Hydrogen atom
hideA hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively-charged proton and a single negatively-charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force. The most abundant isotope, hydrogen-1, protium, or light hydrogen, contains no neutrons; other isotopes contain one or more neutrons. This article primarily concerns hydrogen-1.
The hydrogen atom has special significance in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory as a simple two-body problem physical system which has yielded many simple analytical solutions in closed-form.
In 1914, Niels Bohr obtained the spectral frequencies of the hydrogen atom after making a number of simplifying assumptions. These assumptions, the cornerstones of the Bohr model, were not fully correct but did yield the correct energy answers. Bohr's results for the frequencies and underlying energy values were confirmed by the full quantum-mechanical analysis which uses the Schrödinger equation, as was shown in 1925/26. The solution to the Schrödinger equation for hydrogen is analytical. From this, the hydrogen energy levels and thus the frequencies of the hydrogen spectral lines can be calculated. The solution of the Schrödinger equation goes much further than the Bohr model however, because it also yields the shape of the electron's wave function ("orbital") for the various possible quantum-mechanical states, thus explaining the anisotropic character of atomic bonds.
The Schrödinger equation also applies to more complicated atoms and molecules. However, in most such cases the solution is not analytical and either computer calculations are necessary or simplifying assumptions must be made.
For more information about Hydrogen atom, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with hydrogen atoms
New methods are changing old materials
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A company that makes steel for bearings used in heavy trucks had a big problem. The trucks travel through harsh, perilous environments such as Siberia, and an unexpected bearing failure on ...
For Future Superconductors, a Little Bit of Lithium May Do Hydrogen a Lot of Good
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have a long and unsuccessful history of attempting to convert hydrogen to a metal by squeezing it under incredibly high and steady pressures.
Scientists Image the 'Anatomy' of a Molecule (w/ Video)
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, IBM researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, have taken a 3D image of an individual molecule. Using an atomic force microscope, the researchers constructed a "force map" of ...
From graphene to graphane, now the possibilities are endless
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 31, 2009 |
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Ever since graphene was discovered in 2004, this one-atom thick, super strong, carbon-based electrical conductor has been billed as a "wonder material" that some physicists think could one day replace silicon ...
First nanoscale mass spectrometer created
Jul 22, 2009 |
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Using devices millionths of a meter in size, physicists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a technique to determine the mass of a single molecule, in real time.
Producing hydrogen from urine
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Jul 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- You do two things at motorway services: fill up one tank and empty another. US chemists have combined refuelling your car and relieving yourself by creating a new catalyst that can extract ...
Pushmi-pullyu of B-cell development discovered
Jun 25, 2009 |
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James Hagman, Ph.D., professor of immunology at National Jewish Health and his colleagues have identified two "molecular motors" that work in opposing directions to control the development of B cells in the immune system.
Large Hadron Collider restart delayed till October
Jun 20, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The world's largest atom smasher will likely be fired up again in October after scientists have carried out tests and put in place further safety measures to prevent a repeat of the faults that sidelined ...
Synthetic catalyst mimics nature's 'hydrogen economy'
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
May 18, 2009 |
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By creating a model of the active site found in a naturally occurring enzyme, chemists at the University of Illinois have described a catalyst that acts like nature's most pervasive hydrogen processor.
Water acts as catalyst in explosives
Mar 20, 2009 |
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The most abundant material on Earth exhibits some unusual chemical properties when placed under extreme conditions.
Structure of enzyme against chemical warfare agents determined
Jan 28, 2009 |
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The enzyme DFPase from the squid Loligo vulgaris, is able to rapidly and efficiently detoxify chemical warfare agents such as Sarin, which was used in the Tokyo subway attacks in 1995.
Heavy Pyridine Crystallizes Differently
Jan 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The nuclei of ordinary hydrogen atoms contain only a single proton. If a neutron is added, the hydrogen becomes deuterium. In principle, molecules that contain deuterium in place of hydrogen ...
Solar flare surprise
Dec 15, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar flares are the most powerful explosions in the solar system. Packing a punch equal to a hundred million hydrogen bombs, they obliterate everything in their immediate vicinity. Not a ...
Duke innovations improve accuracy of MRI as internal 'thermometer'
Oct 16, 2008 |
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Duke University chemists say they have developed a new way to measure temperature changes inside the body with unprecedented precision by correcting a subtle error in the original theory underlying Magnetic Resonance Imaging ...
Now That's Cool: Engineers Out to Thaw the Mysteries of Ice
Aug 07, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "Ye canna change the laws of physics!" Scotty warned Captain Kirk on Star Trek. But engineers and physicists at the University of Maryland may rewrite one of them.
