User:Johnjbarton/sandbox/introduction to quantum mechanics: Difference between revisions

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=== Quantization of bound electrons in atoms ===

{{main | Atomic theory | Bohr atom | Bohr-Sommerfeld model}}

Experiments with light and matter in the late 1800s uncovered a reproducible but puzzling regularity. When light was shown through purified gasses, certain frequencies (colors) did not pass. These dark absorption 'lines' followed a distinctive pattern: the gaps between the lines decreased steadily. By 1889, the [[Rydberg formula]] predicted the lines for hydrogen gas using only a constant number and the integers to index the lines. The origin of this regularity was unknown. Solving this mystery would become quantum mechanics first major victorystep toward quantum mechanics.

Throughout the 19th century evidence grew for the [[atomic theory|atomic]] nature of matter. With JJ Thomson's discovery of the electron in 1897, scientist began the search for a model of the interior of the atom. Thomson [[Plum pudding model|proposed]] negative electrons swimming in a pool of positive charge. Between 1908 and 1911, [[Rutherford model | Rutherford]] showed that the positive part was only 1/3000th of the diameter of the atom.