Download How Atoms Work - Distribution Access

TEACHER’S GUIDE
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our Web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/home.html
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Virtual Visitor Center provides information about particle accelerators as well as the history of particle physics.
• www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p01.htm
The American Institute of Physics Web site contains historical information
about the most brilliant minds in science.
• livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/index.html
This site is an excellent introduction to the history and future of antimatter
research.
• www.nobel.se
The Nobel eMuseum is an excellent resource for studying the science and
the scientists that have made tremendous impacts on our society and have
been awarded the Nobel Prize for their efforts.
How Atoms Work
Quantum Leaps
Grades 9–12
T
his series explores the world of ground-breaking
scientific research through the most prestigious award
in the scientific community — the Nobel Prize.Each program
illustrates the research and discoveries of preeminent world
scientists who have been honored for their achievements in
the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine or physiology.
Established by scientist Alfred Nobel in his will and first conferred in 1901, the Nobel Prize is given annually to great
thinkers for making important discoveries or improvements
in their field that provide the greatest benefit to mankind.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Paula J. Bense, M.Ed
Curriculum Specialist
Schlessinger Media
TITLES
• BLOOD RESEARCH
• DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING
• ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
• HOW ATOMS WORK
• IMMUNOLOGY
• NOBEL – THE MAN
• ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
• RADIOACTIVITY
• SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES
• SUPERCONDUCTORS
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
This guide provides a brief synopsis of the program, background on the science concepts presented in the show, discussion topics,activities,vocabulary and additional resources.
800-843-3620
S
R
MEDIA
A DIVISION OF LIBRARY VIDEO COMPANY®
Program Copyright 2001 York Films of England
Teacher’s Guide Copyright 2002 Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video Company
P.O. Box 580, Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
All rights reserved
S
R
CHLESSINGE
CHLESSINGE
®
MEDIA
A DIVISION OF LIBRARY VIDEO COMPANY®
®
Historical Background
At the beginning of the 20th century, the field of physics was very different
than it is today. Due to the intellectual achievements of some brilliant
thinkers, advances in technology at this time allowed scientists to measure the
properties of matter and energy on extremely small scales, and make predictions about the nature of the atom that were inconsistent with classical
mechanics. Max Planck won the coveted Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918 with
his theory that energy is radiated in fixed amounts called quanta. His idea
explained why objects change color as they get hotter and emit energy.
Planck’s theory correctly predicted the spectrum of radiation emitted by stars
and laid the foundation for the development of quantum theory.
Albert Einstein used Planck’s ideas to investigate the photoelectric effect,
which is the release of electrons from certain metals by the action of light.
Einstein proposed that light travels in packets called photons and that the
energy of each photon is proportional to the frequency of the light. His
amazing “thought experiments” and mathematical work led to a Nobel Prize
for Physics in 1921.
Building on the theories of Planck and Einstein, Neils Bohr synthesized all
these separate facts into a coherent model of the atom, with electrons traveling around the nucleus in fixed orbits, like planets around the sun.The Nobel
Prize was awarded to him in 1922 for this simplified picture of the components of matter.
Victor de Broglie was another scientist who helped develop the field of
quantum mechanics by explaining that light has a dual nature; in some cases,
it behaves as a wave, and in other cases, it behaves as a photon. For this innovational theory, he received the Nobel Prize in 1929. Scientists Clinton
Davisson and Paget Thomson were able to prove de Broglie’s theory and were
awarded the Nobel Prize in 1937.
Another brilliant physicist who helped create quantum mechanics was Erwin
Schrödinger. Schrödinger developed a mathematical equation describing the
strange wave properties of particles, and Paul Dirac incorporated his theories
with those of Einstein to describe various properties of the electron. His computations led him to predict the existence of the positron (the antiparticle of
the electron) and when this prediction was confirmed, Dirac shared the Nobel
Prize for Physics in 1933 with Schrödinger. Carl Anderson was the physicist
who found proof that the positron existed in a cloud chamber of cosmic particles. He won the Nobel Prize in 1936 for his efforts.
Vocabulary
classical mechanics — The field of physical science that attempts to explain
how the universe works based on the study of observable objects in motion.
quantum mechanics — The science based on the study of sub-atomic particles, based on the theory that energy is absorbed or radiated in packets called
quanta.
wavelength — Measurement of the distance between two consecutive high
points or low points on a wave.
(Continued)
frequency — The number of wavelengths that pass a fixed point in a given
time.
photon — The smallest unit of light/electromagnetic energy. Photons are generally regarded as particles with zero mass and no electric charge.
photoelectric effect — The release of electrons from certain metals by the
action of light.
electron — A negatively charged particle commonly found in the outer layers
of atoms.
positron — A particle identical to the electron, but with a positive charge.
Discovered in 1932, positrons were the first evidence that antimatter existed.
matter — Substances made predominantly of atoms consisting of protons,
neutrons and electrons.
antimatter — Matter composed of particles with opposite charges and
magnetic fields as the sub-atomic particles found in ordinary matter. When
antimatter joins its counterpart, mutual annihilation occurs.
Discussion Questions
1.What is classical mechanics?
2.What is light? How does it travel?
3.Who was James Maxwell?
4.Why do objects change color as they get hotter?
5.What are photons?
6.What is Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle?
7.What is the photoelectric effect?
8.What is meant by wave-particle duality?
Activities
• Have students research the evolution of theoretical atomic models (i.e.,
Rutherford’s first model,Thomson’s plum pudding model, Bohr’s planetary
model, Schrödinger’s model) and challenge them to construct different
models using common items.
• Discuss with students the kind of “thought experiments” done by theoretical
physicists like Einstein.
• Ask students to use the Internet and other sources to find information on
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and “Schrödinger’s cat.”
• Have students replicate the double slit experiment to experience the wave
function of light.
Suggested Print Resources
• Cole, K.C., First You Build a Cloud: And Other Reflections on Physics as a
Way of Life. Harvest Books, San Diego, CA; 1999.
• Gilmore, Robert. The Wizard of Quarks: A Fantasy of Particle Physics.
Copernicus Books, New York, NY; 2001.
• Lederman, Leon. From Quarks to the Cosmos: Tools of Discovery.
Scientific American Library Series. 1996.