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Critical Opalescence
In physics, critical opalescence refers to the dramatic increase in scattering of light in the region of a continuous, or second-order, phase transition. Near the critical point, the properties of the liquid and gas phases become indistinguishable. The resulting density fluctuations are on such a large scale that they scatter visible light, giving the substance a cloudy or opalescent look. This phenomenon is an indicator of critical phenomena in fluids and can be observed in various materials under the right conditions. History Originally reported by French physicist Charles Cagniard de la Tour in 1823 in mixtures of alcohol and water, its importance was recognised by Irish chemist Thomas Andrews in 1869 following his experiments on the liquid-gas transition in carbon dioxide; many other examples have been discovered since. In 1908 the Polish physicist Marian Smoluchowski became the first to ascribe the phenomenon of critical opalescence to large density fluctuations. In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence formula , which arises from special relativity, has been called "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for . Born in the German Empire, Einstein moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg) the following year. In 1897, at the age of seventeen, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss ETH Zurich, federal polytechnic school in Zurich, graduating in 1900. He acquired Swiss citizenship a year later, which he kept for the rest of his life, and afterwards secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905, he submitted a successful PhD dissertation to the University of Zurich. In 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opalescence
Opalescence or play of color is an optical phenomenon associated with the mineraloid gemstone opal,opalescent. 2019. In Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Retrieved January 7, 2019, from https://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/opalescent a hydrated silicon dioxide. This effect appears as a milky, translucent glow that changes with the angle of light, often creating a soft, pearly sheen that can display various colors or hues. Opalescence can be seen in materials like certain minerals, glass, and even fluids. Definition Each of the three notable types of opalprecious, common, and fireDouma, M., curator. 2008. Opal. In Cause of Color. Retrieved January 8, 2019, from https://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/15F.htmldisplay different optical effects; therefore, the intended meaning varies depending on context. * The general definition of ''opalescence'' is a milky iridescence displayed by an opal, which describes the visual effect of precious opal very well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transparency (optics)
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable light scattering by particles, scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions are much larger than the wavelengths of the photons in question), the photons can be said to follow Snell's law. Translucency (also called translucence or translucidity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material (with or without scattering of light). It allows light to pass through but the light does not necessarily follow Snell's law on the macroscopic scale; the photons may be scattered at either of the two interfaces, or internally, where there is a change in the index of refraction. In other words, a translucent material is made up of components with different indices of refraction. A transparent material is made up of components with a uniform index of refraction. Transparent m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Scattering
In physics, scattering is a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiation) in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of reflected radiation from the angle predicted by the law of reflection. Reflections of radiation that undergo scattering are often called '' diffuse reflections'' and unscattered reflections are called '' specular'' (mirror-like) reflections. Originally, the term was confined to light scattering (going back at least as far as Isaac Newton in the 17th century). As more "ray"-like phenomena were discovered, the idea of scattering was extended to them, so that William Herschel could refer to the scattering of "heat rays" (not then recognized as electromagnetic in nature) in 1800. John Tyndall, a pioneer in light scattering research, noted the con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Correlation Length
In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics it usually refers to the degree to which a pair of variables are '' linearly'' related. Familiar examples of dependent phenomena include the correlation between the height of parents and their offspring, and the correlation between the price of a good and the quantity the consumers are willing to purchase, as it is depicted in the demand curve. Correlations are useful because they can indicate a predictive relationship that can be exploited in practice. For example, an electrical utility may produce less power on a mild day based on the correlation between electricity demand and weather. In this example, there is a causal relationship, because extreme weather causes people to use more electricity for heating or cooling. However, in gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critical Point (physics)
In thermodynamics, a critical point (or critical state) is the end point of a phase Equilibrium (thermodynamics), equilibrium curve. One example is the liquid–vapor critical point, the end point of the pressure–temperature curve that designates conditions under which a liquid and its vapor can coexist. At higher temperatures, the gas comes into a supercritical fluid, supercritical phase, and so cannot be liquefied by pressure alone. At the critical point, defined by a ''critical temperature'' ''T''c and a ''critical pressure'' ''p''c, phase (matter), phase boundaries vanish. Other examples include the Upper critical solution temperature, liquid–liquid critical points in mixtures, and the ferromagnet–paramagnet transition (Curie temperature) in the absence of an external magnetic field. Liquid–vapor critical point Overview For simplicity and clarity, the generic notion of ''critical point'' is best introduced by discussing a specific example, the vapor–liquid cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclohexane
Cyclohexane is a cycloalkane with the molecular formula . Cyclohexane is non-polar. Cyclohexane is a colourless, flammable liquid with a distinctive detergent-like odor, reminiscent of cleaning products (in which it is sometimes used). Cyclohexane is mainly used for the industrial production of adipic acid and caprolactam, which are Precursor (chemistry), precursors to nylon. Cyclohexyl () is the alkyl substituent of cyclohexane and is abbreviated Cy. Production Cyclohexane is one of components of naphtha, from which it can be extracted by advanced distillation methods. Distillation is usually combined with isomerization of methylcyclopentane, a similar component extracted from naphtha by similar methods. Together, these processes cover only a minority (15-20%) of the modern industrial demand, and are complemented by synthesis. Modern industrial synthesis On an industrial scale, cyclohexane is produced by hydrogenation of benzene in the presence of a Raney nickel catalyst. Prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methanol
Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a light, Volatility (chemistry), volatile, colorless and flammable liquid with a distinctive alcoholic odor similar to that of ethanol (potable alcohol), but is more acutely toxic than the latter. Methanol acquired the name wood alcohol because it was once produced through destructive distillation of wood. Today, methanol is mainly produced industrially by hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. Methanol consists of a methyl group linked to a polar hydroxyl group. With more than 20 million tons produced annually, it is used as a Precursor (chemistry), precursor to other commodity chemicals, including formaldehyde, acetic acid, methyl tert-butyl ether, methyl ''tert''-butyl ether, methyl benzoate, anisole, peroxyacids, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rayleigh Scattering
Rayleigh scattering ( ) is the scattering or deflection of light, or other electromagnetic radiation, by particles with a size much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. For light frequencies well below the resonance frequency of the scattering medium (normal dispersion relation, dispersion regime), the amount of scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength (e.g., a blue color is scattered much more than a red color as light propagates through air). The phenomenon is named after the 19th-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt). Rayleigh scattering results from the electric polarizability of the particles. The oscillating electric field of a light wave acts on the charges within a particle, causing them to move at the same frequency. The particle, therefore, becomes a small radiating dipole whose radiation we see as scattered light. The particles may be individual atoms or molecules; it can occur when light travels throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marian Smoluchowski
Marian Smoluchowski (; 28 May 1872 – 5 September 1917) was a Polish physicist who worked in the territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was a pioneer of statistical physics and made significant contributions to the theory of Brownian motion and stochastic processes. Smoluchowski graduated in physics from the University of Vienna in 1895 before becoming a '' privatdozent'' at the University of Lemberg three years later. In 1913, he was appointed the chair of the Faculty of Experimental Physics at the Jagellonian University in Kraków. He is known for the Smoluchowski equation, Einstein–Smoluchowski relation and Feynman–Smoluchowski ratchet. Life He was born in 1872 into an upper-class family in Vorder-Brühl, near Vienna, to father Wilhelm and mother Teofila (née Szczepanowska). He attended the prestigious Collegium Theresianum and subsequently studied physics at the University of Vienna (1890-95). In 1895, he obtained his doctorate based on his disser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." It is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines. "Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Scientists of all disciplines use the ideas of physics, including chemists who study the structure of molecules, paleontologists who try to reconstruct how dinosaurs walked, and climatologists who study how human activities affect the atmosphere and oceans. Physics is also the foundation of all engineering and technology. No engineer could design a flat-screen TV, an interplanetary spacecraft, or even a better mousetrap without first understanding the basic laws of physics. (...) You will come to see physics as a towering achievement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
