loops
compared with its diameter, the magnetic field in- pointing in all directions, and they give no net
side is parallel to the axis and the same strength magnetic field. In a magnet, however, some of
everywhere except very close to the winding or the moving charges act like a collection of current
near the ends. This uniform field is proportional loops lined up the same way; then the result is
to the number of turns per unit length of the sole- an appreciable magnetic field. (For more detail
noid. of how these ideas explain the relation between a
The field outside a solenoid looks very much bar magnet and a solenoid, see the box below.)
like the field of a cylindrical bar magnet (Fig. Nowadays we have come to understand a great
30-5). This suggests —
as Ampere saw that — deal about the inner motions of charges in atoms
the field of a permanent magnet may be caused — and to check them against their observed mag-
by electric currents. These currents arise from netic effects. Altogether, we are pretty sure that
the motion of the charged particles inside the magnetism is always the effect of moving electric
atoms or molecules. Perhaps, as in a planetary charge. Consequently, we do not expect to find
model of an atom, the electrons revolve like separate magnetic poles.
Inside a magnet there are many lined- same way. There might as well be current
up circulating currents —
electrons moving running around the surface of the magnet
around the atoms, for example. If we make and nothing inside.
an imaginary cut across a bar magnet we
would lay bare a set of such circulating cur-
rents side by side. They are shown sche-
matically in Fig. 30-18 (c). The field of a bar (a)
canceled currents go steadily around the bar the same direction. We get the effect of a current around
because all the little loops are lined up the the magnet.
532 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
30-19 (a). A flexible wire in a magnetic field. The switch is 30—19 (b). When current flows, there is a magnetic force on the
open, no current flows, the wire hangs down. wire that pulls it taut.
F= AIIB ±
F= I1B ±
1 newton
and the unit of B is
(1ampere) (1 meter) trough of
newton mercury
magnetic field of 1 exerts a force of
amp-meter
1 newton on a current of 1 ampere running per-
pendicularly across it for a distance of 1 meter.
In Section 30-3 we introduced a standard mag-
30-23. An experiment to measure the field at the center of a
netic field Bs. We defined it as the field at the
loop by measuring the force on a segment of a current-carrying
center of a loop 2ir cm in radius carrying a cur- wire. In the experiment described in the text, the total current
rent of 10 amperes. That definition relates the /p in the loop producing the field is 100 amp. The current /
magnetic field to the current Ip that produces it. through the segment at the center is 50 amp. The segment
itself is far shorter than shown here, so that the whole segment
Here we have an entirely different way of defin-
is
newtons/amp-m by the magnetic force on a cur- equal to IlB where / is the length of the segment.
? We must
(Fig. 30-23). We measure the force on this seg-
netic field strength BB in
amp-meter ment when it is perpendicular to the field B loop
find out experimentally. For instance, we can from the loop, so B ± = 10 B s. The force is 5.0
use a current Ip to generate a field which is a known X 10~ 4 newtons. From F= IIB ± we therefore
multiple of B
Then we find the strength of that
3. g et
field in newtons/amp-m by measuring the force it 5.0 X 10-4 newtons = 50 amp x 0.010 mx 10 B s.
\ amp- / r
2xl0 _ newtonU
/ 7
B„.
\ amp a 2
/
30—26. A
^r
D.C. motor is similar to a moving-coil meter. The coil
the coil is pulled around for another half turn.
One arrangement of this reversing switch or com-
mutator is shown in simple form in Fig. 30-26.
Real motors do not have a single coil but rather
is bigger, ond a reversing switch or commutator is provided to a whole group of coils placed so as to give steadier
reverse the direction of current flow every half turn. turning forces. Also, the coils are wound on a
block of iron to increase the magnetic field.
KI,
B =
u
where i-
A. = -»
2
^
X m-
10
-
'
newtons
rs as
.
we learned in
(ampere)-
Section 30-5. This magnetic field is perpendicu-
lar to the plane containing the currents Ix and U,
and it points in the direction shown by the shaded
arrow in Fig. 30-27, downward across /,.
30—27. Two parallel conducting wires side by side. The seg-
Next we compute the force exerted by this mag-
ment of wire MN experiences a force F in the magnetic field of the
netic field upon the current segment MN. This other wire, shown by the shaded arrow.
segment has a length /: it is perpendicular to the
field, and it carries a current /: . Since the B field
from Ix is perpendicular to the current I2 , the The force between two currents is easily meas-
force on the segment is ured, and so are the currents and distances which
occur on the right-hand side of the last equation.
F= Bll2 .
F = KlJJ/d. value K 2 X
,_
lO"
,
7
——
newtons
(ampere) 2
-o
A
that we obtained
30—28 (a). The combined magnetic field patterns of two 30—28 (b). The currents are in opposite directions, and the
parallel conducting wires. The currents are in the same wires repel each other.
direction in both wires. They attract each other.
We can find the total magnetic field around lines are denseron the outside than in be-
two would act on another
wires, the field that tween. of B act as though they were
The lines
current or on a compass needle in the region so many rubber bands which resist both being
near by, by adding the fields from the cur- stretched and being crowded together. By
rents Ix and I2 vectorially. This field is thinking of the total magnetic field lines in
sketched in Fig. 30-28. Notice that the wires this way, we can get an idea of the forces and
repel when the field lines are denser between motions of currents in magnetic fields with-
them than outside and they attract when the out doing detailed calculations.
newtons
or K= 5.12 X 10-45
(elem. ch./sec) 2
we can obtain. A B field of 1
ampere-m
is usually
J
r -.
newtons
j— a —
-.
(elem. ch./sec)(meter)
;
•
force
conductor carrying a current experiences a
when it is placed in a magnetic field. Since
This unit is useful to us when we deal with the an motion of electric particles,
electric current is a
magnetic forces on moving elementary charges. we naturally expect that the magnetic field acts
The force in newtons on a segment of wire of directly on the individual charged particles on —
length / in meters carrying a current of / elemen- the ions or electrons whose motion produces the
where B is measured in ,-
newtons We can check up on this idea by firing a beam
(elem. ch./sec)(meter) of electrons from an electron gun through mer-
On the other hand, this is not a common unit, cury or hydrogen gas at low pressure. The elec-
because a B one of these units is
field as large as trons emerging from the slit make the low-pres-
many orders of magnitude larger than any field sure gas glow. Thus, the path of the beam is
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 539
30—29. An experiment to show the deflection of moving charged pair of coils rather than a bar magnet, to get a uniform field
particles in a magnetic field. In (a), electrons accelerated by the in a space into which we can look.) In (b) the beam starts to
gun travel vertically upward, leaving a path of glowing gas. diverge but does not continue. It probably narrows down again.
There is no magnetic field. When there is a magnetic field (b), Can you explain why?
the path of the electrons bent into a circular arc. (We used a
is
rent in terms of the number of charges N in the
clearly visible in adarkened room (Fig. 30-29). length /. To see how / is expressed in terms of
Now we bring a magnet near the tube, pointed so N, I, and v, we imagine an observer posted at the
that its magnetic field runs straight out from us end of the length / to count the elementary charges
across the tube. The beam is deflected at right as they go by. Because every charge is moving at
angles to its motion and to the magnetic field. If speed v, the length / of the stream takes the time
we reverse the magnet, the beam is deflected the
opposite way. t = - seconds to pass him. At the beginning of
To be specific, suppose the electrons originally that time the nearest charge is just passing the ob-
move vertically upward. Since electrons are server. At the end of that time, the last charge
negatively charged particles, this beam corre- from the other end of / goes past him. In the
sponds to a current directed vertically downward. time = l/v, therefore,
t all TV charges in the length
Now we hold the magnet so that its field, as / have moved past.
shown by a compass needle, is directed straight Now the number of elementary charges passing
from us through the beam as we face the appa-
ratus. Then according to our rule for directions,
last
the force acting on the moving particles must pull particle
F
HB ± .
watching a stream of elemen-
30-30. An imaginary observer is
him when a length / of the stream goes by. This takes a time
Thus, in order to get the force F 1
in terms of the
N Nv
N
speed i of the charges, we must evaluate the cur- t = l/v. So the current in the stream is - = ..
t l/v I
540 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
T= N = N _Nv '
= 2.18 X 10-
kg-m
t l/v~ I sec
—ft- ~,
^—fr ,^ 21„
In other words, the force experienced by a particle qB± 1 X 1.60 10- X
carrying q elementary charges and moving with a This expected radius is actually observed when
velocity v in a magnetic field is F = qvB ± .
protons of 90 electron volts energy are shot into
By shooting charged particles across a mag- that magnetic field. Thus, experiments show that
netic field and observing their deflection by the the magnetic deflecting force is indeed given
magnetic force, we can show experimentally that by qvB ± , in agreement with our reasoning from
this expression for the magnetic force on a moving the magnetic force on currents.
charge is correct. Because the magnetic force is
to 90
battery
30—32. A simple mass spectrograph. Ions are accelerated to the ions to go perpendicularly into the known
a known kinetic energy by the electric field between the plates.
magnetic and measure the radius of the cir-
field
In the magnetic field their path is bent into a circular arc. The
cular arc on which they move. Because the cen-
ions strike a screen or photographic plate, and from the deflec-
tion we can calculate the radius of the arc.
tripetal force — is the magnetic deflecting force
of protons as an experimental check on the ex- they travel in the magnetic field, and we find that
pression F = q:B_ for the magnetic force. Here it is 0.105 meters. Since the ions are singly
known masses.
qBr = 1 X 100 X 10" 20 0.105
To use this method measure ionic masses,
to
(elem. ch.) newtons (meter)
we accelerate the ions of unknown mass through v. (elem. ch./sec)-m
a known electrical potential difference, V (Fig. = 1.05 X 10" 21 newton-sec.
30-32). This tells us their kinetic energy per
elementary charge: ^mv 1 = qV. Then we allow This is the momentum of the ions.
542 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
Now from the kinetic energy \mv 2 and the mo- The mass of a sodium atom, which is
a per cent.
mentum mv, we can get both m and v. The speed made by adding one electron to the sodium ion,
is easy: must be almost identical. So our value can be
compared with the values obtained for the mass of
_ 2(±mv 2
) _ 2(1.44 X 10~ 17
joules)
sodium in other experiments. The accepted value
mv 1.05 X10~ 21 newton-seconds
for the mass of a sodium atom is 3.82 X 10 -26 kg.
That is 2.74 X 10 4 meters per second. Finally, The apparatus that we have diagrammed in
dividing this speed into the momentum, we get the Fig. 30-32 is known as a mass spectrograph, and
mass of the ions: the procedure of measuring masses with such ap-
paratus is mass spectroscopy. Our mass
called
m =
mv X 10-
1.05 21
... v1ft_ai
T = 2.74 X 10* - 184 X 10 k& spectrograph is One which is made
very crude.
for high-precision measurements usually contains
This is the mass of a sodium ion — good to within auxiliary devices to "focus" the particles on a
small spot and to make sure that only particles
Table 1 in a very narrow range of velocities can enter the
magnetic field. With a good spectrograph
A few of the isotopes of some common elements.
One atomic mass unit is y& of the atomic mass of the masses of ions can be determined to many sig-
most common oxygen isotope. nificant figures.
Ever since J. J. Thomson introduced mass
spectroscopy about fifty years ago, it has been a
Mass of the Relative powerful tool of atomic research. In particular,
isotopes in atomic abundance:
Element mass units per cent
because mass spectrographs sort the ions by their
individual masses, the masses of the isotopes of a
Hydrogen 1.008 99.98 single element were largely determined by mass
2.015 0.02
spectrographs measurement. Although some
Lithium 6.017 7.5
evidence for the existence of isotopes among the
7.018 92.5
heavy radioactive elements was pointed out in
Carbon 12.004 98.9
the first few years of this century, it was Thom-
13.008 1.1
beam
source of
alpha particles e/c/
with a retarding electric potential difference, thus most exactly equal to the mass of a helium atom.
determining their kinetic energy. This would re- It is thus natural to conclude that alpha particles
quire a potential difference of a million volts or are doubly charged helium ions. We can test this
so. But we can get the velocity more directly by conclusion directly by placing a strong source of
applying an electric field across the motion of the Such
alpha particles in an evacuated glass tube.
alpha particles at the same time that we apply a an experiment was done by Rutherford and Royds
magnetic one. We put on this electric field so in 1908. After waiting for a sufficiently long time,
that the electric force on the alpha particles is just they found a detectable amount of helium. Now,
opposite to the magnetic force. Then the net like Rutherford, we are ready to use alpha parti-
force on the moving particles is zero, and they cles as probes to explore the structure of atoms.
544 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
zontal plane.
(b) If the compass needle points northeast, A cm in radius is uniformly charged and
ring lir
what is the direction and magnitude of 57 is rotating about an axis through its center as
shown in Fig. 30-36. If the total charge on the
4. Three circular wire loops with radii r v r2 and r,
are arranged as shown in Fig. 30-35. The two
, ring is p1.0 X 10" coulombs and the ring
8
Ii = 10 amps k
5 cm
5 cm
h = 10 amp
CZ3x Ii = 10 amp
5 cm
I. = 20 amps
newtons
B = 10- 3
amp. meter
4 4 4 A A A i
s/ Ar lcm
(b) How much additional mass m must be field of strength B= 1.0 X i0- 3
ampere-meter
added to the right-hand balance pan to keep the
(Fig. 30-40). What is the strengih and direction
loops separated by 0.5 cm when the currents are
of the resultant iffield at the points P, Q, R, S on
turned on?
a circle of radius 1 cm around the wire?
(c) How can you use this device to measure an
unknown current?
546 THE MAGNETIC FIELD
(elem.
——
newtons
ch. /sec)(meter)
-
.
on the arc of
, 23. A
rest
beam of charged
particles, accelerated from
by a potential difference of 320 volts enters a
a circle of radius 0.031 m. uniform magnetic field of strength 6.0 X 10~ 4
(a) What is its velocity? newtons .......
. , ,
CHAPTER 31
Looking back at the contents of the previous current running around the loop in the direction
you will
chapters, realize that we have dealt so indicated. If we stop moving the loop, the current
produced by electric charges
far with electric fields stops; and when we move the loop in the opposite
at rest, and with the magnetic fields produced by direction the current runs the other way around
steady currents. Such fields are constant in time. the circuit.
We must again turn to experiment to learn what It is not difficult to understand what is going on.
happens when electric and magnetic fields vary The metal wire is full of electrons free to move
with time. along the wire. In dragging the wire / sideways
we are moving these electrons across the magnetic
field B— the green arrow in Fig. 31-1 shows
31-1. Induced Current and Induced EMF the direction of this motion. Each of these
What happens when electric circuits move in elementary electric charges moving across the
magnetic Such motions result in changing
fields? magnetic field experiences a force, perpendicular
relations between the circuits and the fields. We to its motion and to the field. This force there-
can understand the effect of these changes on the
basis of what we already know about the motions
of charges in magnetic fields. Later we shall see
how this kind of change is related to changes of
the fields themselves.
We have seen that there are magnetic fields
around moving charges and that any electric
charge moving across a magnetic field is acted on
by a force perpendicular to its motion. Suppose
that instead of running a current through a wire
in a magnetic field and getting a force, we apply
a force to a wire, dragging it across a magnetic
field ; will we get a current?
Take a big magnet and a single loop of wire with
a current meter A, but no battery. Arrange them
as in Fig. 31-1, so that part of the wire is in the
magnet's field. Then drag the whole loop of wire
31—1. When we pull a wire loop jo part of if passes through a
steadily to one side. As we pull the loop of wire
magnetic field, a current flows in the loop. Because the wire /
so that the length / is dragged at a steady speed moves sideways, the electrons in it are moving across the magnetic
across the magnetic field, the meter A shows a field and are pushed along the wire by the magnetic forces.
548
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 549
[N j
3k
j ' maq
yA /
—t* f
\
force exerted
by man
c
> P
II (
1 i
31—4. Direction of the induced current. 31-5. When we pull a wire loop through a magnetic field, the
faces of the magnet. Suppose we drag the wire / being dragged across the magnetic field. From
(the part of the loop that is in the region of B) the point of view of the rest of the circuit, the
across to the left. Then all the elementary charges points C and D of the wire act like the terminals
in it are moving from right to left in a downward of a battery. we could take away the
Indeed,
field B. A positive elementary charge moving in magnet and replace the segment / of the wire by a
this way is therefore subjected to a magnetic force battery with an EMF equal to vBl without affect-
that pushes it out of the diagram toward you, and ing the current in the rest of the circuit.
a negative elementary charge pushed in the is
other direction along the segment CD into the 31-3. Where Does the Energy Come From?
paper. In either case the result will be to move There one big difference between the EMF
is
any electric charges which are free to respond, so supplied by a battery and the induced EMF that
that a positive current comes along the segment we have just found. The energy supplied to an
of wire out of the paper. This is just what we find elementary charge passing through a battery is
experimentally. supplied from stored chemical energy. The energy
How big is this force on an electron? Any supplied per elementary charge passing through
particle moving across the magnetic field with the length of the wire / that is dragged across the
speed v experiences a force qvB. Since the charge magnetic field comes in through the magnetic
on each electron is one elementary charge, each force. It is eventually supplied by us, through the
is pushed with the force Fr = vB.
electron As long force we exert in dragging the length of wire /
as it is in the length / of the wire, the length in the sidewise across the magnetic field.
magnetic field, the electron experiences this force. To see that we really supply the energy when we
Now we can find the EMF induced in the mov- drag the loop through the magnetic field, let us
ing wire. If an electron moves through the dis- suppose that the induced EMF, that is S = vBl,
tance / from one side of the magnetic field to the drives a current / around the circuit. As this
other, the energy transferred to it is given by the current passes through the length / of wire in the
work FJ = vBl. In fact, this is the amount of magnetic field, there is a magnetic force on the
energy transferred by the magnetic force to any current in the direction perpendicular both to the
elementary charge moving through a length / of current and to the field (Fig. 31-5). By looking
the wire as it is dragged across the magnetic field. at the direction of the current and the direction of
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION ANH lilt I ROMAGNETIC WAVES 551
the magnetic field, you can see that this force is that does not accelerate with respect to the fixed
opposite to the direction of motion of the wire stars. Consequently all dynamical behavior must
across the field. The magnitude of the force is fall same patterns in any unaccelerated
into the
II B. To move the wire at a constant speed we frame of reference, and we would naturally expect
must exert a counter force of exactly the same that electromagnetic induction would take the
magnitude. Consequently we do work feeding same form in any unaccelerated frame. In detail,
the energv into the circuit at the rate we expect that the whole system of loop and
magnet can move at any constant velocity relative
distance
= //fl
,
4-
i
\ A ^g^^^-
<4 w f \/
/ (b)
P
is
J
' "*jf»
field, (b) When the area is not perpendicular, we multiply the
area times the perpendicular component of the B-fleld.
IT ^*
more evidence that the induced electro-
is still
magnetic
motions.
depend only on the relative
effects
We
can view the motions of wire loop
^.^
}A '
'
r
<
31-5. Magnetic Flux and the Induction Law A<p = BAA = BlvAt
We can generate the same EMF in many ways.
31—8. When a wire and a magnetic field move relative to one
For example, consider another motion made with
another with speed v, the wire sweeps out an area /vAt in the
the same loop and magnet as before. Instead of time At. The change in magnetic flux Ay? is B/vAt.
moving the loop to the left as in Fig. 31-4, move
it out of the page. If in this motion a segment of through it (Fig. 31-7). For example, when we
wire of length /' passes through the field B' at the look at an area which is parallel to the lines of
speed v', we get an induced EMF equal to 57V. magnetic no magnetic field crosses it.
field, It is
We can easily adjust v' so that B'l'v' is equal to only the component of the magnetic field per-
Blv — or to any other induced EMF we wish. pendicular to a given area that carries magnetic
Indeed, there are all sorts of different relative field through that area. So we shall measure the
motions of the loop and the magnet that result amount of magnetic field crossing an area as the
in the same induced EMF. product of the area times the perpendicular com-
We shall now express the induced EMF — the ponent of the magnetic field. This is called the
energy fed in per unit charge — in a way that magnetic flux<p through the area: <p = Bj_A.
brings out the common feature of all the motions The induced EMF —
the energy we feed in per
that generate the same EMF. This formulation elementary charge driven around the wire loop —
will also make it possible to consider the electro- can always be expressed as the rate of change of
magnetic induction that goes on when one part the flux of magnetic field through the loop. (Look
of the loop moves with respect to another, as, for at Fig. 31-5.) When we pull either the wire or
example, when we have a flexible wire loop and the magnet so that one moves with respect to the
change its shape [Fig. 31-9 (b)]. other with the speed v, the area swept out by the
If we look back at the previous sections, we see length of wire / in time At is IvAt, because vAt is
that the induced voltage depends on the amount of the distance the wire travels sidewise with respect
the magnetic field moved in or out of the loop in to the magnet in the time At (Fig. 31-8). When
a given time. We measure the amount of magnetic the magnetic field perpendicular to this area is of
field through a given area as the field strength strength B, the magnetic flux moved out from the
times that area as long as the area is perpendicular loop is BlvAt. This is the change A<p in the flux.
to the magnetic cocked at an
field. If the area is The rate of change of the flux <p is therefore
angle so that the magnetic field does not run Ay?
= Blv.
straight across it, less of the magnetic field passes At
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 553
31—9 (o). The induced EMF depends only on the rote at which
the fhix changes Ac-
At, no matter how the change is produced.
Here an extended spring is allowed to contract to a smaller area.
in per elementary charge as a rate of change of 31-9 (a)], by twisting loops of wire into various
flux is the more general form that Faraday gave areas in a magnetic field [Fig. 31-9 by moving
(b)],
to the induction law. It applies equally well a magnet around so that the flux changes because
whether the circuit moves or the magnet moves. of the change in direction of the magnetic field
passing through a loop [Fig. 31-9 (c)], or by any
You can test out the expression 8 = -r~ for
combination of these maneuvers. You will find
the induced voltage by letting a wire spring change that only the rate of change of flux counts in
its size in a region of uniform magnetic field [Fig. producing the induced voltage.
554 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
31-6. Electromagnetic Induction When the 31-7. Electric Fields Around Changing
Circuits Do Not Move Magnetic Fluxes
Moving either a circuit or a magnet is not the A wire loop may enclose a magnetic flux in such
only way to change the flux through a wire loop. a way that the magnetic field has appreciable
We can leave the loop at rest and change the strength only near its center (Fig. 31-11). The
magnetic field through it by changing the electric magnetic field then never seems to cross the wire
currents that produce the field. In other words, at all. Nevertheless, a given rate of change of the
we can use an electromagnet as in Fig. 31-10. magnetic same electromagnetic
flux results in the
Then by changing the current in the electro- induction. How happen?
does this
magnet at the right rate, we can make the magnetic In order to find out, let us examine the electrical
flux through the loop change at any rate we want. mechanism that drives charges around any current
If experiments with an electromagnet give the loop which is standing still. In this case, the
same EMF for the same rate of change of flux magnetic forces cannot be responsible because
produced by moving a loop, it will make the pic- they act at right angles to the motion of the
ture of magnetic flux changes as the agents pro- electrons and cannot feed in energy. Neverthe-
ducing the effects on the wire loop much more less, the electrons are being pushed around the
flux changes, therefore, are an essential link field, an £-field, pushing the electrons around.
through which electromagnetic induction takes Let us accept that for a moment. Then we can
place. ask: how big is the electric field which arises
31—10. We can change the magnetic flux by using an electro- 31-11. An EMF is induced in a wire loop even though the region
magnet and changing the current in its coils. of changing flux is entirely inside the loop-
*
u?
i__
^ ifim
If**/'
-SB ^y^
\^ <
\
$k — ^sKX*
_ -Af. *<&%
8
31—13. The induced electric field around a changing magnetic
flux runs around in circles. Its magnitude varies inversely with
the distance.
31—12. When the flux changes through the shaded area, the
magnitude of the E-field that circles around it must be the same
Notice that this electric field has constant mag-
anywhere on the wire. Therefore an elementary charge must
receive energy E27Tr as it is pushed around the wire. nitude around any circle of radius r. Also, if we
have a wire loop of greater radius, the electric field
at that greater radius must be smaller since the
from a change of the magnetic flux through a
times the circumference of the
product of the field
circuit?
circle must come out to the same induced voltage
Let us take a nice symmetrical example in order
to do an easy Take a circular wire
calculation. to the same value of In summary, the-t—
At
loop of radius and assume that the magnetic
r,
induced electric field around the changing flux
flux through this circle is being changed by
therefore must run around in circles, and the
changing the magnetic field through a much magnitude of this induced field must decrease
smaller concentric circle (Fig. 31-12). In this
inversely with the distance away from the central
situation, the electric field pushing charge along
region (Fig. 31-13).
the wire at one point should be just the same as
We have just brought in a completely new kind
the electric field pushing it along the wire at any
of electric field, one that circles around instead of
other point. The electric field produced by the
starting and stopping on charges. This may look
change in magnetic flux must circle that flux,
like a desperate attempt to save an obviously
pointing along the wire. As an elementary charge
wobbly theory. We invented this new kind of
is moved all the way around the wire loop, it is
field solely to make sense out of the observation
therefore pushed by the field of constant strength
that energy is fed in and drives currents around
E through the distance lirr. Consequently, it
any loop through which magnetic flux is changing.
must receive from the induced electric field the
Is there any reality to this new electric field a —
energy EX 2irr. This energy per elementary
reality that we can test independently? The
chargeis the induced voltage —
that is, 8 = E2wr.
answer is "yes." The electric field is really there,
But we already know that the induced voltage is
for we can shoot individual charged particles into
given by the rate of change of the flux : S = the region around a changing magnetic flux, and
At' by following their paths we can see that they are
So the electric field is related to the rate of change
indeed acted upon by just this electric force.
of the flux by
There is even one modern high-energy accelerating
A<p machine which speeds up the individual charged
El-wr =
At particles to high energies by using exactly this
556 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
31-14. A schematic diagram of a betatron. The changing flux ring of magnets. We correctly predict the paths from the local
in the center produces an electric field which accelerates electrons. magnetic field for deflection and from the induced electric field
The electrons are made to move in circular paths by the outer giving the acceleration along the path.
31—15 (a). The magnetic field of an electric current circles flux circles the flux and falls off as l/r. The electric field extends
the current, falling off in magnitude as l/r. far beyond the region of this change.
electric force. In a betatron, electrons in an away from) a changing magnetic field may still
changing magnetic flux (Fig. 31-14). They speed more reasonable if we think for a moment about
up in exactly the way we predict from the action the magnetic field around an electric current
of the circular electric field that arises from (Fig. 31-15). This magnetic field circles the elec-
electromagnetic induction. tric current and falls off inversely with the distance.
The electric field which surrounds (but is well Also, its strength is proportional to the rate of
^
transfer of electric charge. Similarly, a changing into the loop. This is another way of describing
magnetic flux acts as a kind of "magnetic current" the mechanism of providing the induced EMF.
around which an electric field is produced. Like This analysis gives us a general method for
the magnetic field around a current of moving determining the direction of induced electro-
charged particles, the £-field around the changing magnetic effects. Whenever we bring a magnet
magnetic flux falls off inversely as the distance and a conducting loop toward each other, the
from the changing flux. Also, its strength is induced £"-field in the loop will generate a current
proportional to the rate of change of magnetic in the direction that makes a repelling magnet of
flux. This rate of change of the magnetic flux is the loop. You must therefore force the magnet
the strength of the "magnetic current." and the loop together, feeding in the needed
energy to drive the induced current. On the other
31-8. Direction of Induced Electric Fields hand, if a magnet and a loop are pulled apart, the
To determine the direction of circulation of an loop will always become an attracting magnet and
induced electric field E around a changing flux A^, again we must do work against this attraction to
let us go back to the experiment of Section 31-1. drive the induced current.
When we pull a wire loop out of a magnetic field We have just seen that the induced electric field
as in Fig. 31-16 (a), we know the direction of the is always in a direction that causes an induced flux
induced voltage and of the induced current. The through the loop opposing the over-all change in
induced current goes around as indicated in the flux. This observation is often called Lenz's law,
figure and the induced £-field as seen in the wire after the Russian physicist Lenz. As we have
must go round the same way to drive it. By seen, Lenz's law is related to the flow of energy.
pulling the loop out of the magnetic field we are If the induced electromotive force or the induced
diminishing the magnetic flux ip passing down fluxes and magnets were oriented in the opposite
through the loop. The change in flux Aip there- direction, we would have an absurd situation in
fore points upward [Fig. 31-16 (b)]. If we look which a magnet moving toward a loop would be
down on the loop, the induced current generated attracted by the current it induced in the loop.
by this change in flux runs around clockwise, and That attraction would speed up the approach,
so must the induced electric field.The same making still bigger induced currents, taking a still
thing happens if the magnet is an electromagnet bigger flow of energy both into the motion and
and we turn off the downward field. Indeed,
whenever the change in flux is toward us, the
(a)
induced £-field around it is clockwise and if the ;
into the magnetic field of the induced current. into heat. Just as the electric field from the
All this energy would come from nowhere. So charges at the ends of the wire times the length of
Lenz's law is really an expression of the conserva- the wire gives us the applied potential difference,
tion of energy, telling us that induced electric so the induced electric field times the length of
fields deal with known sources of energy and do the wire gives us the induced EMF. The effective
not derive energy from nowhere. potential difference which accounts for the energy
per elementary charge fed into heat is the differ-
31-9. Self-induction and Electric Oscillators ence between the potential applied across the ends
A potential difference V applied across the ends of the wire and the induced EMF. Consequently,
of a wire results in an electric field which acceler- the heat dissipated per elementary charge is given
ates electrons in the wire. By means of the by
electric field, the energy V is provided per elemen- V -Z,
tary charge moving past any point in the wire. where S is the induced potential arising from the
As the electrons move around, this energy is rate of change of the flux. As always, this thermal
dissipated as heat, and at the same time the mo- energy yielded per elementary charge is given by
tions give an electric current / = VI R, where R IR. Consequently,
is the resistance of the wire.
V- 8 = IR.
We can rewrite the last equation as V = IR.
Now on the left we have the energy provided per When the current is steady, 8 = and this last
elementary charge and on the right we have the equation becomes V= IR. All the energy per
energy that goes into heat per elementary charge. elementary charge supplied by the applied po-
The expression IR always gives the heat dis- tential difference V at the ends of the wires is
sipated per elementary charge. If the electrons dissipated in heat. But when the current is
move faster, the current / increases and the kinetic changing, we see that only a part of the energy V
energy of the electrons increases. Therefore, per elementary charge goes into heat; the rest
more energy is dissipated as heat in the wire. goes into changing the current and thus building
Each elementary charge is picking up more energy up the magnetic fields. How much energy goes
from the electric field and as it collides with the into building up the magnetic fieldsmeasured is
atoms of the wire it transfers this greater energy by 8 — that is, by the rate of change of the flux.
into thermal energy.
On the other hand, the energy provided per
elementary charge need not come solely from the
source of potential difference applied across the
ends of the coil. For example, suppose that V
arises from charges concentrated on large con-
ductors. From the same concentrations of
charge, the same electric field is always produced
in the coil. In addition, when the current in the
coil is changing,an induced electric field is also
present. The changing current in the coil causes
a changing magnetic flux through it, and the
changing flux induces an electric field which acts
on the current. Since this field may induce
changes in the current, the whole effect is often
called self-induction. When the current in the
coil rises, the increasing flux induces an electric
field in the opposite direction from the current
(Fig. 31-17). This induced field must be sub-
tracted from the electric field of the charges at the
31-17. While the current increases, the flux increases. Con-
ends of the wire to get the electric field which is
sequently an electric field is induced which opposes the electric
causing the current and actually feeding energy field of the battery.
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 559
In the mechanical system, by using a spring to to decrease, an induced electric field continues to drive the
current the same direction. Charges of opposite sign build
exert a force on the mass, we can get the mass to in
up on the plates.
oscillateback and forth. First the spring exerts a
force in one direction, accelerating the mass, We can make a springlike electric potential by
feeding in kinetic energy. Then, after the spring connecting the coil to two parallel conducting
passes through its equilibrium position, it exerts a plates, as in Fig. 31-18. We charge the plates
force in the opposite direction, taking the kinetic with the switch open. Then we close the switch.
energy out of the motion of the mass and storing The electric potential energy of the charges con-
it in potential The mass on
energy of the spring. centrated on the plates will drive a current around
the spring will oscillate back and forth. We can through the loop. As the plates discharge and the
make an electric oscillator in an analogous way. electric potential energy decreases, the magnetic
In addition to the coil in which we can store up the energy of the current passing through the loop will
magnetic energy —
the energy which acts like the increase. When the plates are discharged and the
kinetic energy of the mass we must introduce— electric potential energy has disappeared, the cur-
a springy electric potential energy. rent and the magnetic energy will be at the
560 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
maximum value. After this, the magnetic energy oscillating circuit in the form of electromagnetic
in the coil will be fed back into the circuit through waves. The oscillating circuit in a radio receiver
the induced electric field. This field, as you can is driven by oscillating electric fields in the radio
easily check up, now drives the current on in the signal itself asit goes through space, and the
same direction. Consequently, charges will be power used in the radio receiver need not come
forced onto the plates at the ends of the circuit, from any other source, as those of you who have
and an electric potential difference will be built up made batteryless radios know.
there in the opposite direction from the original
potential difference. All the magnetic energy in 31-10. Magnetic Fields Produced by
the coil will come back out and be transferred to Changes of Electric Flux
electric potential energy when the plates are fully A changing magnetic flux a region with a —
charged in the opposite direction. changing 5-field through it —
generates an in-
The process does not stop when the plates are duced electric field around it. The £-field is much
fully charged. The magnetic field continues to like the magnetic field B around a current. What
change, passing through zero and building up in happens around a region with a changing £-field
the opposite direction. The current reverses. through it — that
what happens around a
is,
The electric potential energy is fed back into the changing Does it generate a mag-
electric flux?
circuit, and the magnetic energy builds up again. netic field that goes around it, just like the one
The whole process repeats again and again. We around a current of moving electric charges?
have made an electrical pendulum which will There is a way of showing, by direct experiment,
oscillate like a mass on a spring. that this is actually so. Suppose that we charge
There is always some resistance in the wires of two parallel conducting plates so that they carry
our circuit. Some energy is always dissipated in equal charges of opposite sign. Between them
heat as the current sloshes back and forth through there is a practically uniform electric field (Fig. 31-
the coil. Each time charges are driven onto the 19). Now imagine that we suddenly turn on a
plates, the maximum charge is slightly smaller. strong X-ray source near the plates. The air in
Each time the current rushes through the coil, its the gap between them becomes ionized and the
maximum value decreases a little bit. Gradually ions begin to move, carrying electric charges from
all the energy is transferred from electrical po- one plate to the other until the plates are dis-
tential and magnetic energy into heat. This, of
course, is the same thing that happens with a
mechanical oscillator. As the mass moves back
and forth through the air, it gradually loses its
potential and kinetic energy into the random
motions of the molecules of the gas.
Electric oscillators of the kind that we have just
described are the basic element in radio trans-
mitters and in radio receivers. By selecting plates
and coils of different sizes, we can change the
"spring" of the potential and the "inertia" of the
current through the coil. We can even adjust
plate size or coil dimensions while the oscillator
is working. In this way we can tune to oscillations
of any desired frequency. To keep an electric
oscillator going in a radio transmitter, we must
feed in some energy periodically from an outside
source that gives a little boost to the current as it
(a) (b)
expected B field
Early -\<Pv.
from ion current
Later
Therefore &<pi
And A<pi
the negative plate. This current, as we know, magnetically equivalent to a current flowing from
should produce a magnetic field whose lines en- the negative to the positive plate. The equivalent
circle the current, as indicated in Fig. 31-20. current producing the magnetic field is in the direc-
If, however, we try to measure this magnetic tion of the change of the electric flux (Fig. 31-21).
field by placing a detector a little distance beyond Also, the magnitude of the magnetic field must
the edges of the plates where the large arrow is in depend on the rate of change of electric flux. If
Fig. 31-20, we do not find anything, no matter the ionization current is small, the electric flux
how sensitive our detector is. changes slowly; if the ionization current is large,
Since we know that a magnetic field must be the electric flux changes rapidly. A slowly varying
produced by the current, we are obliged to con- electric flux produces the small magnetic field that
the discharge of the capacitor, is a change in the from the flux change is proportional to the rate of
electric field between the plates. Thus the addi- change of the electric flux.
562 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
When we close the switch, current flows from the both are true, then it is possible for moving
positive battery terminal to one plate and from electric fields to produce moving magnetic fields
the other plate to the negative battery terminal, while these moving magnetic fields are generating
until the plates are fully charged. At the same The change of flux of each field
the electric fields.
time the electric flux in the gap increases from generates the other. So the whole package of
zero to the final value. This change of the electric electric and magnetic fields will move along,
flux produces the same magnetic field as a current propelling itself through space.
flowing from the positive to the negative plate, A magnetic field pointing toward us, for in-
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 563
c a
J
'(•'
K&
'i ••""V-,' •"/
:--\< ±-
« '.,','
j;
J-<\«'<< '..'
$ . " :*
; '.'
'
d b
j
.-< v .'-- .•,.-!- ''•<
'-.-
••
>"..v
the slab, the slab will be filled with electric field which moves just leaves cd, the electric field lost at cd is just the field we
along with it.
gain on ab. In its motion there is no change in the total amount of
the electric field induced inside of the slab. It neither increases
nor decreases. Can you show the same thing about 6-fleld
stance, and sweeping to the right, generates an
induced by a moving slab of electric field?
induced electric field. In Section 31-4 we studied
moving magnetic field. If you
the effect of such a numerical constants, the only difference is that
look back at Fig. 31-6 and think where the in- induced from a given flux change point in
fields
duced EMF is produced, you can see that there opposite directions. (Compare the directions of
is an induced electric field in the portion of the the flux changes and induced fields in Figs. 31-19
wire loop past which the magnetic field is moving. and 31-21.) Consequently, when the electric flux
In just the same way there is an induced electric is spread out in a moving slab, it generates mag-
magnetic field inside the whole moving field 31-12. Evidence for Electromagnetic
region. And if we check out the directions we Radiation; the Electromagnetic
find that the horizontal field generated is indeed
Spectrum
in the same direction as the magnetic field toward
All electric and magnetic fields arise from
us with which we started. In other words, the
charges and their motions. When should we
moving magnetic field generates the electric field
expect these fields to radiate away from the electric
moving into new regions, and this electric field is
particles from which they originate? An electric
in turn the source of the moving magnetic field.
charge at rest has only a Coulomb field around it,
A package of moving crossed electric and mag- a field which falls off rapidly (as the inverse square
netic fields thus sweeps itself along as each field
of the distance) and which does not propagate
change continuously generates the other.
away from it. A charge in constant-velocity
In order to make a moving electromagnetic
motion is really no different from a charge at rest
package, we must somehow start the fields out in
(Fig. 31-26). If we walk alongside it, we see the
the right way. Just making some stationary
charge at rest and the field around it is a Coulomb
crossed electric and magnetic fields will not do.
field. If we move past it, or it moves past us,
Unless the fields are moving at the right speeds,
because of the changes of electric flux through
they will not generate each other. We shall have
any region, we shall also see a magnetic field.
a look at the problem of starting a package in the
But this magnetic field is localized in the region
next section. Once the moving package is set up,
of the Coulomb field. So the electric and mag-
however, the speed at which it moves can be
netic fields stay with a charge in constant-velocity
computed from the exact numerical factors in
motion. They do not radiate away.
Faraday's and Maxwell's induction laws. In the
On the other hand, if we accelerate a charge, it
box (page 567) we have worked out the speed that
cannot stay at rest inany dynamical frame of
follows from them. As Maxwell first found, it is
reference in which Newton's laws and the laws of
3 X 10 8 m/sec. All electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetism apply. When we accelerate a
must propagate at this speed.
charge, we have a chance of breaking some electric
We can now see why the existence of electro-
and magnetic fields away from the charge into a
magnetic radiation, and measurements of its speed,
new relation. We may make it possible for some
are such decisive tests of the generation of mag-
of the electromagnetic field to move away as
netic fields by changing electric fluxes. If changing
radiation. Also, when we accelerate a charge, we
electric fields did not generate magnetic fields,
do work. At that moment, we have our only
there would be no electromagnetic radiation at all.
opportunity to feed energy into the electromag-
If they generated magnetic fields in any other
netic fields. We have our only chance to start a
quantitative relationship, the speed of propaga-
pulse of crossed electric and magnetic fields
tion of all electromagnetic radiation would be
moving away. To find electromagnetic radiation,
different.
then, we should look for radiation from acceler-
When Maxwell concluded that electromagnetic
ated charges.
radiation should exist and that it should move at
3 X 10 8
m/sec, the speed of light had long been
known. He therefore suspected that light was
electromagnetic radiation. However, at that time
there was no direct evidence of fight's electrical
character. was not until after Maxwell's death
It
•r- visible
—
radio waves
-*-
micro-
waves •
infrared
A.
— Ji
1
1 ultraviolet
x-ra y»
7-rays
-
*• rS
\ |i ^ i
1 1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 | 1
}\ 1 | II 1 | 1 |
10 4 10* 10 s 10 10 10 l -
10 14 10 16 10 18 f in cycles/sec
10* 10- 10' io- ! 10- 4 io- s 10 -10
io-« X in meters
31—27. The electromagnetic spectrum: this is a continuous range frequency and wave length. The regions with historical names
of radiation spreading from gamma rays to radio waves. overlap, but the names still give a hint of the common sources:
The descriptive names for sections of the spectrum are historical; radio waves and microwaves from electrons moving in conductors;
they merely give a convenient classification according to the infrared from hot objects; visible light from very hot objects;
source of the radiation. The physical nature of radiation is ultraviolet from arcs and gas discharges; X rays from electrons
the same throughout the whole range. In all sections it has striking a target; gamma rays from nuclei of radioactive atoms
the same velocity, the same electromagnetic nature, and the
only difference from one part of the spectrum to another is in
speed electrons on the target of an X-ray tube, we that we shake from them should have this fre-
off
gi\ethem a rapid backward acceleration to bring quency of oscillation. Each radio transmitting
them to rest. X rays radiate away from the region station pumps charge back and forth through its
where the charges are accelerated. On measuring antenna at a definite frequency. It must impart
the speed of propagation of X rays, we find that this frequency to the radio waves which it sends
it also is 3 X 10 s meters per second. out. The oscillating electric field in these waves
In a synchrotron — a machine to supply high- should in turn drive charges back and forth in
speed electrons — electrons of tremendous ener- the receiving antenna at the same frequency. Are
gies are forced around large orbits by deflecting those oscillating currents really there? We detect
magnetic If we look around the orbit, we
fields. the radio signals by tuning an oscillating circuit
see light coming out. Indeed, the energy to which in the radio receiver, and we pick up a particular
we can bring the electrons is practically limited radio station when we have tuned our receiver to
by the energy they radiate in light as they are exactly the same frequency that the transmitter
accelerated by the deflecting magnetic forces. We puts out. The oscillation frequency has been
feed in energy from a huge electrical oscillator carried from the transmitter to us by the electro-
as rapidly as we can, but at some speed of motion magnetic radiation.
of the electrons it is radiated away as fast as we With various circuits and antennas we can make
can supply it. Ordinary visible light is therefore transmitters that will send out radio waves of fre-
an electromagnetic radiation with its origin in quencies from about 10 4 cycles per second to about
the acceleration of electric particles. The coinci- 3 X 10 11 cycles per second. All send out electro-
dence between the speed of light and the speed magnetic waves that travel with the speed of fight.
566 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
collisions of the molecules cause charges in them the frequency of the X ray is not too high, its
to vibrate, emitting electromagnetic radiation of wave length will be about the size of an atom.
higher frequencies than we can produce with Then we can use the regular gratings ruled in
electrical circuits of man-made sizes. crystals by the natural repetitious spacing of the
At still higher temperatures, in arcs and sparks atoms measurement of the wave length.
to get a
for instance, the disturbed atoms emit light — Also, indirect measurements, measurements that
infrared, visible, or even ultraviolet light. The you will be able to understand from the discussion
visible part of the spectrum corresponds to fre- in Chapter 33, agree with the frequencies we com-
quencies of between 4 X 10 14 cycles per second pute from the crystal-grating measurements of
and 8 X 10 14 cycles per second. Here we have wave length. These indirect measurements can be
long passed the region where we can directly extended to still higher frequencies, and they show
measure the frequency, but we can identify the that the X-ray frequencies observed are those we
frequencies in light of a single spectral color by predict from our estimates of the stopping time of
measuring the wave lengths. In this way, by the accelerated charges.
using spectroscopes with the air pumped out, we Finally, at enormously high frequencies, we
can find the frequencies of the ultraviolet radia- come to gamma rays. They are emitted spon-
tions emitted by atoms. These frequencies run up taneously in some radioactive decay processes.
to a few times 10 15 cycles per second. Are these Like fight, they travel in straight lines at 3 X 108
the frequencies that we would expect for the mo- msec and cannot be deflected by electric or
tions of electrons in the excited atoms?
can We magnetic fields. The same kind of measurement
make an estimate by taking an electron running that we use to determine high X-ray frequencies
around an atom of 1 angstrom radius. We assume shows that there are gamma rays with a frequency
that the electron is held there by the Coulomb of 10 21 cycles per second.
force exerted by one positive elementary charge, All these electromagnetic radiations carry
the net charge of the rest of the atom. The fre- energy. When they are absorbed, the body
quency we thus compute is about 2 X 10 15 cycles absorbing them heats up. This means that elec-
per second, in good qualitative agreement with tromagnetic radiation, as we expected, can only
the highest frequencies of light normally emitted be emitted in a process in which energy is supplied.
from atoms. As we assumed at the beginning, the radiating
As well as emitting light, atoms absorb it. An electric and magnetic must be set up when a
fields
atom of a particular kind will absorb light of only force accelerates a charge. The evidence that
certain very definite frequencies. Presumably electromagnetic radiation arises from accelerated
these are the frequencies of the natural motions charges is now overwhelming. Electromagnetic
of the electrons in the atom. The atom is only radiation exists; it is propagated with the speed
tuned to these frequencies and will only respond of light, and it arises from accelerated charges.
ELECTRON! u,\i lit INDUCTION VND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 567
\s a pair of parallel plates are charged up case,and in so doing we shall discover the
a current, the rate of change of electric
meaning of the proportionality constant in
b\
flux between the plates acts magnetically as a the equation above. We consider a small
and the flux will remain the same. To deter- found experimentally in the case of the
mine the constant of proportionality, there- charged parallel plates. In fact, the shape of
fore, we need only make one measurement. the body and the distribution of charge on it
Let us take plates of area 1 meter 2 , with make no difference. The flux away from a
Q = 4.85 X 10 12 positive elementary charges charged body is always given by this relation.
on one and 4.85 X 10 12 negative elementary Other charges in the neighborhood may pull
charges on the other. Then we find experi- the £-field around so that it changes its direc-
mentally that the electrical field between the tion, but the total flux is unchanged.
a • * newtons
i^ 14
, From the general relation between flux and
i
plates is 1.4 X 10" -r
elem. charge
;
Since the
charge we see that the rate of change of flux
field between the plates is uniform, the flux between the plates must be given by
of electric field between them is given by the
times the area of the plates.
A<p E AQ
field It is Airk
At At
2
Pb = i
1-4
„
X .o
I0- 14 —
m newton-meters
j
elem. charge
r Finally, since the rate of change of charge is
Here we have saved out the 27r in the de- have to add up the electric circulation in a
for the induced electric field around a chang- the circulationN 1 A<pe
ing magnetic flux. As we found in Section of B ) 9 X 10 16 m /sec
2 2
At
31-7, that law is the circulation\
'
A>P B /At
of £ } At
E =
2ird Remember that when a magnetic flux changes
toward you, the circulation of £ around it is
Actually, as you can check, both of these
results stay exactly the same including the — clockwise, but when an electric flux change is
sec
X ampere-meter moving along by itself at some speed c.
fields
and
, newtons
elem. ch.
m —= —Xsec
newtons
(elem. ch./secj-meter,
\ By using the induction laws, we shall deter-
mine the value of c.
—
I I U TR0MAGNET1C INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 569
Suppose that the slab contains the magnetic nal fl-field by putting E = cB into the last
/sec 2
is tion of propagation. The relative size of the
E- and 5-fields is given by
contained in Maxwell's induction law.
Furthermore, B' is in the same direction as £ = (3X 10 8 m/sec)5
the original 5-field. and the radiation moves with the speed of
Now let us express B' in terms of the origi- light.
(a) In what direction (clockwise or counter- induced voltage depend on the area of the loop?
clockwise) is when the loop
the induced current (d) If the magnetic field has a magnitude of 1.5
is paper and BC is moving into
in the plane of the newtons per ampere-meter, AB = 10 cm, and
the page about P as an axis? About P 2 1
y
BC = 4 cm, what is the maximum induced voltage
(b) For a given speed of rotation, how would when the loop is rotating about Pi at 19.1 revolu-
the induced currents compare when the loop is /120 \n
tions per second
,
I
—— r.p.s. 1?
rotated about P, and then P2 1
570 ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
3. Draw a graph of the voltage induced in the loop ance of the circuit does not change appreciably.
in Fig. 31-28 as a function of the angle through (a) What is the ratio of the induced currents
which it is rotated, assuming it rotates at constant when a total change of magnetic flux _\^ is made
speed. in second?
1 In 2 seconds?
(b) What is the ratio of the total numbers of
4. What would be the result of keeping the loop in charges moved past any point in the circuit
Fig. 31-28 stationary and rotating the magnetic in each case?
field? (c) If in any such circuit you double the total
flux change, what happens to the total charge
(b) What is the induced voltage when AB is the magnet falls through the loop.
5.0 cm from the left end and moving at 20 cm per (b) Neglecting air resistance, will the accelera-
CHAPTER 32
We already know a lot about atoms — about conceal some valuable contraband goods, per-
their masses and the chemical compounds they haps a large block of irreplaceable platinum
form. We also know that they contain electrons metal, perhaps even several pieces of platinum
which are far lighter than any atom. We can rip which have been distributed around inside. If
off electrons, leaving positive ions of almost the the platinum is inside the hay, we may think of
entire atomic mass, and sometimes we can add the bale as having an internal structure: so much
an electron to a neutral atom, producing a nega- platinum at such and such a point, none in some
tive ion. But what does an atom look like? How other region, and perhaps some in still a third
is it built? About these questions we have said position. With platinum in a bale of hay, it
rather little. would clearly pay us to rip the bale apart and
Much of the early information on the structure comb through the fragments. But it is not so easy
of atoms came from probing very thin sheets of to rip an atom apart in order to see what is in-
matter with moving charged particles. You can side, and we would like to know where the parti-
understand how we use high-energy charged cles that make up the atom are located. So in
particles to probe the internal structure of atoms our model for atomic experiments, we shall now
if you think about the following analogy. For try to find the platinum in the hay without un-
some reason, we suspect that a bale of hay may tying the bale. We therefore get out a rifle and
start shooting bullets through the hay (Fig.
32-1). When a bullet passes straight through,
we can conclude that nothing very massive was
in its way. And since most of the bullets do pass
straight through, we can conclude that most of
the bale is in fact pure hay. From our point of
view, since we are looking for platinum, most of
the bale is just empty. But we are right and the
if
572
EXPLORING THE ATOM 573
radioactive
source
scintillating
screen
alpha-particle "bullets."
shape of the piece of platinum from the angles at
which the bullets ricochet. If there is a big flat
surface of platinum dead ahead of us, the bullets use, for they, too, do not penetrate very far. On
will all ricochet at the same angle. If the plati- the other hand, a probe that passes straight
num has been cast into a sphere, the bullets will through anything will tell us nothing about the
ricochet equally often in all directions around place it has been. Highly penetrating X rays
the original direction of motion. By spraying or the even more penetrating gamma rays from
the whole bale with bullets and looking at all the radioactive disintegration are hard to use be-
ricochets, we can tell a good deal about the posi- cause of this defect. In the early years of this
tions of platinum pieces inside the bale and about century, the most suitable probes for poking in
their shape. atoms were alpha particles. They come out of
Of course, an atom is not a bale of hay with radioactive materials with high enough energy to
hunks of platinum embedded inside. When we penetrate well into an atom; and although they
shoot charged-particles bullets at an atom, we do often pass on through with little change of di-
not expect to get exactly the same kind of infor- rection, they sometimes are violently deflected.
mation that we got from our search for contra- Then we assume that they have hit something
band. Nevertheless, by probing the atoms with relatively massive inside and bounced away.
charged particles and looking at the directions
in which they come back out, we can hope to 32-1. The Deflection of Alpha Particles and
learn a good deal about the inside of atoms. the Rutherford Model of Atoms
In many ways atoms are a lot more regular Fig. 32-2 shows the set-up for an experiment
than chunks of platinum in bales of hay. The to probe gold atoms with high-speed alpha parti-
laws of chemical composition, the characteristic cles. The alpha particles are emitted in radio-
spectra (thesame for all atoms of the same active disintegration of a piece of polonium.
we shall see, the evidence gained
species), and, as This is our gun. As we know from Section 30-
by bombarding atoms with charged particles to 10, it shoots out the alpha particles, which are
probe their depths — all these things indicate doubly charged helium ions, with a speed of
that atoms are built on about one hundred stand- 1.6 X 10 7 meters per second. Some of the alpha
ard patterns: and in some ways these patterns particles pass through a hole, so that we know
are pretty simple. For this reason, with relatively their direction as well as their speed. These
few probing experiments, we can learn a good particles then hit a thin gold foil.
deal about the structure of atoms. On the far side of the gold foil there is a de-
In order to bring back information about the tector of alpha particles, a scintillating screen
an atom, our probes must get in. Con-
inside of such as we used in Chapter 7, or a bank of modern
sequently, other atoms and molecules, which counters which will give us a signal telling us
bounce off the atomic surface, are poor probes. where the alpha particles go after passing through
Also low-energy charged particles are not much the foil.
574 EXPLORING THE ATOM
2 X - X
,
2 X ',«
10 4 vT?
kg/m 3
'
10-' meters.
2X 10 kg/m 4 3
at most we can get onh a few when we disrupt In 1911 Rutherford invented an atomic model
the atom. A gold atom has a mass about 50 which incorporated all these features and in addi-
times that of an alpha particle, and if an alpha tion called only upon the Coulomb force to ex-
particle hits such a mass head on, it should plain the interaction of alpha particles with the
bounce straight back. Let us, therefore, look positive massive atomic core. His model de-
again at the beam of alpha particles passing scribes an atom as a miniature solar system with
through the gold foil. If we look carefully all a core, or nucleus, at the center and a number of
around in e\erv direction, we find that in passing electrons around it. The nucleus is positively
through the gold foil, about 1 out of 10,000 of the charged and carries almost all of the atomic mass.
is actually knocked off its
incident alpha particles The light, negatively charged electrons revolve
original courseand deflected by an angle of more around the nucleus, held by the Coulomb attrac-
than 10 degrees. Every once in a while, one out tion, much as the planets revolve around the sun,
of some astronomical number of alpha particles held by gravitational attraction. Outside the
isbounced out of its course by 90 degrees or more. atom, these negative electrons cancel the effect
The same kind of event happens once in a while of the positive charge of the nucleus, so that the
when alpha particles are passing through the gas atom as a whole is neutral. This means that the
in a cloud chamber. There, if we look at myriads nucleus carries a number of positive elementary
of cloud-chamber pictures, we eventually find a charges equal to the number of electrons.
few which the alpha particles clearly ricochet
in We have already concluded that the hydrogen
from an atom, having made almost an about-face. atom is composed of a proton and an electron
Fig. 32-3 is such a photograph. (Section 29-2). Thus, in the Rutherford model
The alpha particles that are sharply deflected in of the hydrogen atom (Fig. 32-4), the proton is
the gold foil also have made just one violent col- the nucleus, one electron moving
and there is
lision with some part of one atom in the foil. We around it in an orbit. Similarly, the helium atom
can be sure that it is one collision which is im- consists of an alpha particle and two electrons.
portant, because most of the alpha particles pass In helium the alpha particle is the nucleus, and
straight through. Consequently, we know that two electron planets revolve about it.
the chance of even one big collision is and
tiny In the Rutherford model of any atom the di-
the chance of more than one real hit on the way mensions of the nucleus and of the electrons are
through is absolutely negligible. assumed to be very small compared with the over-
An alpha particle which has undergone such a all size of the atom, so that most of the atom's
large deflection has been acted upon by strong volume is actually empty space. In this space
forces. Somewhere atom, therefore,
inside the near the nucleus, the electric field is essentially
there is at least one heavy massive center, and that of the nuclear charge, a Coulomb's-law field
those alpha particles which come right at it inter- whose strength varies as the inverse square of the
act strongly with it. distance from the nucleus. The planetary elec-
To account for these observations any atomic
model must have two features: Because almost
allthe alpha particles pass right through an atom,
most of the atom must be empty of anything but
atomic hay. Because an occasional alpha parti-
cle bounces off backward, somewhere inside the
atom there must be at least one lump of mass with
which alpha particles can interact strongly. In
addition, we would like to associate the atomic
hay with the electrons which are ripped off when
alpha particles pass through atoms and ionize
them. So we are tempted to associate the main
32-4. The Rutherford model of the hydrogen atom. On this
mass of the atom with the positive charge which
scale both the electron and the nucleus are so very small that in
must be present in order that the atom as a whole fact you could not see them at all, even though the linear mag-
shall normally be neutral. nification is 10 9 times.
576 EXPLORING THE ATOM
•
nucleus
the "hill" model of the Coulomb field. The dashed straight line
on the plane below the hill shows the direction in which one ball
fore we build our hill so that above any point on
was originally aimed. If you look straight down on the hill, the
the plane the height is inversely proportional to apparent path of a ball models the path of an alpha particle
the distance r of that pointfrom the center.* moving in the horizontal plane. This path is the dashed curved
With this model, the motion of an alpha parti- line on the plane.
its potential energy equals its original kinetic would miss the nucleus if it were not deflected. The scattering
energy. There it reverses its motion and returns angle 6 is the angle between the original direction and the
direction after deflection.
to the starting point. If, however, we aim the
alpha particle at a point to the right of the nu-
cleus, Coulomb repulsion pushes the alpha parti- cle to the right, changing its direction as it passes
the nucleus (Fig. 32-7). The angle 6 between the
•Actually this mechanical model is a little wrong because
final direction of motion and the original line of
the ball will have some kinetic energy upward which must
be robbed from its kinetic energy in the horizontal direc- flight is called the scattering angle (Fig. 32-8).
tions. But if the ball is rolled slowly, it will never rise The closer the alpha particle comes to the nu-
much and the kinetic energy associated with its vertical cleus, the stronger the Coulomb
feels and force it
motion will be a small fraction of the energy. By choosing
the right speed the model can be made as accurate as you themore nearly that force pushes straight back-
want. ward against the original direction of motion.
578 EXPLORING THE ATOM
Therefore, the scattering angle 6 will increase For the Coulomb force this relation is shown in
when the "aiming error," represented by the Fig. 32-11.
distance b, decreases. Fig. 32-10 shows the corre- Now if we could see the center of an atom and
sponding motions of the ball in our mechanical aim an alpha particle with
complete precision so
model. that we picked our aiming error b, we could
between b and 6 by a direct ex-
test the relation
32-3. Angular Distribution of Scattering periment. However, the alpha particles in the
For particles of the same energy a definite aim- most accurately aimed beam will hit at random
ing error leads to a particular angle of scattering all over a region many times the area presented
under the influence of the Coulomb force from by an atom. Consequently, we must do a
the nucleus. By computing the paths for a num- slightly less direct experiment.
ber of aiming errors, b (or by more elegant Because smaller aiming errors lead to larger
methods), we can plot a graph of the aiming scattering angles (Fig. 32-12) we can take ad-
error b against the resulting scattering angle d. vantage of our uncontrollably poor aim by com-
Whenever a mass moves under the in- this orbit is a possible planetary orbit. If the
fluence of a force that varies as the inverse plane is now tipped slightly, the surface of
square of the separation from a fixed center, the cone is sliced in an ellipse (Fig. 32-9).
the orbit is a conic section : it is a curve which Again we have a possible planetary orbit.
can be made by a plane slicing through the As the plane is tipped farther, the ellipse be-
surface of a cone. If the plane slices through comes more eccentric and the orbit resembles
the cone perpendicular to its axis, the surface the orbit of a comet.
of the cone is cut in a circle. As you know, As we see in Fig. 32-9, when the plane is
32—10. Paths of a rolling ball on the hill model. The ball is error. Note that the smaller the aiming error is, the larger is the
sent with the same energy each time, but with a different aiming scattering angle.
-Q
CO
c
E
scattering angle Q
32—11. A graph of the relation between b and 6 for a Coulomb the nucleus will be scattered through angles greater than 6.
force of repulsion. You can see this same relation in Figs. 32-10 and 32—11.
580 EXPLORING THE ATOM
with less than a certain aiming error b. All these Now we already know how b is related to 6.
alpha particles (and no others) should then be By using the graph of b vs. 6 we can construct a
scattered by more than the corresponding scatter- graph of b 2 vs. 6. Since the number of particles
ing angle 6. Since we can measure experimentally Ne scattered through more than the angle 6 is
the number of alpha particles N$ scattered by proportional to b 2 a plot of b 2 vs. 8 and a plot of
,
more than any particular angle 6, we can then Ne vs. d are the same (except for a factor to adjust
find experimentally whether the scattering is pro- the vertical scale). Fig. 32-15 shows this graph.
EXPLORING THE ATOM 581
NU
i i
IL \
\
I
Na \
1
s \
iw \
\
o
( >°15°30 45°< 0° \
30° 60° 90° 120° 150° 180° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150° 180°
e 6
32-15. A graph of He (the number of particles scattered through 32-16. The solid line is the curve of Ne vs. 6 for a force that rises
an angle greater than 6) vs. 6. The curved line shows what we abruptly. The dashed line connects Geiger and Marsden's
would expect with a Coulomb force. The points in small squares experimental points. The curves were adjusted so that they
represent the data collected by Geiger and Marsden in their coincided at 6 = 120°. No adjustment will make them fit together.
scattering experiments. The insert shows the curve for small
angles on a different scale.
late the paths and find the relation between aim- the measurements of the angular distribution of
ing error and scattering angle for a force which is scattered alpha particles is convincing evidence
zero at large distances from the center of the atom that the scattering takes place in a Coulomb-force
582 EXPLORING THE ATOM
field around the nucleus. But it is not the only from the nuclear charge, about one-ten-thou-
evidence which tells us that the Rutherford model sandth of an atomic dimension. The known
is correct. We
can also use the dependence of domain of the Coulomb force is thus extended
the scatteringon the energy of the alpha particles. by a factor of 10 4 toward the very small.
We can change the energy of the stream of alpha
particles by passing it through a number of thin 32-4. More Information from Scattering
foils. The numbers of alpha particles are hardly There is more information to be obtained from
changed by this procedure, but their energy is re- the scattering experiments. Suppose that we keep
duced, and we can measure the energy of the alpha our source of alpha particles and our detector in
particles coming through the foil. Then, with fixed positions and we change to a leaf of a dif-
the same number of alpha particles but different ferent metal (Fig. 32-17). Suppose that we use,
energy, we can do the scattering experiments one after the other, very thin sheets of different
again. For less energetic alpha particles, the elements (gold, silver, platinum, etc.), choosing
Rutherford model makes a specific prediction the thicknesses so that in each foil there are the
about the angular deflections. The number of same number of atoms in the way of the beam,
large deflections should increase. This number thatis, the same number of atoms per square
goes in inverse proportion to the square of the centimeter of foil surface. Now although the
energy. With forces of other kinds, the change number of scattering centers (the number of
in numbers has a different energy dependence. nuclei) is the same in all cases, we find that the
For example, with an abrupt force, the scattering numbers of scattered particles observed in a given
of an alpha particle is the same at every energy. time interval are very different.
Consequently, we can distinguish one kind of We can easily understand this result if we as-
force from another on the basis of the changes in sume that the nuclei of different elements have
the angular distribution that occur when the different electric charges. For a larger nuclear
energy of the alpha particle is altered. Geiger charge, the force pushing the particle out of its
and Marsden also carried out an experiment to original direction is greater. Therefore, if we
check the Rutherford model in this way. Again, shoot in alpha particles with a given speed and
the experimental results agree with the Ruther- the same aiming error, we expect them to undergo
ford model. In changing the energy by a factor
of 10, they found that the number of particles
scattered into any given range of large angles in- detector
Atomic Atomic
Element Symbol Number Element Symbol Number
Hydrogen H 1 Iodine 1 53
Helium He 2 Xenon Xe 54
Lithium Li 3 Cesium Cs 55
Beryllium Be 4 Barium Ba 56
Boron B 5 Lanthanum La 57
Carbon C 6 Cerium Ce 58
Nitrogen N 7 Praseodymium Pr 59
Oxygen O 8 Neodymium Nd 60
Fluorine F 9 Promethium Pm 61
Neon Ne 10 Samarium Sm 62
Sodium Na 11 Europium Eu 63
Magnesium Mg 12 Gadolinium Gd 64
Aluminum Al 13 Terbium Tb 65
Silicon Si 14 Dysprosium Dy 66
Phosphorus P 15 Holmium Ho 67
Sulfur S 16 Erbium Er 68
Chlorine CI 17 Thulium Tm 69
Argon A 18 Ytterbium Yb 70
Potassium K 19 Lutetium Lu 71
Calcium Ca 20 Hafnium Hf 72
Scandium Sc 21 Tantalum Ta 73
Titanium Ti 22 Tungsten W 74
Vanadium V 23 Rhenium Re 75
Chromium Cr 24 Osmium Os 76
Manganese Mn 25 Iridium Ir 77
Iron Fe 26 Platinum Pt 78
Cobalt Co 27 Gold Au 79
Nickel Ni 28 Mercury Hg 80
Copper Cu 29 Thallium Tl 81
Zinc Zn 30 Lead Pb 82
Gallium Ga 31 Bismuth Bi 83
Germanium Ge 32 Polonium Po 84
Arsenic As 33 Astatine At 85
Selenium Se 34 Radon Rn 86
Bromine Br 35 Francium Fr 87
Kryoton Kr 36 Radium Ra 88
Rubidium Rb 37 Actinium Ac 89
Strontium Sr 38 Thorium Th 90
Yttrium Y 39 Protactinium Pa 91
Zirconium Zr 40 Uranium U 92
Niobium Nb 41 *******
Molybdenum Mo 42
Technetium Tc 43 Neptunium Np 93
Ruthenium Ru 44 Plutonium Pu 94
Rhodium Rh 45 Americium Am 95
Palladium Pd 46 Curium Cm 96
Silver Ag 47 Berkelium Bk 97
Cadmium Cd 48 Californium Cf 98
Indium In 49 Einsteinium . E 99
Tin Sn 50 Fermium Fm 100
Antimony Sb 51 Mendelevium Mv 101
Tellurium Te 52 Nobelium No 102
La.* ,
EXPLORING THi: ATOM 585
17
Similar results arc obtained for the nuclei of the in about 10 sec, as an electron would if it
other elements. Alpha-particle experiments there- started from rest at the outside of an atom, an
fore also bear out Rutherford's hypothesis that electron spiraling in while radiating away its
_
the nucleus is a minute heavy speck. energy should take about 2 X 10 " sec to get to
the nucleus. This time is still far too short to
32-5. Troubles make the atom look stable at the dimensions
Looking back what we ha\e learned in this
at we know. Consequently, Rutherford's model is
chapter, we good reason to be pleased with
find not consistent with our knowledge of the process
the new insight that we seem to have gained. of electromagnetic radiation.
The Rutherford model, describing the atom Atoms do emit light, and that light must come
as a tiny but massive positively charged nucleus from the accelerated motion of the charge in the
surrounded by a number of
electrons, seems atom. Therefore our whole picture of the atom
Moreover, we have learned
essentially correct. is clouded by the conflicting demands. The
how to measure the charge on the nucleus and emission of light is consistent with the Ruther-
how to estimate at least an upper limit for its ford model — but it also destroys that model,
"radius." Knowing the charge of the nucleus, we for the atoms should all shrink to nuclear dimen-
also know the number of electrons which com- sions long before we can blink at their light. The
plete the atom. normal atom should have the electrons stuck in
And yet. as we continue our study, our com- the nucleus into which they have fallen. But this
placency begins to be shaken. Suppose, for ex- is in direct conflict with the evidence of alpha-
ample, that in an effort to determine the size of particle scattering and with the size of atoms as
nuclei, we bombard them with faster and faster seen in collisions in gases and in their packing in
alpha particles. The distance of closest approach and liquids.
solids
decreases. When becomes smaller than the
it The more we probe into these questions, the
nuclear radius, deviations from the simple scatter- more we become aware of serious troubles. Let
ing laws should appear. Since the particles that us consider for simplicity the hydrogen atom,
come closest to the nucleus are those that suffer consisting of a single proton and a single electron.
largest deflections, the theoretical scattering distri- The frequency of the light emitted by the atom
bution should fail at the largest angles first. This, should be related to the number of revolutions
however, is not always in agreement with the ob- per second of the electron around the nucleus.
servations. Deviations from the computed scatter- But the period of revolution depends on the
ing law occur for sufficiently high energies of the diameter of the orbit, just as in the case of the
alpha particles, but when they do, often small planets in the solar system (Chapter 22). Elec-
angles as well as large angles are affected. trons rotating in a smaller orbit have a shorter
An even more serious flaw in the Rutherford period and therefore should emit light of a higher
model becomes evident as soon as we start con- frequency than electrons rotating in larger orbits.
sidering the behavior of the electrons. In the As an electron emits light, its energy must de-
atom, as imagined by Rutherford, the electrons crease. Therefore, the diameter of its orbit must
move around the nucleus like planets around the decrease and the frequency of the emitted wave
sun. In fact, under the urging of the Coulomb must increase. A light source contains a huge
force, they can avoid falling immediately into number of atoms, and many are emitting light
the nucleus only by continuously revolving at one time. Some of these atoms are at one stage
around it. This motion is an accelerated motion, in the process of light emission, and some at an-
and therefore should be accompanied by the other. Consequently, the source should be
emission of electromagnetic waves. But the emitting light of practically all frequencies. Thus,
electromagnetic waves drain away energy. So, hydrogen gas made to glow, for example, by an
likean earth satellite which loses energy in the should emit a continuous spec-
electric discharge
atmosphere, the electrons must spiral into the trum of light. In contrast to this prediction, spec-
nucleus. By imagining that they move like tral analysis of the hydrogen light reveals a
planets, we have only stretched the time for elec- number of sharp "lines" —
that is, a number of
trons to fall in. Instead of falling into the nucleus separate wave lengths or frequencies. (Chapter 7.)
586 EXPLORING THE ATOM
These and other difficulties cannot be solved the electrons spread through the far larger
by a mere revision of the atomic model. The un- atomic volume. What changes is the very basis
derstanding of atoms requires a revolutionary of dynamics. Newton's mechanics must be re-
change in all our basic physical concepts. The placed by a more subtle quantum mechanics —
new physics born of this revolution forms the a mechanics which includes Newton's as a special
subject of the next chapters. In that new physics case, as an approximation good enough for the
the Rutherford atom is vindicated. The tiny, world of bulk motions but startingly inadequate
but massive, charged nucleus remains. So do in the atomic world.
1. Suppose you have a large collection of small steel (d) Would you expect this new effect to be
balls which you can fire at different targets in more noticeable with low-speed bullets or high-
turn. You cannot see the targets directly, but speed bullets?
you can observe the paths of the balls before and
after striking. In each case below, tell what you
3. In a scattering experiment using gold foil, 4 alpha
know about the targets from the behavior of the particles in 10,000 are scattered through an angle
balls. The balls are all fired at the target in the
of more than 5°.
same direction.
How many
(a) particles would be scattered
(a) All the balls bounce off the target with
through more than 5° if we doubled the thickness
angle of reflection equal to angle of incidence.
of the foil?
(b) All the balls bounce back, but with no defi-
(b) If we made the foil a thousand times
nite relation between angle of reflection and angle
thicker?
of incidence.
(c) all of the balls go through the
Practically
target, but a few are lost in it. 4. (a) To
construct the curve of b vs. 6 for an abrupt
(d) All the balls are lost in the target. force draw a
fairly large circle to represent a
(e) The paths of all the balls cross after re- plane cut through a rigid sphere, and measure the
flection at a point in front of the target. scattering angles for various aiming errors. (As-
sume the angle of reflection of a ball hitting the
surface equals the angle of incidence. Why?)
2. You have a wall made of cubical bales of hay,
(b) From your curve of b vs. construct a graph
each 2 meters on a side, with a platinum ball of
of .V vs. 6 and compare it with Fig. 32-16.
radius r somewhere inside each bale. The wall is
(c) Explain why this relationship is independent
4 bales thick! Machine-gun bullets are fired at
of the energy of the particles fired at the sphere.
the wall so that they spread uniformly over a
large area covering many bales. If a bullet misses
the platinum goes straight through; if it hits
it 5. From the graph in Fig. 32-15, determine the ratio
a platinum "nucleus" it bounces away and is not of the number of particles scattered through an
c
recorded by the "counter" at the other side. The angle greater than 15 to those scattered through
platinum "nuclei" are not exactly one behind the an angle greater than 22.5°.
other in the line of fire, so that they do not shield
each other from the rain of bullets.
6. Suppose we wish to probe the interior of atoms
(a) A counter on the far side of the wall
with light waves.
records that 314 bullets out of every 10,000 fired
(a) What is the wave length of X rays?
fail to come straight through. Estimate the
(b) What size would a nucleus have to be to
radius of the nucleus.
reflect them?
(b) If 4 times as many bullets (1,256 bullets per
10,000) fail to get straight through, what would
be your estimate of nuclear radius? 7. Three experiments were done with the same alpha
Suppose the platinum was replaced with equally particle beam, the same counters at the same
hard and massive steel, and the bullets were positions, and different foil targets. Five counters
strong steel magnets. Then an attractive force were arranged with respect to each target and the
would be felt outside the nuclei. beam to count particles scattered by the angles
(c) Would you expect this change to increase given in the table. The time interval of counting
or decrease the number of bullets that do not go was the same for all three experiments. The foils
straight through? were designed so that the beam passed through
FXPLOR1NG Till- ATOM 587
the same number of atoms per square centimeter 12. (a) What traction o\' Us energy is lost by an alpha
'ess of which target was used.
-
The results panicle in a head-on collision with an electron?
presented in the table below give the numbers of (The mass of an alpha particle is about 7,200
particles scattered into the same range of scatter- times that of an electron.)
ing angles. For example, the count at 30° includes (b) Approximately how many such collisions
all particles scattered in any direction in the range must occur before the energy of the alpha particle
between 29" and 31°; the count at 60°, all those is reduced by per cent. 1
is 10" 1 ' m? When it is 10" u m? alpha particle in problem 14 was 10~ 13 m, what
was its speed at this point?
(b) At what speed was it moving toward the
-12 nucleus at that point?
9. An alpha particle whose kinetic energy is 10
joules is scattered by a gold nucleus.
CHAPTER 33
With the Rutherford model, classical physics give an account of experiments, some actually as
went as far as it could into the understanding of they were done, some only illustrative of what
the atom. The troubles discussed at the end of might be done, in which the wave picture was
the last chapter made it clear that only funda- subjected to a new kind of test.
mental new ideas about the principles of physics That test was to see what light did to the atomic
could carry us further. But the troubles un- structure of matter. In the Millikan experiment,
covered by the Rutherford model were by no discussed for a very different purpose in Section
means the only nor the first indication that funda- 28-5, X rays — high-frequency light — expel in-
mental changes were needed in physics. At the dividual electrons from tiny specks of matter. A
end of the last century, the successes of the good many tries were made of a related experi-
classical wave theory of light were tempered by
troubles similar to those met by the Rutherford
model with regard to dynamical laws. With a
series of new discoveries, including the photo-
electric effect, X rays,and radioactivity, the new
physics began. Although this new physics was
to make a revolutionary change in dynamics, the
original clues to this change came from the radia-
tion of light and its interaction with matter.
We now shall examine the experimental evi-
588
i
(b)
weak light strong light
6 * E
.2.
Z
o
suddenly, and watch for the first speck to start upward. This ejects electrons more quickly than the weak light, but even in
time is then recorded. The graphs show the results of many weak light, some electrons are ejected with no appreciable
such time-lag measurements. In (a) the experiment was done lag. Experiments of more advanced sort have pushed this
8
with weak light; in (b) with much stronger light. Everything minimum lag time down below 10 seconds.
ment: a kind of Millikan experiment in which begin to lose electrons. With stronger light, the
\ rays or ultraviolet light from an arc lamp falls loss should come sooner: with weak light, later.
upon large numbers of specks of material drifting The actual result is astonishingly different. In-
between a pair of charged plates (Fig. 33-1). We stead of a definite wait, after which all the specks
ask what the wave picture of light predicts about begin to lose electrons, it is found that a speck or
the ejection of electrons from the tiny specks, two may jump immediately. These jumps show
and compare the prediction with what actually that the specks have already lost electrons and are
happens. now moving like the Millikan spheres under the
When light — that is, electromagnetic radiation influence of the electric field between the plates.
— shines on a speck of matter, the electric field The first specks to jump may be found anywhere
in the light wave pushes on the electrons in the in the beam. After them others will jump one —
atoms. If an electron is ejected from an atom, here, one there, with no particular pattern. After
its ejection must be an effect of the electric field a while most of the specks will have lost electrons,
which forces it out of its normal motion within the but in a quite random way. Some may have lost
atom. (You may want to figure out why the several electrons; a few will have lost none at all.
magnetic field is not important for electron If the light is made weaker, the waiting period
ejection.) is sometimes no longer. If the light is stronger,
Now, the electric field is rapidly changing in the wait is sometimes no shorter. We can make
time, but at a given instant it has the same strength the specks as similar as can be, use our best iden-
everywhere along the front of the electromagnetic tical spheres, and yet the individual specks behave
wave. When such a wave hits an atom, therefore, differently (Fig. 33-2). Only the average behavior
it starts to shake the electrons. Since the wave seems to be what we expect. On the average the
looks the same over a large region of space, it specks will lose electrons as well in one part of a
shakes electrons in the little specks of matter in uniform light beam as in another. On the aver-
the same way at almost exactly the same time all age, more electrons are driven out in one second
over the region between the plates. If the light is by strong than by weak light; but this refers only
weak, it will take the light wave considerable time to the average over many specks and many trials.
to shake any electrons loose. Then, since there In any particular case, how long it takes the first
are many electrons in identical atoms pushed in speck to respond seems to be a matter of chance.
the same way by the electric field of the light Once in a while, even the weakest light will cause
wave, a large number of electrons should be the immediate loss of an electron ; once in a while,
ejected at almost the same time. We thus expect even in the strongest beam, you will wait a fairly
to see, for rather weak light, a time during which long time to see the first electron removed. The
nothing happens. Then, at one time all over the whole nature of this result seems to belie our well-
front of the light beam, individual specks should founded view of the smooth oscillating wave front,
590 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
V
(a)
3
8
9
©
__©___
33-3. The close analogy between bullets fired in a random follow the start of firing. With many rifles firing (b), the "beam"
volley at a set of targets, and a light beam ejecting electrons. is intense. Hits become frequent, and on the average you wait
If the volley comes from only a few guns (a), the "beam" of less time for the first one. But the first hit might come no sooner,
bullets is weak. Most of the time, you would wait a long time or even later, than an early first hit in a weak beam. Just
to see a direct hit. But occasionally a lucky hit would immediately which target would be hit next, of course, is a matter of chance.
everywhere uniform and moving in phase, dis- photons are the bullets or particles of light; and
placing electrons in every speck by the cumulative when they hit a speck of matter, they may eject
action of the varying electric field. an electron.
The predictions of our picture of electromag- Our experiment directly detecting the ejection
netic waves do not we know of
fit the facts, but of electrons by a light beam is not the only means
another simple model, long discarded, which we of displaying the grainy character of the beam of
can now revive. Suppose that instead of the light. A photographic plate bears a layer of very
smooth plane wave front, the beam of light is small crystals, each one of which can be changed
represented by a collection of fast-moving tiny by the impact of light into a form which the
particles, like a volley of bullets or an air-driven developer solution can blacken. The image is
blast of sand (Fig. 33-3). In such a beam, a speck not formed smoothly, but by the random accu-
would be hit squarely by a single particle of light mulation of blackened grains. This process is too
only by chance. The hits would appear now here, complex to lead us to interpret light from it alone
now there, over the whole of the beam. The — the film grains differ in their atomic constitu-
moment when the first speck was hit would also tion, for — but adds support to the
example it
be a matter of chance. Even if the beam was direct electron-ejection experiment. With other
weak —
with only a few particles crossing a given devices using ejection — the photoelectric the cell,
area in a second —
it might happen that a particle television-camera image tube — one can watch
of light strikes one speck immediately after the an image being formed point by point by light.
beam is turned on. On the other hand, in a In very weak light, the successive "hits" are so
strong beam, the dense rain of particles might slow that the eye can easily follow them. The
fail to make any direct hit for a noticeable time. image, whatever it may be, is painted slowly by
Only on the average would it be true that in a the accumulation of random hits, which gradually
strong beam the first hit would come soon, and pile up, many wherever much light falls, few
the others follow in rapid sequence. This picture wherever the illumination is weak. Only when
gives an accurate and convincing description of very many particles of light have struck every little
the way light really ejects electrons from the little area — in a strong beam, quickly, or in a weak
specks of matter. beam after sufficient time — does the accumula-
On this picture light comes in grains. It arrives tion become so dense that all trace of its grainy
in little bundles which we shall call photons. The structure is lost.
PHOTONS \N|) M \1 II K \\ WIS 591
a
tion of individual events, all going on b\ chance,
[a]
L C R
but some of them more probable than others, will
form in the end a regular and smooth pattern.
There is no substitute for actually performing an
experiment in which \ou watch meaning emerge after 10 draws
from what appears to be a sequence of wholly
51
meaningless and sporadic e\ents. It is not prac- 43
tical to simulate the myriad grains of light which
form good photographic image, but we can
a
consider a crude pattern formed by a smaller
(b)
number instead. after 100 draws
Suppose the bombardment of some receiving 618
plate b\ a light beam results in the bar pattern of
Fig. 33-4 (a). More of the "grains" of
light must
tional to the total number of hits expected: say, ference fringes. In (b) the same pattern has been graphed,
3 marked marked C, and 6 marked R. This
L. 1
showing how the light intensity varies with position. In (c) we see
plots of an analogous experiment in which a similar pattern is
fairly expresses the assumed probability of a hit
built up by random chance draws from a collection of cards
in each of the three places we distinguish. Now whose probability of draw has been correctly adjusted. The
draw a single card blindly from a well-shuffled patterns made with more and more individual draws come closer
mixture. Read what it is. then put it back, re- and closer to the expected pattern, beginning with an apparently
shuffle, and draw again. Do this over and over disorderly arrangement showing no resemblance to the final
very rarely by a remarkable accident. Later on, pattern and also the irregular fluctuating build-up
the pattern will begin to emerge, and if you are of the pattern that can actually be observed.
patient enough draw several thousand times,
to It is just for this reason that the finely detailed
the pattern thus randomly built up is almost sure images caught by aTV camera or a photographic
to be regular as anv graph you could deliberately camera can be formed only in sufficient light.
construct. The results of one such experiment The inviolable minimum of light needed is set by
are plotted in Fig. 33-4 (c), and your own experi- the graininess of light. No matter how sensitive
ment should give you a still better idea of how such the receivers of the light may be, the image cannot
patterns can arise. Of course, the grains of light be made unless there are enough of the light
are not cards: we are not really experimenting packets to form it accurately. It is striking that
with light, but w ith the laws of chance and prob- the effects of the intrinsic graininess of light have
ability. But many experiments have demonstrated been demonstrated to occur for the eye just about
that the formation of images by light follows in at the dimmest light which a man can see. Our
592 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
smoked photographic
needle
glass plate
' ^fr^T^^/y
Ifc"
pattern was correctly given even if only one photon was present
in the apparatus at a time. He found good, sharp fringes in
the shadow of o needle cast by light from a slit, even when that
posed plate. Finally, he made an exposure lasting
lightcame from a dim gas flame through such absorbers that a couple of months (which, the story goes, he spent
an exposure of three months was needed. sailing). Even on this plate the diffraction bands
were perfectly clear, though he could show for this
very faint light that only one photon — one of the
eyes are developed about as far as any light re- packets of light — was in his box at a time. Inter-
ceivers working with the same size of lens, the ference therefore takes place even for single
same time of response, and the same band of wave particles of light. It works for every single
lengths can possibly be. They have reached very photon.*
close to the natural limit. Taylor's experiment is not the only experiment
that points to this conclusion. There are many.
33-3. Graininess and Interference Nowadays a photo-cell working an amplifier can
In weak light we find the individual effects of make the arrival of the photons audible. It is
grains. Little bundles of light come along at ran- interesting to hear the clicks which signal the
dom, now here and now there, arriving in greater painting out by individual photons of a two-slit
number where the intensity is higher and in smaller diffraction pattern. While you watch and listen,
number where the light is weaker. This grainy the pattern formed by photons coming in one
is
picture of light is far different from our usual view by one. All interference experiments work this
of waves. It seems to have nothing to do with way: the photons come one at a time. So we are
interferenceand diffraction. Can it be that the forced by direct experimental evidence to believe
wave properties demonstrated so clearly in inter- that wave behavior applies to individual photons.
ference experiments apply only to strong light, What do we mean by the wave behavior of an
where somehow the many individual "grains" individual photon? We shall have more to say
of light interact one with another to produce the on this by no means simple point. For the mo-
wavelike results? Or do the patterns built up by ment, we shall be satisfied to say that the electro-
weak light also show interference? This question magnetic wave must somehow fix the probability
was directly tested fifty years ago by Geoffrey of appearance of a photon. Where the field in
Taylor, a young student at the University of the wave is strong, there we shall very probably
Cambridge, who later become Sir Geoffrey for find photons; where the field is weak, photons
his lifetime of successful work in physics. will occur with small probability; where the field
33—6. The cloud chamber shows the absorption of photons, the photograph. Notice the similarity of all the short photo-
one by one, and the weakening of the beam as photons are electron tracks. The "light" is actually an X-ray beam of wave
removed. The photons enter from the left, and are absorbed length about 0.2 angstroms. (W. Gentner, H. Maier-Leibnitz
by the argon atoms of the gas. They eject photo-electrons, and W. Bothe, "Atlas Typischer Nebelkammerbilder," Springer
whose tracks acquire little fog droplets, which show white in Verlag, Berlin, 1940.)
vanishes, no photons occur at all. When it inter- Each electron makes a track of about equal
acts with the photographic emulsion or the photo- length wherever it may start. So each of the
electric cell, no single photon is spread out over emitted electrons must have had almost the same
a whole interference pattern. The photon hits at energy. From this point of view all the events
a definite place. But for each photon, the prob- are the same. And in particular each photon that
ability is highest that it will arrive where the causes an event is the same. A weaker beam
interference pattern is most intense. The proba- means fewer photons, rather than photons of
bility of arrival at a region of half that intensity different energy. When we study the energy
is half as big, and so on. The probabilities of balance more closely we find that the energy is
arrival for each photon have just the pattern of conserved in each individual event, and we again
the intensity of the interference fringes (the bright check that a weaker beam only means less
and dark interference bars). So when many photons.
photons have arrived, the interference picture is Such a cloud-chamber study cannot be made
painted out by their cumulative effect. with photons of visible light. In the experiment
shown in Fig. 33-6, X rays were used, forming a
33-4. The Photoelectric Effect beam of electromagnetic radiation of wave length
Where a photon hits, and when it arrives, are only a few tenths of an angstrom. At this wave
matters of probability. On the other hand, a length the individual process is then made obvious.
photon behaves every single time, and not on
just With X rays of shorterwave length the photo-
the average, like a particle of definite energy and electrons are knocked out harder and the identical
momentum. nature of the individual events is even easier to
This is shownby watching the ejection
directly see.
of an electron by a photon, not from a speck of The use of a beam of ultraviolet light allows a
matter, but from a single atom. In Fig. 33-6 a more detailed, if a less direct, study of the process
beam of photons coming from the left strikes the of ejection of an electron by light. This process is
gas in a cloud chamber.As the beam penetrates, called the photoelectric effect. It can occur at a
here and there a photon ejects an electron from metallic surface, in a liquid, or in the individual
an atom of the gas. The little clusters of water atoms of a gas.
drops form at the place where the electrons come To study the photoelectric effect, we can use a
out. After a while the beam of photons is simple device (though not an easy one to build).
noticeably weakened; indeed, for each electron It is a glass bulb, evacuated to a first-class vacuum,
produced, a photon has been removed from the with two small and really clean copper plates
beam. This can be verified by watching the pho- mounted inside (Fig. 33-7), and two leads for
tons penetrate so far into the gas that the original electrical connections to the plates. We apply a
beam has all but been absorbed. The energy of potential difference of several volts between the
the beam of light has passed into the gas. In fact, plates, and shine on the inner surface of one
light
most of that energy appears as the kinetic energy plate. If we positive plate, no
illuminate the
of the ejected electrons. measurable current will flow within the vacuum.
594 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
3-2-1
1
are picking up all the photo-electrons ejected tween the plates for a given kind of light. Note that the current
(Fig. 33-8). Now we can turn the voltage down does not stop until the receiving plate is a volt or so negative.
This value is the cut-off potential Vc .
potential difference, the Evencurrent stops. If we plot the results of a series of experiments
stronger light (if the wave lengths remain un- with light beams of different colors, a simple and
changed) will not restore any photo-current. fundamental relation emerges. It is shown in
None of the photo-electrons have enough energy Fig. 33-9, where we plot the cut-off potential
to cross between the plates against this retarding against the frequency v (rather than the wave
potential difference. We call it the cut-off poten- length) of the light.* For any particular sub-
tial. (See Fig. 33-8.) stance, the curve of cut-off potential difference
The cut-off potential V c is a means of studying versus frequency is a straight line with a slope
the energy imparted in each single act of electron which we shall call /?. And this slope h is the
ejection. The cut-off potential difference, meas- same for all materials. Only the intercept, B,
ured in joules per elementary charge, times the changes from one material to another. Conse-
one elementary charge of each electron tells us quently, the graphs for all substances can be
the energy that must be taken from the fastest described by the relation
electrons to stop them from going all the way
£ = el (1 elem. charge) X V = -B c + hv,
across from one plate to the other. It therefore
tellsus the maximum kinetic energy E t.\ with where h is always the same, B is constant in any
which these photo-electrons are emitted: particular experiment, and v is the frequency of
the light which changes with the spectral color.
Ed = (1 elementary charge) X Ve
*In modern physics the frequency is almost always repre-
With the cut-off potential as a tool, we can
sented by the Greek letter v (read nu) rather than by the
measure the maximum kinetic energy of the letter/. We shall follow this standard practice through-
photo-electrons ejected in a series of experi- out the rest of the book. When you read modern physics
in other books, the symbols will then be familiar to you.
ments on light beams of different colors. When
For example, the relation between the speed of light, its
we are at the cut-off potential difference with frequency and its wave length is written c = p\, meaning
one wave length, we find that we can always just the same thing as c =/Xwhich you used in Part II.
596 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
"o
M
.£ E
"5 a>
II
*
1
o
a. i
ifc2
o
12 ^
3 4 5
Frequency i> in
6
10 14 cycles /sec
7 8 1
-i
»
u ^ Note: This
=
graph shows that
t Eei 1 elem ch X Vc = -8 + hf
33—7, augmented by the use of various light sources and energy hv is transferred. Some of this energy is
filters of different color. The cut-off potential difference V,. needed to bring the photo-electron out of the
is plotted against the frequency V of the light used. surface. That becomes the threshold value B.
Here we see that the experimental information Photons with less energy than that value can
clearly distinguishes between the role of the light eject no electrons. But if a photon has more
and the role of the photoelectric surface. The energy than the threshold value, the surplus
surface is represented solely by the term —B, appears as kinetic energy of the emitted electron.
which is the intercept of the photoelectric curve Not all electrons come straight out of the metal
indicated on the left in Fig. 33-9. This term is surface; some go more deeply into the metal,
independent of the light, for we can change the and never come out at all. Others come out
frequency v as much as we like without influencing by indirect paths, having lost some energy in
it. Consequently, it only contains information atomic collisions on the way out. A few come
about the nature of the surface. On the other nearly directly out with the full surplus of kinetic
hand, the light is described by the term hv, which energy donated by the photon; these are the
is always the same for light of the same frequency. electrons which still flow when the retarding po-
(Because the slope h is the same for all substances, tential difference is not quite so great as the cut-
this term has nothing to do with the nature of off value.
the photoelectric surface.) This term tells us in The photon interpretation of the photoelectric
what way the photon carries the information effectwas first given by Einstein in 1905, and the
about the frequency of light. Each photon is equation we have found which represents the con-
able to give more energy to an emitted photo- servation of energy in the photoelectric process is
electron in direct proportion to the frequency, known as Einstein's photoelectric equation. But
that is, £e i
increases with v. the experimental evidence that we used to estab-
On the photon picture we can interpret the lish was not available to Einstein.
this relation
last equation completely. Each photon carries He invented the whole picture on the basis of far
(or perhaps the photon is) the energy hv. When less evidence, and predicted the experimental re-
the photon hits the surface it disappears, and the sults which we have used. In this work Einstein
PHOTONS AM) MM UK WWTS 597
built upon a result obtained b\ Planck. In 1900 the energy £ = hv, which is
The Einstein-Planck relation is the key to the The relation between photon energy and
photon. The proportionality constant h is called the wave length of the corresponding light
Planck's constant, after the great German physi- can be derived as follows:
cist who first proposed this relation in 1900, a few
, _ c _ he _ he
years before Einstein showed that it would clarify
V hv £photon
the photoelectric effect. This constant is directly
he = (6.62X10- 34 joule-sec) X(3xl0* m/sec)
measurable from the last experiment; for as we = 1.99 X 10- 25 joule-meters.
saw in the last section, h is the slope of all photo-
electric cur\es. The result is Also, there are 10 10 angstroms/meter and
=
6.25 X 10 18 ev/joule. Therefore,
h 6.62 X 10- 34 joule-sec.
he = (1.99 X 10- 25 joule-meters) X (10 lu
From the value of h, we can quickly find the
angstroms/meter) X (6.25 X 10 1H ev/joule) =
energy of ordinary photons. Visible light has a
A
1.24 X 10 4 ev-angstroms.
wave length of about 5,000 or 5 X 10~ 7 m.
(Recall that the A stands for angstroms. Each A This means that
is 10- X
10 10~ 7 m.) Its frequency
m, so this is 5 is
X in angstroms = 1.24 X 10 4
v = \
X
c
= 3
<
5
X 10 m/sec
^ 10"'
X in-7 m
9
~ — ,
6 X im
,
10
.
14
.
cycles/sec.
J
.
— because they are energies high enough to dis- For this experiment we need to observe the motion
turb the electrons within an atom or even to eject of the electron, and wc can do this in the cloud
them. For these energies, then, but not for lower chamber. The electrons arc supplied b\ the atoms
values, photographic chemicals, photoelectric sur- of the gas or by a thin sheet of matter placed in
faces, and the retina of the eye itself are sensitive. the cloud chamber. They do not come to us in
The differences among the "visible" ranges for free form, and the photon must knock them out
such devices are exciting, but they are really rather of the atom. So the energy of the photon must
small. No known photo-surface will respond to be high compared to the energy with which the
infrared light which is even ten times longer in electron is bound to the rest of the atom.
wave length than the limiting response of the Even with photons which are energetic enough
human eye. to remove an electron from the atom, we may not
From the value for the energy of a single pho- get the kind of collision we want to study. Unless
ton, we can number of photons streaming
find the we use an X-ray photon —
a photon of really
by any radiation beam whose total energy rate
in high energy —
we shall see the ordinary photo-
we know. Then it is interesting to compare the electric effect in which the energy of the photon is
total number of photons striking a photoelectric shared between the residual kinetic energy of the
surface with the number of photo-electrons electron and the energy required to break the
ejected. Even for a very good surface, only a few electron away from the atom, the quantity B,
percent of the photons eject electrons. The rest which fixes the photo-threshold. In the photo-
send electrons deeper into the surface, or are electric effect, the momentum also goes partly to
wasted in some other way. Of course, photons the atom, and the momentum conservation does
with less than the threshold energy cannot eject not take place between electron and photon alone.
electrons at all. But if we use much more energetic photons, those
Energy is not all that is transferred from light to of high-voltage X rays or those of nuclear gamma
matter when a photon collides with an atom. The rays, the atomic binding energy becomes small in
hail of photons impacting on a surface transfers comparison. Then the electron is knocked out
momentum as well. From the photon point of with nearly all the energy and all the momentum
view, we must think of the pressure of light exactly lost by the photon. This new process is called
as we think of the gas pressure in the kinetic the Compton named for the American
effect,
*~* -
momentum
«--
momentum up
in its direction
—— equally
of motion.
among
7
the collision, also
some momentum.
carrying off some energy and
In each collision of
the energy brought in by the original photon
accounted for by the energy of the recoiling
this kind,
is
Although the electromagnetic theory of Max- electron and that of the scattered photon. The
well contained no photons, it agrees with the momentum is The momentum of
also conserved.
photon momentum. According to the electro- the original photon becomes the total momentum
magnetic theory, any radiant energy E going in of the recoil electron and of the scattered photon.
one direction should carry the momentum Esc in Fig. 33-10 shows two photographs of recoil
the same direction. Photons of energy hv and electrons which have been given momentum
momentum hv\c "obey" this relation. Conse- when struck by a photon. We see directly that
quently, a large number of photons can lead to the photon has brought in momentum. In addi-
the same effects as a supposedly continuous wave tion we can check the conservation of momentum
of light. by adding up the momentum vectors as is done in
We can verify the photon momentum directly the diagram of Fig. 33-10. The conservation of
when a single photon collides with an electron. momentum checks out in each such collision, and
PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES 599
33—10. The Compton effect. To fhe left are cloud-chamber energy and momentum, goes off in another direction, and ejects
photographs; next are diagrams showing the paths of gamma- a photo-electron from the lead strips put into the cloud chamber.
ray photons and electrons; to the right are vector diagrams This reveals its path, and the measurement of the curvature of
showing the momentum changes. In both sets of pictures a the electron tracks in the known applied magnetic field makes
gamma-ray beam, with energy of around 2 Mev, enters the possible the check on the conservation of energy and momentum.
cloud chamber from below. A gamma ray strikes the mica foil, (Photographs from: Crane, Gaerttner, and Turin, "A Cloud-
and occasionally a Compton recoil electron is ejected, mostly Chamber Study of the Compton Effect," Physical Review, Vol. 50,
near the forward direction. The re-emitted photon, having lost 1936.)
waves in the region of wave lengths from milli- out the glow of a faint luminous source which
meters to miles. We make and detect these waves, sends to our dark-adapted eye a hundred photons
not by using single electrons or atoms, but with on the area of the pupil each second. So for
radio tubes and antennae, through which currents visible light, both the wave and the photon sort of
flow back and forth. And we have plenty of evi- observation is possible.
dence that the wave picture agrees with the facts The photographic plate and the photoelectric
of radio transmission. cell are, like the eye, capable of responding to the
In that range the frequencies are small, relative smooth flow of intense or moderate beams no less
to atomic values. A frequency of a few kilocycles than to the fluctuating and chancy arrival of a few
represents the low frequency limit of radio tech- photons every second. It is for this reason that it
nique, while a frequency of a million megacycles was with the study of visible light, and not in the
is beyond the most advanced radar and micro- study of the long-wave-length portions of the
wave techniques, and lies at the margin of the deep electromagnetic wave spectrum, that the photon
infrared. Yet even these highest radio fre- idea was first conceived and found satisfactory.
quencies, with the tiny atomic constant h, give a As the frequency of light increases and the
photon energy which is really very small. photon energy and momentum rise, the photon
At one megacycle, for example, the photons in description appears more and more dominant.
a radio wave have the energy The photon energy in the X-ray region is large
enough so that single photons are easily detectable.
= (6.62 X 10- 34 joule-sec)(10 6
hv
= 6.62 Xl0- 28 joules.
cycles/sec)
The arrival of a single gamma-ray photon asso- —
ciated with still higher frequency and correspond-
Because there are 6.25 x 10 18 ev /joule, this is ingly shorter wave length is —
energetically a
Among so many photons the average behavior Such a photon produces tens of millions of recoil
that both the photon and the wave description stead we employ the regular atomic patterns of
apply. crystals. For gamma rays, not even crystals will
As we go to higher frequencies, we pass to the work as diffraction obstacles; only the nucleus of
region of visible light. Here the number of a single atom can be employed, and the procedure
photons is large in any light beam that appears has become very indirect.
bright to our eye. Sunlight, for example, repre- We have no choice; electromagnetic radiation
sents a rain of some 10 17 photons per square of every kind must be understood from two points
centimeter per second. In such a burst the in- of view. If we wish to view the over-all pattern it
dividual arrivals of photons are not easily noticed. makes in space or time, we can do so by the theory
At the other extreme, however, we can still make of electromagnetic waves described in Chapter 31.
PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES 601
We can design antennas, lenses, and gratings. corpuscular picture of by no means re-
light is
Thev all function just as the wave theory predicts. stored by the photon. no more true than
It is
But we must admit that we cannot say exactly the pure electromagnetic picture, with its waves
when or where the energv will be transferred to of continuously distributed energy and momen-
the detector or the recoil momentum given to the tum. Light is to be understood fully only by a
screen or to the electron. The wa\e theory gives novel scheme of the kind we have tried to outline.
us only the probability of finding the photon. It
tells only the probability that a photon will 33-8. Matter Waves
transfer its energy and momentum to a given By 1923 the photon lesson was well learned. In
object within a definite time. Here we are subject the next years was learned again
it in a new and
to the laws of chance. The photon cannot be unexpected connection. At about that time, the
pinned down by any wa\e prediction. In an French physicist Louis de Broglie asked the fol-
interference experiment, a particular photon may lowing question. Since light, which we had
occur in any bright bar, and we cannot trace its thought was a continuous wave, has also a photon
path through the slits of the apparatus. But nature, can it be that the particles of matter have
wherever and whenever it interacts, there and then wavelike properties associated with them? De
we can be certain that energy and momentum are Broglie's was little more than pure
proposal
precisely conserved. speculation, but he was able to draw some con-
In the older mechanics and classical physics, we clusions from it. In particular, he could assign
thought that we could know the energy and a wave length to his hypothetical matter waves.
momentum of a particle and at the same time tell Particles of momentum p should have the same
when and where was going to hit. That was
it wave length associated with them as photons of
naive, and the study of the photon was the hard
the identical momentum. X should be - •
Then,
school in which physicists became more sophis- P
ticated in the ways of the world. For photons at within a few years' time, the question he raised
least, when we know the energy and momentum, was settled by a wide variety of experiments.
we cannot do any more than assign probabilities The answer was yes —
there are waves asso-
to the time and place of arrival. These proba- ciated with moving material particles.
bilities follow from the associated wave properties The idea of matter waves came at the same time
of light. We can therefore use only part of the as a number of other theoretical ideas which
ideas that we formerly associated with particles changed Newtonian mechanics, extending and
and their motions, and at the same time we must refining it to fit the facts of the world of atoms.
add new ideas from the wave picture and the Soon it was found that all these ideas fitted to-
probability interpretation to fill out our descrip- gether. Together they form our most powerful
tion of what actually happens. theory, quantum mechanics, which had extended
Sometimes only one of the older pictures is its proper domain over all of physics within a
needed. When many photons take part in any single decade from its birth. Today this theory
detectable change, it is the wave picture alone. is the basis of our knowledge of both matter and
On the other extreme, when a single photon is so radiation. Although the ideas of quantum
energetic that it can easily be observed, and when mechanics can be profitably studied in the light
it has as well so short a wave length that inter- of the improvements on Newtonian dynamics
ference studies are nearly impossible, then the introduced by Bohr, Heisenberg, and other mem-
photon picture is sufficient. But the real nature bers of the Copenhagen school of physics, here
of light is more shows us both wave and
subtle. It we shall penetrate a little way into them by follow-
photon behavior. We have therefore been forced ing de Broglie's wave ideas.
to make a new picture of light, one which com- The most direct evidence for matter waves is
bines some aspects of wave behavior as we pre- the observation that beams of particles are dif-
viously understood it with some aspects of photon fracted. Electrons make elegant diffraction and
or particle behavior. This new picture is forced interference patterns (Figs. 33-11 and 33-12).
upon us, for this is the way the world is. Newton's They are easily controlled; so beams of them,
602 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
region of shadows
region of light
light source
light-intensity pattern
33-11. Electron diffraction compared with the corresponding expected on the screen
fringes made by visible light in the shadow of an edge, (a)
(d)
IMI(»|.i\s \N1) MA1IIR WAN IS 603
(a)
-T (a) With
prism (two
visible
wedges
light, a glass
of glass pointing
bi-
film
region of s
light appears to come from two
overlap
slits Si and Sj. Interference is ob-
served in this region of overlap. At
some places on the photographic
plate, crests that seem to come from
Si arrive along with troughs that
seem to come from Sj, making a
dark fringe. At other places crests
arrive together, making a bright
fringe.
of waves. Both show interference fringes from a biprism — a (Above) The interference pattern
device that takes waves from a single slit as the source and pro- painted by electrons. It has been
duces the effect of waves from two slits. The likeness of the hugely magnified by an electron
patterns obtained with light end with electrons is striking. The microscope. (From: H. Duker,
bending would happen in just the same way if electrons behaved "Lichtstarke Interferenzen mit einem
simply as charged particles; but the peculiarity is that where the Blprisma fur Elektronenwellen," Zeit-
two streams of electrons overlap there are bright and dark schrift fur Naturforschung, Volume
bands just like those of light waves, though on a very small scale. 10A, 1955.)
604 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
33-13 (a). The general idea of an atomic beam experiment atomic spacing, the reflected waves show constructive interfer-
for observing the interference of helium matter waves reflected ence at angles that depend on the wave length. When used
from a grating spectroscope. A beam of helium is directed at this way, the crystal acts for helium waves in the same way that
the surface of a crystal which acts as the grating because of a ruled optical grating does for light. You can measure the
the natural repeated spacing of its molecules. The source of wave length of the matter waves from the angles of constructive
the beam is a slightly warmed box fed with a very small amount interference just as you can measure the wave length of light
of gas. Because of the regular vertical "rulings" made by the with a reflection grating. See Figs. 33—13 (b) and 33—13 (e).
33—13 (b). In the actual experiment the whole apparatus is comes from first-order constructive interference of the waves
in a highly evacuated chamber, constantly being pumped. scattered from atomic rulings perpendicular to those producing
The helium beam strikes the crystal at a low grazing angle to the beams deviated toward A and B. The intensity is measured
increase the amount of reflection. The beam deviated upward along the line AB.
PHOTONS AND MATTFR WAVIS 605
all of nearly the same definite momentum, are mentum. The relation is
33-14 (o). An interference experiment to show the wave flash out. If we rotate the crystal further, reflection will cease and
properties of neutrons. A neutron beam is directed at a salt the neutrons will again go through. The reflection flashes out
crystal mounted so it can be rotated about an axis. At most when the path differences between the regularly spaced layers
angles of incidence the beam will go right through. However, of the crystal give constructive interference for the neutron waves
if we rotate the crystal (keeping the beam direction constant) This is analogous to the thin-film interference described in Chapter
there will be an angle at which a reflected beam will suddenly 19. See Figs. 33-14 (b) and 33-14 (c).
33-14 (b). The line shown dotted is the extra distance traveled must be a whole number of wave lengths. The dotted distance
by a neutron wave that reflects from the second layer of the is also 2d sin 6, where d is the spacing between the reflecting
crystal instead of the first. If the beams from each layer are layers of atoms. Therefore the first flashout should occur when
to interfere to give a maximum reflection, this dotted distance 2d sin 6 = X.
and their own special way of interacting with fractions of their kinetic energy to the crystal.
other particles of matter. Fig. 33-14 shows the These do not make clear the wavelike behavior.
interference maximum of a neutron beam. In the diffracted wave there are to be found only
Neutrons will travel a long way in air, but the those atoms which have behaved throughout the
experiments with atoms and electrons must be process as simple structureless masses, not chang-
done in vacuum. Otherwise the air molecules ing in any way their internal condition. All the
would scatter and diffuse thebeam beyond any particles diffracted into a definite direction ha\e
possible use for sharp measurement. Also, when the same velocity; was directly checked to
this
crystals are used as gratings, the particles pene- verify the point. Every moving particle, as long
trate only very slightly into the solid matter as it behaves as a whole, and has no change
before losing their energy. Only those few par- internally, or in its kinetic energy, diffracts as
ticles which lose very little energy before passing though it has a single wave length given by the
out of the target material can yield a well- de Broglie relation:
marked diffraction pattern. When beams of
atoms are used, most of the atoms which come
back from a crystal surface have in fact been
p
somewhat disturbed internally by their collisions The de Broglie \sa\e length applies to the motion
within the crystal, or have imparted differing of the center of mass of the whole '"particle."
PHOTONS and mai ll R WAVES 607
33—14 (c). The experimental arrangement. A beam of neutrons We plot the neutron count against crystal angle, as measured by
selected to have speed 4.04 X 10 4 meters per second (or a the pointer on the crystal mounting. The flash-out angle is
de Broglie wave length 0.98 angstrom units) falls on the crystal 6 = 10.01". The spacing d for a salt crystal is 2.815 angstrom
from the left. When the beam is reflected, the detector responds units. Compute the wave length. Is it the expected de Broglie
by sending a signal to the counter for each neutron caught. wave length? (Experiment by Prof. Clifford G. Shull.)
33-9. When Is the Wave Nature of Matter its wave nature. Its physical behavior is quite
about 10 centimeters per day, the de Broglie wave why the wave nature of matter took so long to
lensth which results is discover.
To observe effects which show us the wave na-
\
_ 6.62 X 10" 34 joule-sec
ture of matter, we must have much longer de
~ (10- 15 kg)(10- 6 m/sec)
Broglie wave lengths. How could we lengthen
= 6 X 10- 13 m
= 6 X 10- 3 A.
the de Broglie wave length? We can try to reduce
The particle imolved in this sort of motion, which the velocity; but this is not practical. Thermal
is about as small a mechanical system as we might agitation itself limits the slowness of motion which
expect to find outside of atomic physics, has a can in fact be realized. The only other factor we
wave length as short as photon of several
that of a have left to change is the mass; we can take
million electron \olts of energy. Such a photon smaller masses. The smallest masses are the
is a nuclear gamma ray, and its wave length is particles of composed: the mole-
which matter is
one-millionth that of visible light. Even for visible cules, the atoms, the electrons, and the particles
light the wa\e properties are usually unimportant. within the nucleus. As we have seen, their wave
To know where it will go and what shadows it lengths can be long enough so that we can see
will cast, a ray approximation is usually sufficient. their diffraction patterns. Because an electron
The nuclear gamma ray is far more raylike. It is has a mass of only 10 _J " kg, at a reasonable speed
almost impossible to find its wave properties it will have a wave length of the size of an atom.
through diffraction or interference. Similarly, the An electron moving with 90 electron volts of
mo\ing microbe of the same wave length shows us kinetic energy, as we found out in Section 29-2,
only normal particle properties. We cannot detect moves at a speed of 5.6 X 10 6 meters per second.
608 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
33—15. Ripple-tank photographs of waves meeting obstacles. little. On the right there is a large obstacle in the ripple tank.
On the left a small object is located where the waves seem to bend The waves are strongly reflected and there is a definite "shadow"
together. Notice that this small barrier disturbs the waves very region.
Its momentum is therefore have a wave length of this size or smaller. Con-
sequently, we expect that the neutrons and protons
(0.91 X 10- kg) X (5.6 X 10 6 m/sec)
30
in nuclei have kinetic energies of about ten million
= 5.0 X 10- 24 kg-m/sec.
electron volts or more. Even at these energies
Consequently, its de Broglie wave length
about is their wave nature is important as they move about
-10
1.3 X 10 meters, which is in the range of atomic inside the nucleus.
dimensions. A reasonably slow-moving electron The alpha particles emitted from nuclei show
with one electron volt of kinetic energy moves at similar kinetic energies, and their wave lengths are
about a tenth of the speed, and has a wave length also of the same order of magnitude. When we
of about 10 atomic dimensions. Atoms are small use them in scattering experiments, a wave effect
obstacles for such an electron. The associated explains why the whole pattern of alpha-particle
waves can easily diffract around them. (Fig. scattering can be modified at energies at which
33-15.) These examples show that wave behavior the alpha particles get near certain nuclei. The
is essential whenever an electron of small kinetic alpha-particle waves may then diffract around the
energy moves in or near an atom. For these nucleus so that scattering at many angles differs
motions our ordinary experience with Newton's from the Coulomb scattering, although only scat-
particle mechanics is not an adequate guide. tering in the backward direction would be modi-
The situation is the same for protons and fied according to ordinary Newtonian mechanics.
neutrons with respect to the size of the atomic This effect correctly removes one of the apparent
nucleus. The wave length of a proton or neutron troubles we mentioned in Section 32-5 in discuss-
with 100 electron volts of kinetic energy is about ing the planetary model of the atom.
3 X 10 -12 meters. This wave length is large Once again we have found that the atomic world
compared to nuclear dimensions, which are 10 -14 cannot be fully described by the simple models of
meters or less. Consequently, such a neutron the older physics. The little particles cannot be
approaching the nucleus from the outside will followed like so many bullets as they fly about
find it a small obstacle around which it diffracts. within the atom; they obey rather the laws fol-
Neutrons with ten million electron volts have a lowed by waves. The waves determine the prob-
wave length of 10 -14 meters, comparable to the able location of the particles, and the motion of
nuclear size. Consequently, neutrons of this wave trains determines the probable motion of the
energy just get inside the nucleus. A neutron that particles. Where the amplitude of the wave is
stays inside a nucleus, forming a part of it with large, there the particle is probably to be found;
practically no chance of being found outside, must where it is small, there it will be found rarely. But
f
PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES 609
all we can learn is a probability. Exactl) where wave length — are the keys with which we propose
the electrons will be found in an atom we cannot to enter the interior of the atom.
predict. Inside the atom we must be prepared In all that we have said, the analogies between
to use anew version of mechanics which combines the behavior of and matter have been
light
parts of Newton's particle mechanics with the striking. Light behaves both as waves and as
effects of the wave nature of matter. particles — photons. Matter behaves both as
particles and as waves. But the have
similarities
their limitations. There is one sharp distinction
33-10. Light and Matter between a photon and a particle of the sort we
The circle has closed. Waves of light proved to usually think of, between a photon and a little bit
describe the probability of the appearance of cer- of matter. Photons are not conserved in number;
photons: the particles of matter
tain particle-like they are easily created and easily destroyed. To
turn out to be governed bv a wavelike quantity. turn on the light creates photons by the swarm;
Planck's constant controls the magnitudes in- they rush to the walls. Some are reflected, but in
volved in both cases. We cannot follow the path the end all die, giving their energy to the atoms
of a particle through the slits of a diffraction they strike. Energy is conserved, for heat or
grating any better than we can follow the path of a chemical changes will reveal the photon energy
photon. The associated waves diffract and from content, but the number of "particles" is not.
these waves we can calculate probable locations This behavior is sharply different from the be-
of a particle and probable numbers of arrivals. havior of electrons and atoms. Those particles
But. just as in the photon picture, the particles cannot be created or destroyed (not in any com-
transfer energy and momentum in every single monplace way, at least). They are permanent as
collision in thesame way as they are expected to a photon is not. In this sense photons differ very
do from the mechanics of Newton. The wave much from little grains or bullets of matter.
nature does not modify that at all. Therefore, In physics today we regard the wave-particle
whenever the wave lengths are small compared relationship as fundamental for every one of the
to the dimensions of slits or obstacles, small com- objects we deal with on the atomic scale
the main ;
pared to the dimensions of atoms or of measuring distinction betweenand matter is between the
light
instruments, we get results identical with the permanence of particles and easy creation or
predictions of ordinary mechanics. Indeed, it is absorption of photons.
for this reason that we can use ordinary measur-
ing instruments, and it is for this reason that 33-11. What It Is That Waves
ordinary measurements will only allow us to In the ripple tank it is quite plain that the
measure the same quantities which are dealt with "waves" are waves of water. The water moves,
in Newtonian mechanics. the shape of its surface changes, the orderly na-
For all objects of everyday size, or for objects ture of the patterns end the orderly be-
is in the
like the planets, the mechanics of Newton is with- havior of little But in the
masses of water.
out any important error, but if we look with great electromagnetic wave, there is no material chang-
refinement, or if we ask questions on the scale of ing its shape or its motion or its density. The
the atom, the classical physics (as physics before emptiest of vacuums will transmit light or radio
1900 is often called) is found wanting. It remains waves just as well as —
indeed, better than a —
the foundation of physics, because the very instru- region filled with any material we know. The
ments and apparatus with which we measure are waves are patterns of electric and magnetic fields
well understood in classical terms, but it is power- formed in space. In the last century there was for
less to explain the atom. Only the quantum a while a fashion of thinking that the empty space
theory can do that, with its orders of magnitude was filled with some strange substance the —
proclaimed by Planck's constant, and its more "luminiferous" or light-bearing ether and that —
subtle picture of the atomic world. The photon waves of light were motions of that curious
governed in space and time by its electromagnetic substance. Gradually physicists came to feel that
wave of probability, the particle and its matter it added very little to say that space was filled with
wave of probability —
all with the de Broglie ether. We now regard it just as a property of
610 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVHS
space itself that electromagnetic disturbance can every feature of the ripple tank be found in atom
travel within it. "Empty" space is devoid of or in photon.
atoms, of any material things at all, but that no The physicists of the early twentieth century
longer means that we try to think of it as empty who lived through the development of modern
of properties. One of the properties of space is physics found it a magical but a terrible time. It
its ability to carry energy in electromagnetic form, seemed full of paradox: things were both waves
and to support the waves of electric and magnetic and particles, waves of no substance at all, par-
field which we find to make up radio or light. ticles without definite paths through space. The
The same view holds for the de Broglie waves. novelty of combining these ideas in a new, con-
The de Broglie waves are not changes of shape or sistent picture was often mistaken for impossi-
of motion of the electrons whose positional prob- bility.But we have learned that the old models
abilities they describe. They are simply patterns based on experience with matter more or less on
of probability which behave in most respects as our own scale do not completely suit the world
analogies to the waves we studied in the ripple on the scale of the atom. The new picture is much
tank. There is no reason to say that any substance better. The astonishing thing is that we can use a
is waving to and fro. We have been able to show large part of our everyday experience as a guide
that the fundamental properties of the world to the atom. The quantum theory — the com-
resemble some simple models we can build up in bination of wave and particle was— the greatest
the laboratory. But we do not need to carry that of triumphs. For a physics willing to face the
to extremes: electromagnetic waves and matter facts squarelyand to be neither frightened nor
waves are not, as far as we now know, waves of dazzled by novelty, it opened up a whole new
any substance. The wonderful thing is that these domain. How it revealed the interior of the atom
things are so much like the waves we can see in is the topic of the next chapter.
the ripple tank; there is no point in insisting that
1. Take the instructions from Section 33-2. Carry throw a pair of dice a number of
(d) Actually
out the experiment with cards marked L, C, and times. Record the number of times you throw,
/?, and make a graph like Fig. 33-4 (c). (You can the number of 7's that come up, and the number
use any distinguishable cards.) of 2's —
always using the sum of the spots on the
tops of the dice. Watch the distribution build
2. * Make a table showing the various ways the num- up in your record.
bers can come up when you throw a pair of dice. (e) From your record compute the fraction
(Assume you are using one green and one red die.)
Number of throws with 7
The table might start like this:
Total number of throws
Green die Red die Sum and the corresponding fraction for throws total-
1 1 2 ing 2. Compute the values you would expect for
1 2 3 these fractions from your answers to (a), (b), and
2 1 3 (c). Compare your experimental fractions with
these expectations.
4. Look il 1 ig '•'•
c> Divide the photograph into (a) i stimate us frequency
four equal sections aibng the beam of photons, and (b) l stimate the energ) in joules of one photon
count the number of photo-electrons ejected in o\ red light.
each section. Make a rough prediction of the (c) stimate the energ) in election volts of one
1
you expect to see an electron ejected? (b)Suppose photons of 3-meter radio waves
are given to the gas molecules. How many would
(When such an experiment is actually done and :
you like. Draw another graph w ith the same scale region.
for a different photoelectric surface, for example (c) What is the light pressure exerted by the
a metal that requires two or three times as much photons from that bulb when they strike a black
energy to remove an electron. body 2 meters away head-on?
7. Red light has a wave length of about 6,500 ang- 12. The layers of atoms in crystals are known (from
stroms. density and Avogadro's number) to be a few
612 PHOTONS AND MATTER WAVES
angstroms apart, say 3 X 10~ 10 m. X rays from (b) What fraction of the total energy received
ordinary commercial X-ray tubes are found to be by the object becomes its kinetic energy?
diffracted at quite large angles, such as 10°, by (c) What happens to the rest of the energy re-
such crystals acting as interference gratings. ceived by the object?
Make a rough estimate of the energy of photons
in such X rays. A photon of wave length
16. angstrom hits an
1
14. In the three-months experiment described in Sec- when you are finding the direction of the electron's
of the light reaching his photographic plate. He assumption, use conservation of momentum and
found it was 5 X 10~ 13 joules per second. (He conservation of energy to compute the answers
obtained that value by comparing the average asked for.
blackening of the plate with that produced in 10 (b) Calculate the momentum of the photon
after the collision.
seconds by a candle 2 yards away, without any ab-
sorbing screens of smoked glass.) From that (c) Calculate the kinetic energy of the electron
after the collision.
estimate, calculate the average distance between
photons, as follows: (d) Calculate the energy of the photon after
the collision.
(a) Assume the wave length of the useful light
was about 5,000 angstrom units. What energy (e) Is v' very different from e?
did each photon carry?
(b) Calculate from the given flow of energy 17. A narrow stream of 100- volt electrons is fired at
the average time that elapsed between the arrival two parallel slits very close together. The dis-
of one photon and the next. tance between the estimated to be 10 ang-
slits is
(c) From the average time, calculate the strom units. The electrons passing through the
average distance between one photon and the slits reach a screen 3 meters away, and form a
are in the box at any chosen instant?" you would of slits in any real sheet of matter, made of atoms
have to answer "None, most of the time, but on which are themselves 1 angstrom or more in di-
looking again and again and again, you should ameter; and even more impossible to measure
expect to 'see' one photon in the box about once their separation, since light has a wave length of
in so many trials." How many? Assume the thousands of angstroms. Yet the equivalent of
box was 1.2 meters long. this pair of slits can be made —
has been made
(e) On the sameyou might expect to
basis, and used. It is the "biprism" of Fig. 33-12 (b).]
"see" two photons in the box about once in how (a) Estimate the distance between one bright
many trials? (All we want is the order of magni- fringe and the next.
tude.) (b) The
bright fringes would appear as bright
marks on a fluorescent screen sufficiently sensi-
tive to glow when bombarded with 100-volt elec-
15. A stream of radiation falls on the completely ab-
sorbing surface of a small object of mass 10 -3 kg trons (or as dark marks on a photographic film,
that is free to move in space (e.g., sunlight on a or as large pointer readings on some meter at-
small meteor somewhere near the sun). The tached to an electron collector). What is the
stream reaching the object carries energy to it at essential difference between the bright-fringe
a rate of 3,000 watts. Calculate the momentum electrons and those that reach the screen in a
reaching the object in 10 seconds. (Assume, if dark fringe: Are they bigger? More massive?
you like, that the stream of radiation is a shower Of better quality? Of greater charge, or what?
of photons.)
(a) Assuming that momentum and energy are 18. Electrons passing through a double slit (fantastic
conserved, calculate the kinetic energy acquired but possible, as discussed in the previous question)
by the object in 10 seconds, starting at rest. make an interference pattern on a remote screen.
?
If the gun voltage used to provide the original 21. The wave picture of matter describes how a pro-
stream of electrons with kinetic energy is changed ion and an electron are put together to form a
from 50 volts to 5,000, what does this do to the hydrogen atom. We alrcad\ know that the diam-
spacing of the fringes hydrogen atom 10
ctci ol' a is about 10 m.
(a) If we assume that a de Broglie matter wave
19. The atomic nuclei are hard to measure
si/es of one wave length long will just encircle the outside
with alpha particles, because we have to look for of the atom, how large is the wave length?
small differences from Coulomb scattering. Neu- (b) Howbig is the kinetic energy of the elec-
trons are often used. tron has that wave length?
if it
(a) What are the de Broglie wa\e lengths of (c) Compute the potential energy of the elec-
neutrons with kinetic energy 10 4 election volts? tron. It will be negative as measured from zero
10* electron volts? 10s electron volts? when electron and proton are infinitely far apart.
(b) Compare these wa\e lengths with the (d) Compute the kinetic energy of an electron
diameter of a gold nucleus (.15 X 10~ 15 m). circling at that radius and compare your answer
(c) Look back at Fig. 33-15 to see how waves with that of (b).
behaye when they meet an obstacle. Suppose we According to your estimates in (b), (c), and
(e)
CHAPTER 34
far more alike than any Grade A peas. Yet they this ideais important. It can be made by trying
have different histories; different stories of colli- to change the energy of atoms directly by bom-
sions and ionizations and chemical combination barding them with electrons. Can an atom that
liebehind each one. Through it all they remain is hit by an electron take in some energy and keep
one and the same, showing the same spectral lines it as a gain of internal energy? And if so, can it
and making the same chemical reactions with the retain any gain from small to large, or is it limited
same amounts of energy.* The atom may be a to a selection of sharply defined amounts? In
planetary system, but it is a planetary system that Germany in 1914 such a test was made. James
comes in myriad identical copies. Franck and Gustav Hertz performed an electron-
The identity of the atoms, and the stability of bombardment experiment for which they later re-
their internal motions, makes no sense on the ceived the Nobel Prize. This experiment and —
basis of Newton's laws of mechanics. This repeti- the many similar ones that stem from it are a —
tive quality requires a new explanation, a funda- key to the problems of atomic stability and struc-
mental change in the theory. Here a wonderful ture. Here we shall describe an experiment some-
thing happens. The ideas we introduced to make what different from the original Franck and Hertz
sense of photons and matter waves also supply a experiments which gets the same information by
clear and powerful explanation of atomic stabil- closely related means. We choose this particular
ity and atomic sameness. To take account of experiment because it is easier to interpret though
the wave behavior of matter, we must modify harder to carry out.
Newton's mechanics, making it into the newer Like Franck and Hertz we shall use electrons
quantum mechanics. Then we find a way to to bombard the atoms. We can do this by using
understand all that we have yet seen of the struc- an electron gun like the ones we described in
ture of matter. The combined view of wave and Chapters 27 and 28. The electron gun gives
particle behavior covers all we know about na- kinetic energy to the electrons boiled out of the
ture. filament. If the accelerating voltage in the gun
is VA , the electrons leave the gun with kinetic
34-1. The Experiments of Franck and Hertz; energy of one electronic charge times VK volts, or
VA electron volts.
Atomic Energy Levels
When the electrons gun they pass into
leave the
For a planetary system, according to New-
a chamber containing a gas. They enter this
tonian mechanics, motions at all total energies
chamber through a small hole, and the electron
are possible. For an atom, on the other hand, we
gun operates in a good vacuum because we con-
suspect that only a limited set of motions can take
tinually and rapidly pump away any gas that
place. This limitation is suggested by the repeti-
escapes from the chamber into the gun (Fig. 34-1).
tious behavior and by the stability of atoms. The
The chamber containing the gas is made of a
identity of the members of an atomic species
conducting material so it is all at one potential
suggests the same thing.
and there is no electric field inside it which could
If only certain distinct patterns of motion are
change the energy of the electrons. Consequently,
possible, we would expect that an atomic system
any change in the electrons' energy arises because
can take on only the separate total energies cor-
of their interaction with the gas atoms.
responding to those motions. Then there should
Now to investigate what happens to the elec-
be gaps between the possible energies; and in
trons when they collide with the gas atoms, we
that case the internal energy of an atom can be
allow some of the electrons to come out of the
changed only by certain definite amounts of
gas chamber through another small hole leading
energy transferred from the outside.
out on a slant into a second evacuated space.
Are there really gaps between the possible en-
There we measure the energy of the electrons
ergies that an atom may have? A direct test of
which have passed through the gas. We can make
Although the atoms of an element are all alike in essential this measurement with any one of a number of
structure, they can take in energy, as we
shall see, and devices. For example, we can use a magnetic
change to an "excited state." However, unlike a solar mass spectrograph like that described in Chapter
system which would keep any change imposed on it, an
excited atom snaps back to exactly the same original form 30. Then, since we know the mass of the electron,
when it is left alone. the curvature of the electron path in the magnetic
QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS 617
.
J J
it—,; K
that the kinetic
is greater. We
energy of the bombarding electrons
find that the energy of electrons
electron after
reaching the detector is also greater. When we
collisions in gas raise VK from 5 to 6 electron volts, the kinetic
energy measured in the detector rises from a small
insulator
fraction of an electron volt to one electron volt
A^JIHlll/llllll/i more than that. Careful measurements in which
conductor we determine the gun voltage accurately and the
kinetic energy in the detector accurately show that
in their collisions with the atoms the electrons are
losing almost exactly 4.9 electron volts. This loss
34—1. The general idea of an experiment to measure the changes only sets in whenbombarding electrons have
the
in the energy of electrons when they collide with gas atoms.
4.9 electron volts of kinetic energy, and the amount
The electrons pass through a sample of gas (mercury vapor) in the
of the loss stays the same while we increase the
middle chamber. Electrons leave the gun with energy given by
the accelerating voltage. Their energy remaining after collisions bombarding energy through the next couple of
is measured in the right-hand chamber. Note that the opening electron volts. The mercury atom cannot accept
into the energy-measuring region is not in the direct line of the anything less than 4.9 electron volts of energy,
original beam of electrons. This to insure catching only those
is
and even when it is offered somewhat more en-
electrons that have been deflected by collisions.
ergy it still accepts exactly this amount.
However, 4.9 electron volts is not the only
field allows us to determine the energy. Alterna- amount of energy the atom can take in. If the
tively,we can determine the electron's energy by bombarding energy is 6.7 electron volts or more,
making the electron move against a retarding the electrons can lose either 4.9 electron volts or
potential difference and measuring what poten- 6.7 electron volts. On increasing the bombarding
tial difference just prevents the electrons from energy still further, we find other thresholds at
reaching the collector. We could even use time- which greater losses can occur and beyond which
of-flight measurements in the detecting chamber any of several different amounts of energy can be
to find electron speed and therefore kinetic energy. robbed from the electrons. This is the essential
The practical details of these measurements turn property Franck and Hertz looked for atoms can :
out to be difficult and complicated, but despite change their internal energy, but the changes are
the complications we emerge with the knowledge restricted to sharply defined steps.
we want of the energy of electrons after interaction The smallest amount of energy which can be
with the gas atoms. accepted by an atom is called its first excitation
What kind of information do we get from this energy. For mercury the excitation energy is 4.9
apparatus? Let us take a specific example. What electron volts. For helium, which has the highest
happens when we have mercury vapor in the gas excitation energy, the value is 19.8 electron volts.
chamber? As long as the accelerating potential in The lowest excitation energy of all the atoms goes
the electron gun is only a few volts, we find that to cesium, which will accept a bundle of 1.4
the electrons entering our detector after colliding electron volts. Other atoms will also accept cer-
with the gas atoms have almost exactly the same tain definite bundles of energy, and these bundles
energy that is imparted to them by the gun. The are characteristic of the kind of atom.
collisions with gas atoms at this low energy are The experiment we have described is an ideal-
elastic. (In such collisions the massive atoms take we have quoted were collected
ization; the results
a negligible share of kinetic energy.) However, in a number of similar experiments, all of which
618 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
ionization
..
O
mally find the atom before any excitation energy
has been fed into it. Above it lie the various ex-
Dc 6.67
3
separated by gaps. These excited o
cited states,
O)
states are formed when enough energy is supplied 01
> 4.86
ionization
O
by the impinging electrons. Finally, when an B
o 3.87
atom is hit by an electron of sufficient energy, the >^
D
atom is in fact disrupted. An electron is ejected 8 2.3
c
from the atom and a positive ion left behind. IB
1.38
Since the energy of the ejected electron can take on
ground
any value, the atom can accept any parcel of °~"
state
energy larger than the ionization energy.For
mercury, as we have indicated in Fig. 34-2, the
ionization energy turns out to be 10.4 electron 34—2. (a) Some of the energy levels of the mercury atom. In
volts. this diagram the normal "ground state" is taken as the zero of
energy; and we have plotted a few of the amounts of energy
The atoms of many elements have been studied
that the atom will accept, (b) A similar diagram for the cesium
by electron collision. From these experiments, we
atom.
find that every kind of atom has its own set of
energy levels and its own ionization energy. They we usually see many characteristic mercury spec-
identify the atom much as its chemical reactions tral lines, many lines of definite wave length which
or its optical spectra identify it.
identify the element mercury. We have produced
only one part of the normal mercury spectrum.
34-2. Dissecting Atomic Spectra: The experiments we described in the last section
Excitation and Emission tellus that we have succeeded in feeding energy
A completely different means of measurement bundles of 4.9 electron volts to some of the mer-
fully confirms the existence of energy levels. cury atoms in the gas. Only when such energy
While we are bombarding a gas with electrons, we bundles have been transferred do we see any light
observe the light emitted by the gas. At low from the mercury. Apparently the excitation
bombarding energies, we see no appreciable light energy which we feed in from the kinetic energy
emitted by the gas. But when we pass the first of the electrons is radiated as photons by the in-
excitation energy, light suddenly appears. Ex- dividual atoms as they return to the ground state.
amining the light with a spectroscope, we see a (Remember that the ground state is the lowest
sharp line indicating light of a definite wave length energy state, the state in which the mercury atom
and frequency, photons of a single energy. is normally found before the 4.9 electron volts of
With mercury, for example, when the energy of energy are transferred to it by a colliding electron.)
the bombarding electrons passes 4.9 electron volts, If all the energy taken by an individual atom is
in
a spectroscope with which we are observing the gas radiated in one lump, the photons should have
will suddenly show the presence of ultraviolet 4.9 electron volts energy, and the wave length of
light having a wave length of 2537 angstroms. the corresponding light should be*
This strong spectral line is one of the lines by
12,400 ev- A 12,400 ev-A
which the mercury spectrum is recognized. But X = = 2530 A.
this single-line mercury spectrum is most unusual.
E 4.9 ev
From a discharge tube filled with mercury vapor *This expression is derived in the box in Section 33-6.
_
".'—
__ ,-•
1
energy of atom -"-"^
•
L
i"
.
• —
(a). An elastic collision between a bombarding electron "billboards." In this case the electron does not have enough
and an atom. The arrow shows the path of the incoming electron. energy to raise the atom to the next higher energy level so it
The "load" above the electron represents its kinetic energy. scatters off elastically, keeping its kinetic energy.
The atom and its energy levels are represented by the rectangular
(b). Here the electron has more energy. The atom ab- and the electron goes on with only the surplus kinetic energy.
sorbs just the right amount of energy to reach its second level. The collision is inelastic.
(c). The atom is at its second energy level, an "excited with energy equal to the difference in energy between the two
state." In returning to the ground state, the atom emits a photon states.
ing energy, the rest of the familiar lines of the mer- which are above the ground state. Their energy
cury spectrum appear. They enter in groups as differences are smaller, so the photons emitted
the bombarding energy rises successively above have lower frequency and longer wave length.
the thresholds for excitation of higher and higher To make such long wave-length lines, however,
energy states. This procedure therefore allows some of the mercury atoms must first be sent into
us to dissect the mercury spectrum and to see how the higher energy states. To getthem there takes
it arises. more than 5 electron volts. Thus we can explain
Before an atom by an electron, the atom
is hit what otherwise would seem strange: the longer
is in its lowest internal energy state, the ground wave-length lines of mercury consist of photons
state. When an atom is hit by an electron of less of lower energy than 5 electron volts. Yet more
than the energy difference between the ground electron energy is needed to produce them than
state and its first excitation state, nothing happens. to produce the strong line at 2537 angstroms.
A higher-energy electron, however, may transfer The reason is clear: formed by
spectral lines are
energy into the atom. If there is only sufficient the transitions of atoms between particular in-
energy to reach the first excited atomic state, just ternal energy states. And none of the initial
the first excitation energy will be taken from an states required for these long wave-length transi-
electron, and the atom will then radiate a photon tions can be reached from the mercury ground
which helps to make the 2537-angstrom line which state without energy transfers well above 5 elec-
we first saw. Many atoms contribute photons, tron volts.
and each photon has same energy because
the So far in our discussion we have assumed that
each of the individual atoms falls from the first the mercury atoms are normally found in the
excitation state back to the ground state. When lowest energy level, or ground state. This is true
the electrons can supply still more energy, indi- at room temperature. As temperature increases,
vidual atoms can be excited to still higher in- however, the collisionsamong mercury atoms be-
ternal energy states. Then as an atom returns come more violent. At sufficiently high tempera-
to the ground state, it can radiate a photon of ture, some atomic collisions can be inelastic just
greater energy or possibly several photons with as electron collisions can. They leave one or
energies equal to the energy differences between both of the colliding atoms in an excited state.
the several internal energy states at which the So as the temperature rises, more and more atoms
atom can exist. are moved into excited states. When enough
In radiating — as
photons in every other atoms are in excited states, the gas glows. The
process that we know — energy is conserved. light is emitted as the atoms rapidly return to the
The energy of the emitted photon, hv, is equal to ground sometimes stepping from energy
state,
the difference between the initial internal energy level to energyemitting photons as they go,
level,
and the final internal energy of the atom as it sometimes jumping from a high level to a low one
jumps from one state to another: emitting a high-frequency photon.
cury correspond to jumps between states both of Of course, different ways of putting energy into
Qt WllM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTL'K! OJ MOMS 621
(a)
7.0
>»&*$<£
10
(a). With electrons of any energy above 4.9 ev, the strong
ultraviolet line of wave length 2537 angstroms is emitted. This
I
Here this transition is shown by a dotted arrow. Ir. the subsequent
I
.... 4.68
4-
2-
ground state
(c)
8.9
(c). With bombarding energy raised to 8.9 ev, two more lines
4.86
more and more lines appear. At 10 4 ev the atom is ionized and the
produced. case the classifications above
ground state
complete spectrum is In this
(d) and below the photo help to sort out the various sets of lines.
9.9 ev
F C
10.4,
x, w, $>z w» X, Z W
622 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
the gas can result in different proportions of atoms the initial state of the atom is the lower internal
in the various excited states. As we shall see in the energy state; the final state is the higher, because
next section, photons from light of a single wave it must have the full energy of the original atom
length can excite atoms to a single high energy plus that of the absorbed light photon:
state; and only a few other states may be reached
as the atoms radiate their way back to the ground
^final = E initial + -^photon = ^initial + hv
state. The carefully adjusted electron beam of 5 In this way, one can see, for example, why mer-
electron volts excites only the first excitation state cury vapor at room temperature is transparent to
of mercury. High temperatures act differently. visible light. No photon in visible light has
The of the randomly moving atoms
collisions enough energy to promote the mercury atom from
raise the internal energies of a few atoms to high the ground state to its first excited state. The
energy levels, but there are more atoms in lower right photons only come in ultraviolet light of
states. Thus the brightness of lines can vary, 2537 angstroms wave length. As we should ex-
but an individual line of an atom always has the pect, that particular light is very strongly ab-
same frequency whenever it is present. sorbed. The same argument applies to the other
common colorless gases — oxygen, nitrogen, he-
34-3. Absorption Spectra lium, and the rest. They can absorb light only
Emission spectra — the bright lines we see in in the ultraviolet. And there we find a series of
the spectra of excited atoms — are not the only absorption lines.
spectra which reveal the internal energy states of Once the frequency of the light is sufficiently
the atoms. We get similar information about high, in the deep ultraviolet or beyond, a photon
those states when we send white light through a can take an electron completely out of an atom.
gas and then analyze it with a spectroscope. The The atom is ionized, and any surplus energy is
white light is a mixture of all frequencies; it con- carried away by the electron as kinetic energy.
tains photons of Most of these pho-
all energies. This is the photoelectric effect. There is no limi-
tons pass through the gas and show up in the spec- tation on the amount of kinetic energy the elec-
trum on the spectrographic plate. They are not tron can be given. So there are no restrictions
absorbed, because the energy of the photon can- on the frequency of the light that ejects electrons
not be taken up by the atom as it makes a transi- provided it exceeds a certain minimum "thresh-
tion from one internal energy level to another. old" value. The observed threshold of the
But some of the photons are taken up. Their photoelectric effect in atoms is just the minimum
absence is shown by narrow gaps in the spectrum frequency required to break an electron loose
of the light which passes through the gas. Each from the atom. The evidence of spectra in this
missing photon has been absorbed by an atom, matter agrees perfectly with the evidence obtained
causing a transition from one internal energy by observing the photo-electrons.
level to another. These gaps in the spectrum All light, all electromagnetic radiation can ex-
then tell us about the internal energy states (Fig. cite atoms, or be emitted by them in jumps or
34-5). transitions between energy levels. Consider one
Here the same interpretation and the same rule example far outside the range of visible light.
of energy conservation apply; only the order of Although we are apt to think of radio waves inter-
the process is different. (Fig. 34-6.) In this case acting with antennas rather than with atoms, the
study of atomic spectra at radio and microwave
frequencies is a modern and powerful tool for
before
[a). The atom is in the ground state, and the photon has The photon simply passes through or scatters off elastically.
too little energy to change the atom to the next excited state.
(b)
photon
absorbed
^"
vJ 3
(b). The photon is one that has exactly the right energy to photon, taking on all the energy of the photon.
raise the atom to its first excited state. The atom absorbs the
-~ — TvJxAAA^
i
(c). The photon is one that has more than enough energy absorbed the atom could not both conserve energy and be in
to excite the atom but not enough to reach another excited an allowed energy level. The only alternative is the re-emission
state. This photon, too, must scatter elastically, for if it were of the photon.
(d)
X
J^
(d). In this case the photon is one with enough energy to ionization threshold as kinetic energy. (Note that an atom which
ionize the atom. It raises the atom to a region filled with positive is already excited can be ionized by a photon of lower energy
energy leveb. This is another way of saying that the atom is which would simply have been scattered elastically from an
broken up and the electron carries away the energy above the atom in its ground state.)
624 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
o 6
these clues required great ingenuity. Once the .o
spectral wave lengths are known, they must be
converted to frequencies, and the frequencies w A.
.
c
examined and fitted together to find the energy 1U
2
ference of two energy levels, and a few levels can -
of energy at the ground state. When n = 2, we other values of n we get the other observed energy
states. Scores of levels have been identified at
_ ,,, 13.6 ev
get E = 2 13.6 ev = 10.2 ev, their predicted positions. The formula works
wonderfully well, fit ing experiments to one part
which is the energy of the first excited state. For in ten thousand or better.
QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS 625
In all these energ\ stales, the electron and pro- compare these answers with the energy levels
ton are bound together. They cannot get in- measured against that scale.
finiteh far apart. For higher values of n, how- Originally the simple formula for the energy
ever, approach the ionization
the energy states stateswas obtained from the measurements of
energv. and as n becomes infinitely large we reach spectral lines. The spectroscopists Balmer and
the energ\ at which the electron can just escape Rydberg developed it in fitting the spectra into a
from the proton. neat pattern, and what we now call the energy
At still higher energies the electron and proton levels were called the term values in their purely
are no longer bound together. The electron is just spectroscopic analysis. Then in 1913 Niels Bohr
moving past the proton. At these energies, even showed the connection between the planetary
when the electron gets infinitely far from the pro- -13.6ev
model and the formula En = He was
ton, there will be kinetic energy left over. On the
energv-le\el diagram you will notice the essential actually able to derive the value 13.6 from the
difference between these energy states in which the fundamental constants of nature: the Coulomb
electron moves freely away with any energy and constant k, Planck's constant h, and the mass m
the bound states (beneath the ionization energy). of the electron. We may take Bohr's success as
There are free states at all energies above ioniza- marking the beginning of our present theory of
tion, while there are gaps between the individual the structure of matter.*
bound energy states. Despite their similarities, the description of a
In Chapter 32, we saw that the atom resembled hydrogen atom must be different from that of a
a planetary system. In particular on the Ruther- planet moving around the sun. The description
ford model, the hydrogen atom consists of a pro- must account for the stability of the ground state,
ton sun with a single electron planet. The Cou- for the existence of special excited states, and for
lomb force between them goes with the inverse
square of their separation just like the force be- *Bohr justified his derivationby appealing to a general
principle which we now name his Correspondence Princi-
tween the sun and a planet, or satellite-earth, and ple. Suppose we have a successful theory —
a theory de-
the force between the earth and a satellite. In Sec- veloped to deal with the known facts in some region of
tion 25-5 we studied the binding and the escape of knowledge. As new knowledge is gained, the theory may
show difficulties it may fail to fit all the new facts. Then
;
satellites in just these systems. There we found a new theory has to be developed to replace the old. But,
that was natural to choose the zero of energy
it the new theory has no hope of success unless it agrees
when and planet, the earth and satellite,
the sun with the old theory in all matters where the old theory
itself agreed with the facts. In other words, new theory
or the proton and electron are standing still in- must make the same predictions, in the same form, as
finitely far apart. That energy marks the border old theory in the region where the old was adequate. In
between bound states and free states. For the this way the structure and content of old theory can pro-
vide an essential check on new theory and may even go
atom it is the ionization energy. further and show the direction in which unknown new
When we shift the zero of energy to the ioniza- theory must develop.
tion energy, the formula for the energy states of Bohr's first use of this Correspondence Principle was
in justifying his derivation of the constant for hydrogen
hydrogen becomes even simpler. It is
energy levels. He imagined the atom excited until it is
almost ionized so that the electron moves around the
— 13.6 electron volts proton in a huge orbit of man-sized dimensions, a meter
En =
or so across {n = 10,000 or so). An orbit like that is the
size of a radio antenna or a synchrotron, and we know
E = x
—13.6 ev now tells us directly that the that in such cases the frequency radiated is the frequency
ground state is 13.6 ev lower than the ionization of the motion (up and down the antenna, or around
the race track). Therefore, the frequency of photons
energy. The atom is bound together by 13.6 emitted in a hydrogen atom's quantum jumps between
electron volts. levels near ionization must be the same as the frequency of
,_
- = —
— —=
13.6 ev
jy^
_ .
—3.4 ev says ,
that the
. _
first
the orbital motion. Equating the photon frequency and
the orbital frequency tells us the combination of k,
h, and m which must appear in the expression for these
excited state is only 3.4 electron volts below energy states and for all other energy states of the hydro-
ionization level; and so on. On the right-hand gen atom. In this way, Bohr derived his result by relying
on an over-all principle of fitting together new theory
edge of Fig. 34-7 we have added an energy scale and old. Here, however, we shall derive the result from
with its zero at the ionization energy. You can other considerations in Section 34-6.
626 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
the identity of all the individual hydrogen atoms where, the displacement oscillates back and forth
in the universe. An atom can remain for any in the same way, but nothing appears to move
length of time only in one or another of its sepa- along the tube.
rate energy levels. If the atom is in any energy There is no substitute for making standing
level above the ground state, it will not stay there waves yourself. Tie a rubber tube between two
forever. Sooner or later it will radiate; it will lose firm supports. Wiggle the tube up and down with
energy, not until the electron coincides with the your hand near one support. By choosing the
proton, but only until it reaches the ground state. right frequency for the motion of your hand, you
In the next sections we shall see how the proper- can set up a standing wave pattern in which the
ties of the de Broglie waves which describe the tube oscillates up and down but the pattern does
electron moving in the electrostatic field of its not travel along. It may be a pattern with one
proton allow us to calculate the values of the in- loop between the end supports, or two loops,
ternal energy states of hydrogen. three loops, four loops, and so on (Fig. 34-8).
Now stop moving your hand and watch the mo-
34-5. The Origin of Energy Levels tion. Except for friction motion per-
losses, the
How can we understand the presence of definite sists with the tube oscillating in the same fixed
internal energy levels, and the simple numerical pattern. The standing wave stays in place and
relations they sometimes have? We hope to do continues unchanging. That is the kind of wave
this by using the ideas of the last chapter. In it motion we are going to picture for a stable state
we learned of matter waves, waves whose in- of an atom.
tensity at any place indicates the probability of Notice that these standing waves are naturally
finding a particle there. How does that idea ex- determined. With the ends held fixed, only the
plain separate, well-defined energy levels? patterns with a whole number of loops (and
The matter wave for a particular energy level corresponding definite frequencies) will stand on
must stay the same for a very long time. We the tube. you try to drive the tube with any
If
know from Franck-Hertz experiments and from other frequency you will find that the motion of
the definite line spectra of elements that there are your hand undoes some of the tube's existing mo-
definite separate energy states in atoms. We tion rather than being in step and increasing the
should not find that behavior if wave
the matter motion. So, unless you use the right frequency,
for a particular energy level wobbled around and your efforts produce very little effect. You fail to
did not remain the same for a long time. Also, build up a standing wave that can stay on the
there must be a different matter wave correspond- tube. The set of distinct standing waves with
ing to each separate energy level, because the whole numbers of loops is the only set of un-
energy levels are different. We must therefore changing wave patterns.
look for several distinct wave patterns, each one Although standing waves just oscillate up and
different from the others and each unchanging. down, we can view them as the superposition of
The only waves which show the same patterns two equal traveling wave-trains moving in oppo-
all the time and do not travel away are standing site directions. If you draw two wave patterns,
waves. These are the stationary waves that you move them across each other, and add their dis-
find on vibrating strings or in tubs of water. They placements to find the resultant, you will find
do not move about. Instead, they stay in place that they make a standing wave. Also, you will
and keep their shape while the displacements find that the loops of the standing wave are just
periodically grow and collapse without moving |X long, where X is the wave length of either
along. Look at Fig. 34-8, for example, at the wave-train. We did something like this in Section
flecting wallsand we shall look for the standing move with less energy, in our wave mechanics
wave pattern which fits that motion. When the there is no possible state of motion at lower
particle moves at constant speed in one direction energy. So this lowest energy is the ground state.
between the walls, it has constant momentum, so Now when we think back to the hydrogen
there is a definite de Broglie wave length asso- atom, we can see that we are following a promis-
ciated with its motion. When it rebounds and ing road. For just such reasons, the hydrogen
moves in the opposite direction, the magnitude atom must have a ground state although New- —
of the momentum is the same, so that a reflected tonian mechanics would allow it indefinitely
wave with the same de Broglie wave length is also lower energies. Thus an explanation of the sta-
associated with the motion. We picture both bility of atoms is already in sight. Furthermore,
these matter waves existing together in the region there are many matter waves of higher energy
between the walls. The wave length is determined that can stand in the box. There are the standing
by the magnitude of the particle's momentum. waves with 2 loops, 3 loops, . . . n loops, and so
And if that wave length is suitable, the two wave on. These stationary wave states, with their
trains will set up a standing wave pattern between definite values of energy, provide a model for the
the walls. excited states of the atom.
This where the wave nature enters in an es-
is
sential way. Between fixed end walls only certain 34-6. The Wave Theory of Hydrogen
standing waves can exist, so only certain particular Energy Levels
motions of the particle with corresponding definite Now let us apply the idea of standing waves to
magnitudes of momentum can take place. The the hydrogen atom. An atom is not a box with
simplest standing wave looks like the first photo- hard walls between which a particle bounces, but
graph in Fig. 34-8. There the wave length is the Coulomb force between the nucleus and the
twice the distance between the walls: X = 2d. electron prevents the electron from running away.
This is the wave length belonging to one of the This force makes the electron bounce back and
possible motions of the particle. (Other patterns forth or run around inside a small region near the
of several loops give shorter wave lengths and nucleus. The hydrogen atom therefore sets us
bigger momentum. Therefore this "one loop" the problem of a standing wave in three dimen-
wave gives the slowest motion a particle can have.) sions, a wave in a region of changing Coulomb
We can find the energy of the particle in this mo- force in place of the simpler wave in the space
tion from the relation between hard walls. This problem is like the
problem of finding the standing wave patterns on
_ %mvf _ p
2
water in a cup. (You can see these beautiful sym-
E = hmv 2 =
2m metrical patterns in the cup just by jiggling the
QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS 629
34-9 (a). A time exposure of standing waves in a circular ring 34-9 (b). Standing wave patterns in a metal plate held rigidly
in a ripple tank. The whole tank was vibrated, but the moving at the center. Such patterns (often called Chladni's figures) are
waves outside the ring are blurred out. formed by fine sand sprinkled on the plate when it is set into
static attraction k 2
Consequently,
r
mv2 _ kq „ 2 = *^1?2
~r W x q2 mv 7 '
r
•
This equation relates the speed v to the radius r. 34—9 (c). Sand patterns formed by standing waves on the
Because the electron moves at a constant dis- diaphragm of a telephone receiver. (Photos b and c from F.
A. Saunders, "A Survey of Physics for College Students," Henry
tance from the nucleus and therefore at constant
Holt & Co., New York, 1930.)
speed, the magnitude of its momentum around
the orbit stays constant. In such an orbit, there- sidewise as well as along the orbit. But we can
fore, the matter wave associated with electronic hope to approximate the behavior of the matter
motion has a well-defined de Broglie wave length: wave by thinking of it as a wave around a narrow
circular channel of radius r. In this channel a
standing wave can persist only if there is a whole
mv
number of wave lengths around the circumference
Of course the matter wave cannot really move of the "orbit." Then the traveling waves moving
around a classical orbital path, for all waves in the in opposite directions which make up the stand-
atom, like those in a cup, extend over some region ing wave come back around the orbit with a
:
2irkg,q 2
E = —hm (
\ nh
The channel is not a whole number of wave lengths long. In this 0.911Xl0- 30 (27rX2.3XlQ- 28 XlXl) 2
h~ 1
2 34 2
case, when the wave comes back to its starting point, crests and (6.62 XlO- ) n2
troughs do not exactly come together. The waves tend to cancel 2.17 X 10- 18
and no fixed pattern is produced. E=- .
joules where n = 1, 2, 3
maximum on top of a maximum in the wave Since each joule is 6.25 X 10 18 electron volts,
displacement and a minimum on top of a mini- this gives
mum. (Fig. 34-10.) If there were not a whole
13.6
number of wave lengths around the orbit, on going En =
around a number of times we would find that a
minimum now lies on top of a maximum, so that for the energies of the standing wave states in
no standing wave can actually exist. There are hydrogen. This is exactly the same as the expres-
therefore only certain orbits or channels in which sion for the energy levels of the hydrogen atom
the waves can stand; and, for the circular which we had in Section 34-4. There the expres-
channels in particular, we must have sion came from the experimental work of the
spectroscopists. It represents the energy states
nX = 2wr.
of hydrogen which lead to the observed spectral
Because the de Broglie wave length is determined lines in the light it emits and absorbs. It also
by the momentum (A = — J
> this condition gives
agrees with the measured energy necessary to
ionize the hydrogen atom; 13.6 electron volts is
us a second relation between the radius r of the just the energy necessary to take a hydrogen atom
state in
ground state, the lowest-energy standing-
which n = 1, and bring it to zero
QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS 631
radius of the orbit on which a charged particle The total internal energy is
left side with left side and right side with right m= 0.911 X 10- j0 kg
v = 2.18 X 10 6 ^ 2
meters/sec
nh: = 2Tkq l q2 .
0.53 X 10 meters
?1?2
This gives us the possible speeds of the 17
orbiting particle XT'**'' joules.
2-kg q z Note that the units of electric charge have all
x
where n = 1, 2, 3 (3)
nh been included in the constants. q and q z are
x
energy which we set at the point where the hy- hydrogen, but with all the energies increased in
drogen atom is just ionized. Our standing-wave proportion to the square of the nuclear charge.
result therefore agrees completely with the ex- For example, a helium atom may lose one of its
perimental evidence. two electrons. The helium ion then consists of
We can check up on our theoretical result in an electron moving around a nucleus with two
several other ways. According to our analysis of positive elementary charges. This ion of helium
the standing-wave states, the energies should be is present where an atom of helium has been
proportional to the square of the number of ele- excited beyond its ionization energy. Its spectrum
mentary charges on the nucleus. Therefore, any has been observed in the atmospheres of blue-hot
atomic structure with a central nucleus and only stars, and in the laboratory when intense sparks
one electron should give a spectrum like that of are sent through helium. Fig. 34-1 1 displays
632 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
this effect was calculated by Bohr in his original hydrogen did exist. The deuterium lines are faint because the
concentration of deuterium atoms in natural hydrogen is only
paper in which he used an approach entirely
about 1 in 6500. For these photographs the concentration
different from the one we have discussed. For a was increased somewhat by evaporating liquid hydrogen. With
nucleus of mass M
(instead of infinite mass), every modern techniques one can separate the isotopes and produce
energy should be multiplied by the factor relatively pure deuterium, and that makes it easier to check the
wave length of the line. (From: H. C. Urey, F. G. Brickwedde,
and G. M. Murphy, "A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2 and its
that of the proton. Consequently, the deuterium vealed until Part IV, where the probing of the
frequencies are lower than those for an atom atom required us to refine Newtonian mechanics
with an infinitely heavy nucleus by only one part by the more subtle quantum theory. In the world
in 4000. The frequencies in the spectrum of of the atom and the photon, both the wave and
deuterium should thus be slightly greater than particle aspects of nature are essential to our
those for ordinary hydrogen. Spectroscopy is so understanding.
QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OE ATOMS 633
In the last section we found the energy states into the behavior of particles that arise from con-
of hydrogen, using a standing-wave model that sidering the associated matter waves. The wave
supplies some of the possible wave patterns. patterns often spread into regions where, accord-
There are other standing-wave patterns that do ing toNewtonian mechanics, particles would never
not correspond to circular channels, but the full penetrate atall. For light a Newtonian particle
wave theory shows that those other patterns give picture would make us expect to have either re-
the same energ\ le\els that we have computed. flection or transmission at a surface between air
Our success here is important, both because of and glass, The waves, however,
but not both.
the quantitative agreement of our theoretical cal- split up: they are partially reflected and partially
culation of the constant, 13.6 electron volts, with transmitted, and photons are found with some
its observed value, and even more because the probability in either the reflected or the trans-
general picture of standing wave states gives us mitted light. same way, matter waves
In the
confidence that the matter waves are essential to may undergo and partial trans-
partial reflections
the description of all atoms. In successfully missions where, according to Newtonian me-
describing hydrogen on the combined picture of chanics, only one or the other would take place.
wa\es and particles we are not at the end. In- In just this way matter waves have led to an
stead we are really at the beginning of our ability understanding of radioactive decay by the trans-
to understand nuclei, atoms, molecules, . . . : the mission of particles through a region where no
structure of matter. Energy levels with significant particle would penetrate in Newtonian mechanics.
separations occur in all these physical systems A similar mechanism also explains some chemical
and all of them can be understood in terms of reactions.
standing-wave patterns. In these fields questions We have therefore come to the threshold of
arise that could never be properly answered many new developments. In the years since 1925
within the framework of Newtonian dynamics. (when wave mechanics was formally stated) wave
Other questions could not even be formulated mechanics has given us a great deal of under-
without the insight we get from wave mechanics. standing of the physics that was previously mys-
But this is not all. Wave behavior differs from terious. There is much to be studied in these new
the behavior of particles as predicted from New- fields, some of it already fairly well understood
tonian mechanics, not only in leading to definite and a great deal of it the subject of present work.
separated energy states (and an irreducible ground This book is barely an introduction. A life can
state), but also in other unexpected ways. One be well spent in study of the physical world.
example may suggest some of the new insights
1. (a) With electrons of what energy would you bom- motion will be so high that an inelastic collision
bard hydrogen atoms to excite them to the first between two helium atoms can easily excite one of
excitation state shown in Fig. 34-7? This state is them to its first excited state at 19.8 electron volts
10.2 electron volts above the ground state. above the ground state. Estimate this temperature,
(b) If you send in electrons of 12.1 electron obtaining any data you need from Part III.
volts kinetic energy (just enough to excite the
second excited state), what energies can they lose 4. (a) What energy electrons would you have to use
in inelastic collisions with the hydrogen atoms?
in a Franck-Hertz experiment in order to "see" the
Lyman a line? (See Fig. 34-7.)
2. Suppose you are going to bombard a vapor of (b) In order to "see" the H a line?
cesium atoms with 4.00-electron-volt electrons. (c) What other spectral line would you expect
Use Fig. 34-2 to predict some of the things that to "see" if you can see the H a line?
you would expect to happen.
5. (a) What wave length of light necessary to ex-
is
3. If we
heat helium gas to a high-enough temperature, citehydrogen atoms in their groundstate so that
the average kinetic energy of an atom in its thermal they emit the H, a line (Fig. 34-7)?
634 QUANTUM SYSTEMS AND THE STRUCTURE OF ATOMS
(b) What is the longest wave length that can be (This is obtained by dividing volume by the num-
absorbed by the hydrogen atoms in making a transi- ber of molecules and taking the cube root.) So
tion from the ground state (Fig. 34-7)? we may take the average distance between a
(c) Compare this with the H : a wase length. molecule and its nearest neighbors as about 30
(You need only one really significant figure.) angstroms or 30 x I0 _1 meter in any gas of
atmospheric pressure and room temperature.]
6. * Fig. 34-9 (a) shows standing waves produced in (b) If you started with a sample of unexcited
a circular ripple tank. These standing waves ha\e hydrogen gas, in a closed bottle, and excited it to
circular nodal lines. You
can also make standing such a state, how would its density change?
\\a\es by using a straight generator with its edge (This problem deals with a gas of excited H
along a radius. Then there will be radial nodal atoms. In fact. H : molecules similarlv excited
lines, and the patterns are more like the standing would show much the same beha\ior the elec- —
electron waves discussed in Section 34-6. Try this tron looking in from its large "'orbit*' in the excited
in your ripple tank. state would experience almost the same electric
field.)
7. Suppose the between fixed walls (Section
particle
34-5) is charged and can, therefore, radiate, what Estimate the kinetic energy of a neutron in a
10. (a)
is the frequency of its goes from the
radiation as it
nucleus of radius
first excited state to the ground state? Express
your answer in terms of h, m, and d. R = 6 X 10- 15 m.
gen atoms in the ground state. Their standing- (b) Compare these
with the spectrum of single
wave patterns extend out farther so that two atoms ionized helium (Fig. 34-11). Explain why vour
cannot easily approach each other so closely. Sup- comparison indicates that Fig. 34-1 is the 1
pose you had a gas consisting of hydrogen atoms Lvman series for ionized He.
.0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9
0° .0000 .0017 .0035 .0052 .0070 .0087 .0105 .0122 (1140 .0157 .0175 89
1° .0175 .0192 .0209 .0227 .0244 .0262 .0279 .0297 .0314 .0332 .0349 88°
2° .0349 .0366 .0384 .0401 .0419 .0436 .0454 .0471 .0488 .0506 .0523 87°
3° .0523 .0541 .0558 .0576 .0593 .0610 .0628 .0645 .0663 0680 .0698 86°
4° .0698 .0715 .0732 .0750 .0767 .0785 .0802 .0819 .0837 .0854 .0872 85°
5° .0872 .0889 .0906 .0924 .0941 .0958 .0976 .0993 .1011 .1028 .1045 84
6° .1045 .1063 .1080 .1097 .1115 .1132 .1149 .1167 .1184 .1201 .1219 83°
7° .1219 .1236 .1253 .1271 .1288 .1305 .1323 .1340 .1357 .1374 .1392 82°
8° .1392 .1409 .1426 .1444 .1461 .1478 .1495 .1513 .1530 .1547 .1564 81°
9° .1564 .1582 .1599 .1616 .1633 .1650 .1668 .1685 .1702 .1719 .1736 80°
10° .1736 .1754 .1771 .1788 .1805 .1822 .1840 .1857 .1874 .1891 .1908 79°
11° .1908 .1925 .1942 .1959 .1977 .1994 .2011 .2028 .2045 .2062 .2079 78°
12° .2079 .2096 .2113 .2130 .2147 .2164 .2181 .2198 .2115 .2233 .2250 77°
13° .2250 .2267 .2284 .2300 .2317 .2334 .2351 .2368 .2385 .2402 .2419 76°
14° .2419 .2436 .2453 .2470 .2487 .2504 .2521 .2538 .2554 .2571 .2588 75°
15° .2588 .2605 .2622 .2639 .2656 .2672 .2689 .2706 .2723 .2740 .2756 74°
16° .2756 .2773 .2790 .2807 .2823 .2840 .2857 .2874 .2890 .2907 .2924 73°
17° .2924 .2940 .2957 .2974 .2990 .30(i7 .3024 .3040 .3057 .3074 .3090 72°
18° .3090 .3107 .3123 .3140 .3156 .3173 .3190 .3206 .3223 .3239 .3256 71°
19° .3256 .3272 .3289 .3305 .3322 .3338 .3355 .3371 .3387 .3404 .3420 70°
20° .3420 .3437 .3453 .3469 .3486 .3502 .3518 .3535 .3551 .3567 .3584 69°
21° .3584 .3600 .3616 .3633 .3649 .3665 .3681 .3697 .3714 .3730 .3746 68°
22° .3746 .3762 .3778 .3795 .3811 .3827 .3843 .3859 .3875 .3891 .3907 67°
23° .3907 .3923 .3939 .3955 .3971 .3987 .4003 .4019 .4035 .4051 .4067 66°
24° .4067 .4083 .4099 .4115 .4131 .4147 .4163 .4179 .4195 .4210 .4226 65°
25° .4226 .4242 .4258 .4274 .4289 .4305 .4321 .4337 .4352 .4368 .4384 64°
26° .4384 .4399 .4415 .4431 .4446 .4462 .4478 .4493 .4509 .4524 .4540 63
27° .4540 .4555 .4571 .4586 .4602 .4617 .4633 .4648 .4664 .4679 .4695 62°
28° .4695 .4710 .4726 .4741 .4756 .4772 .4787 .4802 .4818 .4833 .4848 61°
29° .4848 .4863 .4879 .4894 .4909 .4924 .4939 .4955 .4970 .4985 .5000 60°
30° .5000 .5015 .5030 .5045 .5060 .5075 .5090 .5105 .5120 .5135 .5150 59°
31° .5150 .5165 .5180 .5195 .5210 .5225 .5240 .5255 .5270 .5284 .5299 58°
32° .5299 .5314 .5329 .5344 .5358 .5373 .5388 .5402 .5417 .5432 .5446 57°
33° .5446 .5461 .5476 .5490 .5505 .5519 .5534 .5548 .5563 .5577 .5592 56°
34° .5592 .5606 .5621 .5635 .5650 .5664 .5678 .5693 .5707 .5721 .5736 55°
35° .5736 .5750 .5764 .5779 .5793 .5807 .5821 .5835 .5850 .5864 .5878 54°
36° .5878 .5892 .5906 .5920 .5934 .5948 .5962 .5976 .5990 .6004 .6018 53°
37° .6018 .6032 .6046 .6060 .6074 .6088 .6101 .6115 .6129 .6143 .6157 52°
38° .6157 .6170 .6184 .6198 .6211 .6225 .6239 .6252 .6266 .6280 .6293 51°
39° .6293 .6307 .6320 .6334 .6347 .6361 .6374 .6388 .6401 .6414 .6428 50°
40° .6428 .6441 .6455 .6468 .6481 .6494 .6508 .6521 .6534 .6547 .6561 49°
41° .6561 .6574 .6587 .6600 .6613 .6626 .6639 .6652 .6665 .6678 .6691 48°
42° .6691 .6704 .6717 .6730 .6743 .6756 .6769 .6782 .6794 .6807 .6820 47°
43° .6820 .6833 .6845 .6858 .6871 .6884 .6896 .6909 .6921 .6934 .6947 46°
44° .6947 .6959 .6972 .6984 .6997 .7009 .7022 .7034 .7046 .7059 .7071 45°
.9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1 .0
.0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9
45 ° .7071 .7083 .70% .7108 .7120 .7133 .7145 .7157 .7169 .7181 .7193 44°
46 7193 72 .7218 .7230 .7242 .7254 .7266 .7290 7302 .7314 43°
47 .7314 7325 .7357 .7349 .7361 7373 .7385 .7396 .7408 .7420 7431 42°
48 .7431 .7443 .7455 .7466 7478 7490 .7501 .7513 .7524 .7536 .7547 41°
49 .7547 7559 .7570 .7581 .7593 7604 .7615 7627 .7638 .7649 7660 40°
50- 7660 .7683 .7694 .7705 .7716 .7727 7738 .7749 .7760 7771 39°
51 - 7771 7782 .7804 .7826 .7848 .7859 .7869 .7880 38 c
52 7880 71 .7902 .7912 .7923 .7934 .7944 .7955 .7965 .7976 .7986 37°
53 .7986 1 1 .8007 .8018 .802S .8039 .8049 .8059 .8070 .8080 .8090 36°
54 .8090 .8100 Sill .8121 .8131 .8141 .8151 .8161 .8171 .8181 .8192 35°
55 SI 02 .8202 .821 .8221 8231 .8241 .8251 .8261 .8271 .8281 .8290 34°
:
56 52 .8300 .8310 .8320 .8329 .8339 .8348 .8358 .8368 .6377 .8387 33
57 -
J7 .8406 .8415 .8425 .8434 .8443 .8453 .8462 .8471 .8480 32 :
58 .8490 .8499 .8508 .8517 .8526 .8536 .8545 .8554 .8563 .8572 31=
59 8572 .8590 .8599 .8607 .8616 .8625 .8634 .8643 .8652 .8660 30°
60- .8660 .8669 .8678 8686 .8695 .8704 .8712 .8721 .8729 .8738 .8746 29°
61 .8746 3755 .8763 .8780 8788 .8796 .8805 .8813 .8821 .8829 28°
62" .8846 .8854 .8862 .8870 .8878 .8886 .8894 .8902 .8910 27°
63- .8910 .8918 .8926 .8934 .8942 .8949 .8957 .8965 .8973 .8980 .8988 26°
64 .8988 .89% .9003 .9011 .9018 .9026 .9033 .9041 .9048 .9056 .9063 25 :
65 .9063 .9070 .9078 .9085 .9092 .9100 .9107 .9114 .9121 .9128 .9135 24=
66 .9135 .9143 .9150 .9157 .9164 .9171 .9178 .9184 .9191 .9198 .9205 23"
67 .9205 .9212 .9219 .9225 .9232 .9239 .9245 .9252 .9259 .9265 .9272 22°
68 ;
9272 .9278 .9285 .9291 .9298 .9304 .9311 .9317 .9323 .9330 .9336 21°
69 .9336 .9342 .9348 .9354 .9361 .9367 .9373 .9379 .9385 .9391 .9397 20 c
70 .9397 .9403 .9409 .9415 .9421 .9426 .9432 .9438 .9444 .9449 .9455 19°
71
:
.9455 .9461 .9466 .9472 .9478 .9483 .9489 .9494 .9500 .9505 .9511 18-
72 :
.9511 .9516 .9521 .9527 .9532 .9537 .9542 .9548 .9553 .9558 .9563 17°
73 ;
.9563 .9568 .9573 .9578 .9583 .9588 .9593 .9598 .9603 .9608 .9613 16°
74' .9613 .9617 .9622 .9627 .9632 .9636 .9641 .9646 .9650 .9655 .9659 15°
75 :
.9659 .9664 .9668 .9673 .9677 .9681 .9686 .9690 .9694 .9699 .9703 14°
76 :
.9703 .9707 .9711 .9715 .9720 .9724 .9728 .9732 .9736 .9740 .9744 13°
77 .9744 .9748 .9751 .9755 .9759 .9763 .9767 .9770 .9774 .9778 .9781 12°
78 .9781 .9785 .9789 .9792 .9796 .9799 .9803 .9806 .9810 .9813 .9816 11°
79 :
.9816 .9820 .9823 .9826 .9829 .9833 .9836 .9839 .9842 .9845 .9848 10°
80" .9848 .9851 .9854 .9857 .9860 .9863 .9866 .9869 .9871 .9874 .9877 9°
81 : .9877 .9880 .9882 .9885 .9888 .9890 .9893 .9895 .9898 .9900 .9903 8°
82- .9903 .9905 .9907 .9910 .9912 .9914 .9917 .9919 .9921 .9923 .9925 7°
83 .9925 .9928 .9930 .9932 .9934 .9936 .9938 .9940 .9942 .9943 .9945 6°
: a
84 .9945 .9947 .9949 .9951 .9952 .9954 .9956 .9957 .9959 .9960 .9962 5
85
:
.9962 .9963 .9965 .9966 .9968 .9969 .9971 .9972 .9973 .9974 .9976 4°
86- .9976 .9977 .9978 .9979 .9980 .9981 .9982 .9983 .9984 .9985 .9986 3-
87" .9986 .9987 .9988 .9989 .9990 .9990 .9991 .9992 .9993 .9993 .9994 2=
88- .9994 .9995 .9995 .9996 .9996 .9997 .9997 .9997 .9998 .9998 .9998 r-
89- .9998 .9999 .9999 .9999 .9999 1.000 1.000 1.000 1 I
00 1.000 1.000 0°
.9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1 .0
.0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9
0° .0000 .0017 .0035 .0052 .0070 .0087 .0105 .0122 .0140 .0157 .0175 89
1° .0175 .0192 .0209 .0227 .0244 .0262 .0279 .0297 .0314 .0332 .0349 88
2° .0349 .0367 .0384 .0402 .0419 .0437 .0454 .0472 .0489 .0507 .0524 87
3° .0524 .0542 .0559 .0577 .0594 .0612 .0629 .0647 .0664 .0682 .0699 86
4° .0699 .0717 .0734 .0752 .0769 .0787 .0805 .0822 .0840 .0857 .0875 85°
5° .0875 .0892 .0910 .0928 .0945 .0963 .0981 .0998 .1016 .1033 .1051 84°
6° .1051 .1069 .1086 .1104 .1122 .1139 .1157 .1175 .1192 .1210 .1228 83-
7° .1228 .1246 .1263 .1281 .1299 .1317 .1334 .1352 .1370 .1388 .1405 82
8° .1405 .1423 .1441 .1459 .1477 .1495 .1512 .1530 .1548 .1566 .1584 81°
9° .1584 .1602 .1620 .1638 .1655 .1673 .1691 .1709 .1727 .1745 .1763 80-
10° .1763 .1781 .1799 .1817 .1835 .1853 .1871 .1890 .1908 .1926 .1944 79°
11° .1944 .1962 .1980 .1998 .2016 .2035 .2053 .2071 .2089 .2107 .2126 78°
12° .2126 .2144 .2162 .2180 .2199 .2217 .2235 .2254 .2272 .2290 .2309 77°
13° .2309 .2327 .2345 .2364 .2382 .2401 .2419 .2438 .2456 .2475 .2493 76 c
14° .2493 .2512 .2530 .2549 .2568 .2586 .2605 .2623 .2642 .2661 .2679 75°
15° .2679 .2698 .2717 .2736 .2754 .2773 .2792 .2811 .2830 .2849 .2867 74°
16° .2867 .2886 .2905 .2924 .2943 .2962 .2981 .3000 .3019 .3038 .3057 73°
'-
17° .3057 .3076 .3096 .3115 .3134 .3153 .3172 .3191 .3211 .3230 .3249 72
18° .3249 .3269 .3288 .3307 .3327 .3346 .3365 .3385 .3404 .3424 .3443 71°
19° .3443 .3463 .3482 .3502 .3522 .3541 .3561 .3581 .3600 .3620 .3640 70°
20° .3640 .3659 .3679 .3699 .3719 .3739 .3759 .3779 .3799 .3819 .3839 69 c
21° .3839 .3859 .3879 .3899 .3919 .3939 .3959 .3979 .4000 .4020 .4040 68 -
22° .4040 .4061 .4081 .4101 .4122 .4142 .4163 .4183 .4204 .4224 .4245 67°
23° .4245 .4265 .4286 .4307 .4327 .4348 .4369 .4390 .4411 .4431 .4452 66°
24° .4452 .4473 .4494 .4515 .4536 .4557 .4578 .4599 .4621 .4642 .4663 65°
25° .4663 .4684 .4706 .4727 .4748 .4770 .4791 .4813 .4834 .4856 .4877 64°
26° .4877 .4899 .4921 .4942 .4964 .4986 .5008 .5029 .5051 .5073 .5095 63
27° .5095 .5117 .5139 .5161 .5184 .5206 .5228 .5250 .5272 .5295 .5317 62°
28° .5317 .5340 .5362 .5384 .5407 .5430 .5452 .5475 .5498 .5520 .5543 61°
29° .5543 .5566 .5589 .5612 .5635 .5658 .5681 .5704 .5727 .5750 .5774 60°
30° .5774 .5797 .5820 .5844 .5867 .5890 .5914 .5938 .5961 .5985 .6009 59°
31° .6009 .6032 .6056 .6080 .6104 .6128 .6152 .6176 .6200 .6224 .6249 58°
32° .6249 .6273 .6297 .6322 .6346 .6371 .6395 .6420 .6445 .6469 .6494 57°
33° .6494 .6519 .6544 .6569 .6594 .6619 .6644 .6669 .6694 .6720 .6745 56°
34° .6745 .6771 .6796 .6822 .6847 .6873 .6899 .6924 .6950 .6976 .7002 55°
35° .7002 .7028 .7054 .7080 .7107 .7133 .7159 .7186 .7212 .7239 .7265 54°
36° .7265 .7292 .7319 .7346 .7373 .7400 .7427 .7454 .7481 .7508 .7536 53°
37° .7536 .7563 .7590 .7618 .7646 .7673 .7701 .7729 .7757 .7785 .7813 52°
38° .7813 .7841 .7869 .7898 .7926 .7954 .7983 .8012 .8040 .8069 .8098 51°
39° .8098 .8127 .8156 .8185 .8214 .8243 .8273 .8302 .8332 .8361 .8391 50°
40° .8391 .8421 .8451 .8481 .8511 .8541 .8571 .8601 .8632 .8662 .8693 49°
41° .8693 .8724 .8754 .8785 .8816 .8847 .8878 .8910 .8941 .8972 .9004 48 c
42° .9004 .9036 .9067 .9099 .9131 .9163 .9195 .9228 .9260 .9293 .9325 47°
43° .9325 .9358 .9391 .9424 .9457 .9490 .9523 .9556 .9590 .9623 .9657 46°
44° .9657 .9691 .9725 .9759 .9793 .9827 .9861 .9896 .9930 .9965 1.000 45°
.9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1 .0
638
Table of Trigonometric Functions
.0 .1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9
45° 1.000 1.003 1.007 1.011 1.014 1.018 1.021 1.025 1.028 1.032 1.036 44°
46 1.036 1.039 1.043 1.046 1.050 1.054 1.057 1.061 1.065 1.069 1.072 43°
47 1.072 1.076 1.0S0 1.084 1.087 1.091 1.095 1.099 1.103 1.107 1.111 42°
48- 1.111 1.115 1.11S 1.122 1.126 1.130 1.134 1.138 1.142 1.146 1.150 41°
49 1.150 1.154 1.159 1.163 1.167 1.171 1.175 1.179 1.183 1.188 1.192 40°
50- 1.192 1.196 1.200 1.205 1.209 1.213 1.217 1.222 1.226 1.230 1.235 39°
51 ° 1.235 1.239 1.244 1.248 1.253 1.257 1.262 1.266 1.271 1.275 1.280 38°
52- 1280 1.285 1.289 1.294 1.299 1.303 1.308 1.313 1.317 1.322 1.327 37°
53 c 1.327 1.332 1.337 1.342 1.347 1.351 1.356 1.361 1.366 1.371 1.376 36°
54- 1.376 1.381 1.387 1.392 1.397 1.402 1.407 1.412 1.418 1.423 1.428 35°
55 1.42S 1.433 1.439 1.444 1.450 1.455 1.460 1.466 1.471 1.477 1.483 34°
56 1.4S3 1.488 1.494 1.499 1.505 1.511 1.517 1.522 1.528 1.534 1.540 33°
57- 1.540 1.546 1.552 1.558 1.564 1.570 1.576 1.582 1.588 1.594 1.600 32°
58- 1.600 1.607 1.613 1.619 1.625 1.632 1.638 1.645 1.651 1.658 1.664 31°
59- 1.664 1.671 1.678 1.684 1.691 1.698 1.704 1.711 1.718 1.725 1.732 30°
60- 1.732 1.739 1.746 1.753 1.760 1.767 1.775 1.782 1.789 1.797 1.804 29°
61 1.804 1.811 1.819 1.827 1.834 1.842 1.849 1.857 1.865 1.873 1.881 28°
62 1.881 1.889 1.897 1.905 1.913 1.921 1.929 1.937 1.946 1.954 1.963 27°
63 1.963 1.971 1.980 1.988 1.997 2.006 2.014 2.023 2.032 2.041 2.050 26°
64 2.050 2.059 2.069 2.078 2.087 2.097 2.106 2.116 2.125 2.135 2.145 25°
65 :
2.145 2.154 2.164 2.174 2.184 2.194 2.204 2.215 2.225 2.236 2.246 24°
66 2.246 2.257 2.267 2.278 2.289 2.300 2.311 2.322 2.333 2.344 2.356 23°
67 2.356 2.367 2.379 2.391 2.402 2.414 2.426 2.438 2.450 2.463 2.475 22°
68 : 2.475 2.488 2.500 2.513 2.526 2.539 2.552 2.565 2.578 2.592 2.605 21°
69 2.605 2.619 2.633 2.646 2.660 2.675 2.689 2.703 2.718 2.733 2.747 20°
70 :
2.747 2.762 2.778 2.793 2.808 2.824 2.840 2.856 2.872 2.888 2.904 19°
71
:
2.904 2.921 2.937 2.954 2.971 2.989 3.006 3.024 3.042 3.060 3.078 18°
72 :
3.078 3.096 3.115 3.133 3.152 3.172 3.191 3.211 3.230 3.251 3.271 17°
73 :
3.271 3.291 3.312 3.333 3.354 3.376 3.398 3.420 3.442 3.465 3.487 16°
74 ;
3.487 3.511 3.534 3.558 3.582 3.606 3.630 3.655 3.681 3.706 3.732 15°
75 D 3.732 3.758 3.785 3.812 3.839 3.867 3.895 3.923 3.952 3.981 4.011 14°
76 :
4.011 4.041 4.071 4.102 4.134 4.165 4.198 4.230 4.264 4.297 4.331 13°
77 :
4.331 4.366 4.402 4.437 4.474 4.511 4.548 4.586 4.625 4.665 4.705 12°
78 : 4.705 4.745 4.787 4.829 4.872 4.915 4.959 5.005 5.050 5.097 5.145 11°
79 :
5.145 5.193 5.242 5.292 5.343 5.396 5.449 5.503 5.558 5.614 5.671 10°
80 :
5.671 5.730 5.789 5.850 5.912 5.976 6.041 6.107 6.174 6.243 6.314 9°
81- 6.314 6.386 6.460 6.535 6.612 6.691 6.772 6.855 6.940 7.026 7.115 8°
82- 7.115 7 2' 7 7.300 7.396 7.495 7.596 7.700 7.806 7.916 8.028 8.144 7°
83 :
8.144 8.264 8.386 8.513 8.643 8.777 8.915 9.058 9.205 9.357 9.514 6°
84 : 9.514 9.677 9.845 10.02 10.20 10.39 10.58 10.78 10.99 11.20 11.43 5°
85 :
11.43 11.66 11.91 12.16 12.43 12.71 13.00 13.30 13.62 13.95 14.30 4°
86- 14.30 14.67 15.06 15.46 15.89 16.35 16.83 17.34 17.89 18.46 19.08 3°
87 : 19.08 19.74 20.45 21.20 22.02 22.90 23.86 24.90 26.03 27.27 28.64 2°
88- 28.64 30.14 31.82 33.69 35.80 38.19 40.92 44.07 47.74 52.08 57.29 1°
89- r 29 63.66 71.62 81.85 95.49 114.6 143.2 191.0 286.5 573.0 oo 0°
.9 .8 .7 .6 .5 .4 .3 .2 .1 .0
PHYSICAL CONSTANTS
G = 10"" m 3
IS.
oules
EMF: 1 volt = 1.602 X 10~ 19 J
elem. en.
= -34
Planck's constant : h 6.625 X 10 joule-sec
-28 ?-.
Constant in Coulomb's law: k = 2.3063 X 10 r-r?
(elem. ch.) 2
= 8.9876 Xl0 9
" eWt
r^
(coulomb) 2
, newtons
= 2 X 10-
(ampere) 2
,
(exact, by definition)
mm'! ndi\ 3 641
APPENDIX 3
This book and the coordinated development Morrison, and Hans A. Bethe. The job of
of laboratory materials, teachers' resources, making a complete first draft was carried out
and films are the cooperative work of many during the summer by Professor Morrison,
people. Any brief summary of its develop- with the help of George L. Carr now of
ment is bound to be unsatisfactory. Even the Milford Mill High School, Baltimore, Mary-
basic outline and aims were formulated by a land,and John Marean of Reno High School,
large number of people at several centers, and Reno, Nevada. With slight rewriting, this
teachers all over the country shared the desire draft, edited by Judson Cross of Phillips
to make a fundamental change in the presenta- Exeter Academy, Curtis Hinckley of Wood-
tion of physics for beginning students. stock Country School and me, formed the
The present book is the result of innumer- basis of the first school try-outs.
able individual contributions, of extensive From the beginning, work in school has
trials in many schools, and of a process of been a major part of the program. The teach-
revision over three years. To assign detailed ers have been among the authors. To keep in
credit for the creation and formulation'among touch, there has been an extensive program of
the hundreds of contributions is impossible. school visiting and meetings between teachers
Nevertheless, as the person who took the re- and editors. Every part of the book has been
sponsibility for the selection that now appears, improved by this process of testing and re-
I should like to sketch some of the stages. vision. For example, several sections of Part I
Above all, both on behalf of the PSSC and have been revised three times. On the whole,
also personally, I wish to thank my many co- the revisions, again tested in school, have
workers for their part in the difficult but proved their worth, and at the same time an
pleasurable experience of working together to astonishing amount of the original conception
bring forth a new physics course. remains basically unchanged. We are par-
During the fall of 1956 and the winter of ticularly grateful for the efforts of the teachers
1957, under the leadership of the PSSC Steer- who and who spent
tried the earliest versions
ing Committee, research physicists and physics large amounts of time analyzing their experi-
teachers —
often they are the same people — ence. By now we have benefited by the experi-
outlined, drafted, and discussed many of the ence of over 600 teachers and innumerable
ideas that now appear in this book. Then at students. Their impressions and suggestions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology during were collected and digested by a feedback
the summer of 1957 some 60 physicists, teach- team. Professor Gilbert Finlay of the College
ers, apparatus designers, writers, and artists, of Education at the University of Illinois has
other specialists pooled their knowledge and been in charge of this part of the job, and has
experience to produce a pilot model of the contributed to the whole project in many ways.
PSSC physics course. In revising Part I at various times the
In common with every section of the course, special work of the group at the University of
Part I of this book benefited from the work Illinois, that of Walter Michels at Bryn Mawr,
and the discussions of the group as a whole. and Sherman Frankel at the University of
In particular, it arose largely from the initial Pennsylvania was combined with more con-
discussions of a group at Cornell University, tributions from Professor Morrison and with
especially Professors K. I. Greisen, Philip the work of the staff at the central office of
642 APPENDIX 3
PSSC. For the present edition, further re- many members of the PSSC staff, both at
vision basedon more experience in school has MIT and the University of Illinois, contributed
been provided by Malcolm K. Smith, Thomas that it is even less possible here than elsewhere
Dillon of Concord High School, Concord, to give a fair impression of their joint efforts.
Massachusetts, Professors Eric M. Rogers of The first half of Part IV, dealing with elec-
Princeton University, Nathaniel H. Frank of tricity and magnetism, was originally drafted
MIT, and me. by Professor Rossi with the help of Alexander
Most of the discussions and the preliminary Joseph of the Bronx Community College,
development of apparatus that led to Part II Bronx, New
York, Thaddeus P. Sadowski of
of this book took place at the Massachusetts North Quincy High School. Quincy, Massa-
Institute of Technology. There, with the aid chusetts, and Edwin Smith, Withrow High
of Professor Walter Michels and Elbert P. School, Cincinnati, Ohio. Also, starting in
Little, later assistant to the president of Edu- thesummer of 1957, Professors Herman Fesh-
cational Services Incorporated, I prepared an bach and Roy Weinstein of MIT worked
extensive outline. Following this, the first on the job of bringing as much modern
half of the volume was drafted by Professor atomic physics as possible from the last years
Michels and Charles Smith of the Radnor of college physics to within reach of beginning
High School, Radnor, Pennsylvania; the sec- students. Following after this and other pre-
ond half by Professors Uri Haber-Schaim and liminary work, Professor Morrison, Professor
Arthur Kerman of MIT with Richard Jones Rossi, and I laid out most of the present
of Indian Springs School, Helena, Alabama, structure of Part IV, and drafts of the text
and Darrel Tomer of Hanford High School, were produced mainly by Rossi and Morrison.
Hanford, California. Judson Cross and I Malcolm K. Smith, Professor Rogers, Pro-
edited the preliminary edition. Since that fessor Frank, and I have been responsible for
time it has had a history of try-out and re- bringing the comments of teachers to bear on
vision similar to that of all the other parts. these drafts and and editing
for such rewriting
In particular, revisions for the present edition as has resulted in the present edition.Here we
were carried out by Professor Haber-Schaim, must particularly thank Professor James H.
Malcolm K. Smith, Professor Kerman, and me. Smith of the University of Illinois, who tried
Most of the preliminary discussions leading some of these materials in preliminary form
to Part III took place in a group working at and pointed out the advantage of one radical
the University of Illinois. Then at MIT in the change in order. We are also especially in-
summer of 1957, Professors E. L. Goldwasser, debted to Richard Brinckerhoff of Phillips
Peter Axel, David Lazarus, Leon Cooper, and Exeter Academy for detailed commentary not
Allen C. Odian of the Illinois group worked only in this part but throughout the text, and
with Thomas J. Dillon, Richard G. Marden toDavid A. Page of the University of Illinois,
of Worcester Classical High School, and John whose careful classroom observations were of
H. Walters of Browne and Nichols School to great value especially in improving the earlier
produce the first complete draft. Later Part parts. To their names a great number should
HI was considerably redrafted at PSSC to be added if space permitted.
take advantage of the first draft, of suggestions In this kind of sketch, it is clear that many
from many physicists and and of new
teachers, people are left out, especially if there is no
laboratory developments carried out by the one thing to which their names are obviously
PSSC staff in Cambridge. In this process attached. Such omissions are painful: often
Professor Bruno B. Rossi, Professor Frank, enough, wise advice has been as valuable as an
and I (all of MIT), were joined by Professor identifiable draft of text. Along these lines,
Eric M. Rogers and Malcolm K. Smith. So then, I would like to mention the overall con-
appendix 3 643
tributions of many others. Professor I. Ber- of developing this course. In utilizing them
nard Cohen of Harvard University has read to bring about further improvements, the work
successive drafts and supplied historical ma- of Gilbert Finlay and his co-workers who
terials. Stephen White, whose main concern stayed in close touch with teachers, was sup-
has been with the PSSC films, has helped with plemented by information gathered directly
other jobs from time to time since the begin- from testing of students. Here Walter Michels
ning of the Committee's work. Paul Brand- made another of his many contributions.
wein of Harcourt. Brace & Company and the With Frederick L. Ferris, Jr., of Educational
Conservation Foundation has supplied de- Testing Services and a group of physicists and
tailed encouragement, and aid
criticism, teachers from the region around Philadelphia,
at many times. For instance, along with he is responsible for a large set of standardized
George H. Waltz. Jr.. he helped to set up the tests from which we learned much. Professor
effective system which turned authors' scrawls Hulsizer of the University of Illinois provided
into respectable preliminary editions. In this a teacher's guide to the and he
test answers;
process we from the editorial experi-
benefited and several others at Illinois have and MIT
ence of Judy Meyer and Lee Wertheim. helped with test revisions. The Illinois group
Judson Cross and Malcolm Smith acted as has taken the major part in development of
executive editors of the preliminary volumes. detailed resource books for teachers, and in
For three years their work and mine has been this they have been joined by the PSSC staff
lightened and made effective by the efforts of in Cambridge, who (with the usual aid from all
Benjamin T. Richards, who supervised the sources) worked out both the student labora-
production of the texts for schools. Over the tory and the laboratory parts of the teacher's
last year we have been joined by Richard T. materials.
Wareham. of D. C. Heath and Company, who It is impossible for me to express my thanks
smoothed the transition into this edition. adequately to those people whose continuing
In this book the illustrations are essential. wisdom has been my chief reliance. The
They were created by cooperative work between trouble — and pleasure — is that there are too
the illustrators, photographers, and physicists. many. Professor J. R. Zacharias has re-
Peter Robinson and Percy Lund have worked strained himself with admirable control when,
hard to make their illustrations meet our needs. as often happened, the text or laboratory was
James Strickland and Berenice Abbott have not sufficiently settled to ease his job of mak-
worked together to produce many of the ex- ing an accompanying film. He has encouraged
cellent photographs: others were taken by us with his confidence despite the inevitable
Charles Smith. Ben Diver, Phokion Karas, problems that arose in some of the new de-
Robin Hartshorne, Paul Larkin, and (in Part velopments. Professors Morrison, Rogers,
III) by Professor Chalmers Sherwin and Louis Frank, and Rossi have been among the major
Koester of the University of Illinois. Special creators and selectors of material at every
film clips were supplied by the Educational point. The whole process has been a con-
Services Incorporated film studio, where work tinuing cycle and I can only stop where I
on the related films has gone on in close collab- began, by acknowledging our indebtedness to
oration. more people than I could make clear with ten
The preliminary editions and the classroom times this space.
work of teachers were essential to the process Francis Lee Friedman
644 APPENDIX 3
STEERING COMMITTEE
FEEDBACK GROUP
(Other members of the staff have helped with this
program from time to time.)
Boyd, Watson F. —
Harvard University Division
Boylan, Paul J. —
Boston State Teachers Clawson, Lawrence D. — ESI Film
College, Mass. Division
Brandwein, Paul F. —
Harcourt, Brace & Cloud, Dudley H. — Wilbraham
Company; The Conservation Foundation Academy, Mass.
Brinckerhoff, Richard F. Phillips — Cohen, I. Bernard — Harvard University
Exeter Academy, N.H. Colby, Walter F. — National Academy of
Bronk, Detlev W. —
National Academy of Sciences
Sciences (Trustee, ESI) Connell, James R. —
University High
School, Urbana, 111.
Coons, Steven A. — MIT
Cooper, Leon F. — Brown University
* Educational Services Incorporated Coulter, Anne — ESI
t Massachusetts Institute of Technology Creutz, Edward — General Atomics
appendix 3 647
Jaffe, Bernard —
Writer Leacock, Richard — Film director
Jones, Kenneth —
Anderson-Nichols & Co. Leatherman, Blanche — ESI Film Division
Jones, Richard N. —Indian Springs LeCorbeiller, Philippe — Harvard
School, Ala. University
Jones, Thomas F., Jr. MIT — LeSuer, George W. — University of
Joseph, Alexander —
Bronx Community Buffalo
College, N.Y. Leung, George Y. — MIT
Jubenville, Arthur R. — Apparatus Lewis, Lester C. — Wagner Lutheran
designer College
Kanefsky, Victor — ESI Film Division Lewis, Robert B. — Aspen Public Schools.
Karas, Phokion — MIT Colo.
Katz, Leonhard — Woburn Engineering Littauer, Raphael — Cornell University
Co. Littell, Andrew — MIT
Katzeff, Robert J. — ESI Film Division Little, Clifford C. — The Hill School,
Kaufman, Jack —
ESI Film Division Pottstown, Pa.
Kearney, Gene R. —
ESI Film Division Little, Elbert P. — ESI
Kelly, Mervin —
Bell Telephone Little, Noel C. —
Bowdoin College
Laboratories Loomis, F. Wheeler —
University of
Kennedy, Muriel B. — ESI Illinois
Kerman, Arthur K. — MIT Loud, Carol — ESI Film Division
Kerr, Clark — University of California Lund, Percy — MIT
(Trustee, ESI) Lutyens, W. David M. — Harvard
Killian, James R., Jr. — MIT (Trustee, University
ESI) MacLachlan, James H. —
Earl Haig
King, John G. MIT — Collegiate Institute, Canada
Kingsbury, Bruce F. ESI — Madsen, Borge S. —
University of
Knauss, Harold P. University of— Copenhagen
Connecticut Marden, Richard G. —
Worcester
Koester, Louis J., Jr. — University of Classical High School, Mass.
Illinois Marean, John H. —
Reno High School,
Koestler,Arthur Writer — Nev.
Kopel, Hal —
Encyclopaedia Britannica Marsh, Charles R. — Pennsylvania State
Films, Inc. University
Kudzma, Thomas G. — Clinton High Marsh, Paul E. — MIT
School, Iowa Mason, Richard F. — Madison High
Lacroix, Arthur — New England Electric School, N.J.
System McCormack, James, — MIT Jr.
Laitin, Joseph — Writer Meister, Morris — Bronx Community
Land, Edwin H. — Polaroid Corporation College, N.Y.
appendix 3 649
Menzel. Donald —
Harvard University PROTHEROE, Chester F. — Needham Senior
Meyer. Judith —
Harcourt, Brace & High School, Mass.
Company Purcell, Edward M. — Harvard
MlCHELS, \V\lter C. — Bryn Mawr College University
Mius. CiuiORD L. — University of Rabi, I. I. —
Columbia University
Connecticut Randall, Courtland S. ESI —
Miller. Ray L. — Hunter College High Ravenhall, D. G. —
University of Illinois
School, N.Y. Redfield, Alfred G. —
International
Millman. Sidney — Bell Telephone Business Machines Corp.
Laboratories Richards, Benjamin T. ESI —
Mitchell. Dale— Columbia University Richardson, Barbara B. ESI —
Molarsky, Osmond — Film editor Roberts, Laurence H., Jr. —
Woodstock
Montgomery, Dorothy D. — Hollins Country School, Vt.
College Robinson, Peter — Artist
Morochntk, Abraham — ESI Film Division Rogers, Eric M. — Princeton University
Morris, Joseph C. — Tulane University Romer, Alfred — Lawrence University
St.
Smith, Alison V. — Rutgers University Waltz, George H., Jr. — Writer and
Smith, Charles C. — Radnor High School, editor
Pa. Watson, Fletcher —
Harvard University
Smith, Edwin M. — Withrow High School, Waymouth, John —
Sylvania Company
Cincinnati, Ohio Webb, James E. —
ESI (President, Trustee)
Smith, James H. — University of Illinois Weinstein, Roy M. —MIT
Smith, Kenneth A. — Watertown, Mass. Wertheim, Leo —
Technical editor
Smith, Kevin H. — ESI Film Division Westervelt, Peter —
Brown University
Smith, M. Daniel — ESI Film Division White, Charles L., Jr. —
Encyclopaedia
Smith, Malcolm K. — ESI Britannica Films, Inc.
Soule, Andrew — Topsfield High
J. White, Stephen ESI —
School, Mass. Wilkes, Daniel M. —
University of
Stabler, Howard P. — Williams College California
Stanton, Frank — CBS (Trustee, ESI) Williams, John A., Jr. — ESI Film
Stark, Leonard — ESI Film Division Division
Stetson, Robert — Watertown, Mass. Williams, Robert W. — MIT
Stratton, Julius A. — MIT Wilson, M. Mitchell —
Editorial consultant
Strickland, James — ESI S. Wilson, Robert R. —
Cornell University
Summerbell, Alice — University of Illinois Wine, Emery C. —
Western Interstate
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Tomer, Darrel W. — Hanford Union High Wolga, George MIT —
School, Calif. Wood, Thomas H. —
University of
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Telephone Laboratories Worsley, Wallace, Jr. — International
Van Bork, Bert —
Encyclopaedia Production Associates, Inc.
Britannica Films, Inc. Youtz, Byron L. —
Reed College, Oregon
Varney, Harold W., Jr. — ESI Film Zacharias, Jerrold R. —
MIT (Trustee.
Division ESI)
Verbrugge, Frank —
University of Zigman, Joseph — International Production
Minnesota Associates, Inc.
Wall, Nathan S. MIT — Zim, Herbert S. — Simon & Schuster
Walters, John H. —
Browne and Nichols
School, Cambridge, Mass.
1 9 1
INDEX
Absolute temperature scale, 15S. 42° Batteries, conductors, and potential Circuits, 515-518
Absolute zero. 158 difference, 507 5 1 Circular motion, 330-332
Absorption and heating. 243-244 Batteries, volts, and amperes, 502- Circular pulses, 261
\bsorption spectra. 622-624 504 Circulation of magnetic held around a
xbsorption spectrum of sodium, (>22 Beams of light, 191-192 changing electric flux, 568
Acceleration along the path. 63-65 Becquerel, Henri, 5 Classical physics, 609
Acceleration, centripetal. 331 Betatron. 556 Clocks, atomic, 624
constant. t>5-66 Binding energy of satellites, 4 8 —4 1 1 electronic, 16
instantaneous. 64 Binocular vision, 193 Cloud chamber, 454-455
\dams. John Couch, 358 Biochemistry, 2 Coinage, decimal system of, 23
\iming error. 578 Biophysics, 2 Collisions, 368-372
Mpha-particle scattering, 573-585 Biot, jean Baptiste, 530 elastic, 396
Alpha particles. 542-543. 573 Black body, 597 inelastic, 391, 412
deflection of. 573-576 Black boxes, 172-174 laws of, 371-372
trajectories of. in the electric field Bohr. Niels, 601, 625 Color and wave length of light, 288-290
of a nucleus. 5~6-578 Boltzmann. Ludwig, 14 1 Color effects in interference, 299
Alphonso \. 34o Bound states, 625 Colored materials, 180-182
Ammeter. 503 Boyle, Robert, 56, 432 1 Combining volumes, law of, 131-132
moving-coil. 535 Boyle's law, 54-1 581 Commutator, 536
Amorphous substances. 146 Brahe, Tycho, 347-348 Comparing times, 15-16
Ampere. Andre Marie, 531 Brown, Robert, 161 Components of vectors, 79-82
Ampere (unit). 503 Brownian motion and noise, 161-164, Compound microscope, 232
Amplification and display, 170 170 Compounds, carbon, 125
Amplifiers. 170 Bubble chamber, 1 19 Compton, A. H., 598
Analysis, chemical, 106-107 Bulk motion, mechanical energy of. Compton effect, 598, 599
Analytical balance, 97 431-433 Conductivity of gases, 453-454
Andromeda nebula. 28, 29. 295 of metals, 515
Angles, sines of. 215 Calculus, 358 of solutions, 455-456
Angstrom unit. 1 16 Calibration, 172 Conductors and insulators, 445
Angular distribution of scattering. Caliper, micrometer, 30 Conductors, batteries, and potential
578-582 Calorie, 435 difference, 507-511
Apollonius. 346 (kilocalorie), 435 Conic sections and inverse-square
Approximations. 256 Camera, 229-230 force field, 578
Aristotle. 30S Candle, standard, 242 Conservation of charge, 482
Astronomical telescopes, 200-202 Cannizzaro, Stanislao, 130 Conservation of energy, 437, 620
Astronomy. 2 Carbon compounds, 125 Conservation of mass, 102-104
Astrophysics, 2 Cathode-ray oscilloscopes, 457-459 Conservation of matter, 102-104
Atom, planetary model of, 492 Cavendish, Henry, Lord, 359 Conservation of mechanical energy,
Atom-probing experiments, 573-585 Cell, electrolytic, 493 419-420
Atomic and molecular masses. Cells, standard, 502 Conservation of momentum, 370-372,
132-133 Celsius temperature scale, 97, 1 59 379-382
Atomic clocks, 624 Center of mass, 376-378 Constant acceleration, 65-66
Atomic energy levels, 616-618 Centigrade temperature scale, 97, 59 1 Constant in Coulomb's law, 480—48
Atomic number of element, 583 Centrifugal force, 339 proportionality, 39
Atomic particles, counting, 119-122 Centripetal acceleration, 331 Convergence of light by prisms,
Atoms, 9. 113-123. 572-586 Centripetal force, 332 226-227
and interference, 287-288 Cesium atom, energy levels of, 618 Convex lenses, 229
Rutherford model of, 573-576 Chadwick, James, 398, 583 Coordinates, Cartesian, 31
Attraction and repulsion between Chance, orderliness of, 591-592 rectangular, 31
electrified objects, 443^44 Changes in velocity, 310-312 Copernican planetary system,
Avogadro. Amadeo, 129 Charge, conservation of, 482 346-347
Avogadro's hypothesis, 129 elementary, 474-478 Copernicus, Nicolaus, 346
Avogadro's law, 132 grains of, 468 Corex, 184
Avogadro's number, 133 positive and negative, 444 Cornu, Marie Alfred, 245
Charged particles, moving, 487-504 Correspondence principle, 625
Bacon. Roger, 432 Charges, induced, 449 Coulomb, Charles, 462
Balance, equal-arm, 96 Chemical analysis, 106-107 Coulomb experiment, 462
Balmer, J. J., 625 Chemical composition, laws of, Coulomb force, 464
Balmer series, 624, 625 125-127 Coulomb (unit), 503
Bar magnet, resemblance to solenoid. Chemistry', 2 Coulomb's law, 464, 481
531 of life, 140-141 constant in, 480-481
Batteries, 451—452 organic, 138 Counting atomic particles, 19-122
1
651
652 INDEX
Counting units, 15-16 Earth, gravitational field of, 324-325 Electroscope, experiments with. 446-
Critical angle, 219 magnetic field of, 527 447
Crystals, 142-144 mass of, 101 gold-leaf, 446
geometry of, 144-145 rotation of, 339-340 Electroscopes and electrometers.
Curie, Marie, 5, 121 Earth satellites, 333-334 improved. 450-451
Curie, Paul, 121 Earth's crust, elements in, 108 Electrostatic induction. 448-450
Current, electric, 452-453, 493-494 Einstein, Albert, 5. 104, 299, 360. Elementary charge, 474-478, 496-497
in electrolytic cells, 493 522, 596 Elementary charges, force between.
in ionized gases,513 Einstein-Planck relation, 597 480-481
in metal conductors, 514 Einstein relation, 136 Elements, 107-108
saturation, 513 interpretation of the photoelectric in earth's crust, 108
in thermionic emission, 514 effect, 594-597 in human body, 108
vs. potential difference, 513-515 photoelectric equation, 596 table of. 584
Cut-off potential, 595 Elastic interactions, 395-396 Ellipse as orbit, 578
Cycloid, 90 Electric charge and electric force, EMF (8), energy supplied per ele-
463^464 mentary charge, 497-499
Dalton, John, 125, 127, 133
of electrons and other particles of Emission, thermionic, 457
De Broglie, Louis, 601
matter, 482-483 currents in, 514
Decimal system of coinage, 23
Electric currents, 452-453, 493, 494 Energy, 386
Decision, the unit of measurement,
electrolvtic measurement of, conservation of, 437, 620
168-170
494-496 internal, 431-433
Decomposition, chemical, 106
Electric and electric potential
field kinetic, 390-391
Deflecting forces, 330-332
difference, 499-502 and potential difference, 512-513
Deflection of alpha particles, 573-585
Electric fields around changing mag- quantum, 597
Democritus, 131
INDEX 653
Fresnel lens, 234 wave theory of, 628-632 Joule experiment, 433
400
Frictional interactions, Hydrogen ion, mass of, 491 Judging distance, 193
Jupiter, satellites of, 27
Functions, mathematical, 42 Hyperbola, as orbit, 578
Kelvin, William Thomson, Lord, 160
Idealizations and approximations,
Kelvin temperature scale, 158, 429
Galilei, Galileo, 1, 3, 4, 5, 45, 188, 255-257
Kepler, Johannes, 348-352
307, 432 Illusions, 202-205
Kepler's laws of planetary orbits,
Galle. Johann, 358 Image, real, 197 349-351
Gamma rays, frequency of, 566 virtual, 197
Kilocalorie (Calorie), 435
Gas, molecular model of a, 152-154 Images and illusions, 202-205
Kilogram, 97
Gas pressure, 425^429 in plane mirrors, 195-197
Kinematics, 51, 91, 307
Gas thermometers, 158 Impulse, 363-364
Newtonian, 92
Gases, conductivity of, 453^154 Incandescent bodies, 179
Kinetic energy, 390-391
noble, 430 Index, relative, 217-218
and momentum, 396-398
number of particles in, 128-129 of refraction, 213-216
transfer of, 391 r 394
without walls, 164 Indirect lighting, 180
Geiger counters, 514 Induced charges, 449 Lambda (wave length), 263
Geiger. Hans, 482, 542, 581, 582 Induced current and induced EMF, Large electrical balance, 478-480, 48
Geocentric theory, 346 548-551 Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, 5, 7
Geology, 2 Induced electric fields, direction of, Lebedev, Peter, 243
Geometry, Euclidean, 43 557-558 Leeuwenhoek, Anton van, 232
of crystals, 144-145 Induced EMF, direction and magni- Lengths, orders of magnitude of
Geophysics, 2 tude of, 550-551 (table), 28
1
654 INDEX
speed of, 92, 187-188 small electrical forces, 468-474 Motors, direct-current, 536
wave model for, 257-258 surfaces and volumes, 33 Motors and meters, 535-536
Light beams, 191-192 Mechanical and thermal energy, Moving charged particles, 487-504
Light meter, 241 equivalence of, 433-434 Moving-coil ammeters, 535
Light pipe, 219 Mechanical energy, conservation of, Miiller field-ion microscope,
1 16
INDKX 655
656 INDEX
Standard cells, 502 intervals of, 10, 15 Volt, electron (unit), 503
Standard masses, 97 measurement of, 16 Volt (unit), 502
Standard meter, 23 Time-lapse photography, 12 Volumes, measuring, 33
Standing wave energies, computation Times, comparing, 15-16
of, 631 orders of magnitude of (table), 18 Wallis, John, 372
Standing waves, 627, 629 Torsion balance, 462 Water, heavy, 136
Stars, distance of, 44 Total internal reflection, 218-220 Water waves, 260-261
fixed, 25 Trajectories of alpha particles in the Watt, James, 416
Steno, Nicolaus, 144 electric field of a nucleus, Watt (unit), 416
Stereoscopic effect, 193 576-578 Wave length (lambda), 263
Straight pulses, 261 Transfer of energy, 387 Wave length of light
Strassmann, F., 5 Transfer of kinetic energy, 391-394
and color, 288-290
Stroboscope, 14-15 Transmission of waves, 254—255 and photon energy, 597
Substance, pure, 107 Transparent materials, 180-182 Wave lengths, 277-279
Superposition, 251-254 Triangulation, 23-29 Wave mechanics, 633
Surfaces, measuring, 33 Triode, 460 Wave model for light, 257-258
Swift, Jonathan, 45 Tubes, radar, 459 Wave nature of matter, importance
Synchrotron, 565 radio, 457 of, 607-609
Synthesis, chemical, 106-107 459
television,
Wave of hydrogen energy-
theory
Tycho Brahe, 347-348 628-632
levels,
Taylor, Geoffrey, 592 Waves, 248-249
Telescope, 1 1 Ultraviolet light, 184
on coil springs, 249-251
Telescopes, astronomical, 200-202 Units, counting, 15
diffraction of, 268-269
refracting, 232 of distance, 23 dispersion of, 267-268
Television tubes, 459 of matter, natural, 34 matter, 601-606, 628
Temperature and the gas model, of time, 15 periodic, 263-265
158-161 Universal conservation of energy, 437 reflection of, 261-263
and molecular kinetic energy, Universal gravitation, 355-356
refraction of, 265-267
429^31 Newton's law of, 356 standing, 625, 629
Temperature scale, absolute, 158, 429 water, 260-261
Celsius, 97, 159 Varying speeds, 53-55 Weight, 324-325
centigrade, 97, 159 Vector addition of magnetic fields,
Weston cell, 502
Kelvin, 158, 429 526-529 What it is that waves, 609-610
Theoretical physicists, 5 Vectors, 74 Work and kinetic energy when more
Thermal and mechanical energy, addition and subtraction of, 74-77 than one force acts, 398-399
equivalence of, 433-434 components of, 79-82 Work as a measure of energy trans-
Thermal energy, 425, 429^431 and trips, 74—77 fer, 387-390
Thermal speed of electrons, 515 velocity, 77-78
unit of, 389
Thermionic emission, 457 Velocity, 77 Wren, Christopher, 372
currents in, 514 and force, 312-314
Thermodynamics, laws of, 436 instantaneous, 77
Thermometers, gas, 158 Velocity changes and constant vector
X rays, frequency of, 566
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