CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

tesla    →   tesla

Tesla (T) is the SI derived unit of magnetic flux density. The tesla is magnetic flux density of a magnetic flux of one weber per square metre (T = Wb/m²). The unit was named after the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla (1857-1943), equal to V s/m².

weber    →   veber

Weber (Wb) is the SI derived unit of magnetic flux. The weber is the magnetic flux which, linking a circuit of one turn, produces in it an electromotive force of one volt as it is reduced to zero at a uniform rate in one second (Wb = V·s). The unit was named after the German scientist W.E. Weber (1804-1891).

spin    →   spin

Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle, or system of particles such as nucleus, that is also responsible for the magnetic moment; or, a particle or nucleus possessing such a spin. The spins of nuclei have characteristic fixed values. Pairs of neutrons and protons align to cancel out their spins, so that nuclei with an odd number of neutrons and/or protons will have a net non-zero rotational component characterized by a non-zero quantum nuclear spin number.

Stern-Gerlach experiment: a beam of silver atoms is split into two beams when it traverses a nonuniform magnetic field. Atoms with spin quantum number m_s=+1/2 follow one trajectory, and those with m_s=+1/2 follow another.

Zeeman effect    →   Zeemanov efekt

Zeeman effect is the splitting of the lines in a spectrum when the source of the spectrum is exposed to a magnetic field. The effect was discovered in 1896 by the Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943) as a broadening of the yellow D-lines of sodium in a flame held between strong magnetic poles.

The Zeeman effect has helped physicists determine the energy levels in atoms. In astronomy, the Zeeman effect is used in measuring the magnetic field of the Sun and of other stars.

Zeeman, Pieter    →   Zeeman, Pieter

Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943) was a Dutch physicist who discovered the splitting of the spectral lines of a substance when placed in a magnetic field (known as the Zeeman effect). In 1902, Zeeman and Lorentz were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, for their, extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomenon.