How to Disguise a Helium Atom as a Hydrogen Atom

Donald Fleming�of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues managed to disguise a helium atom as a hydrogen atom byreplacing one of its orbiting electrons with a muon, which is far heavier than an electron.

Because it is so heavy, the muon sits 200 times closer to the helium nucleus than the electron it replaces and cancels out one of the nucleus's positive charges. The remaining electron then behaves as if it were orbiting a nucleus with just one positive charge, just like the electron in a hydrogen atom. The difference is that the nucleus is 4.1 times heavier than normal.

Notes:

Neat experiment that allowed a Helium atom to act like a hydrogen one.

Folksonomies: science physics atom atomic chemistry

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Atomic disguise makes helium look like hydrogen

Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article: McAlpine, Kate (18:37 28 January 201), Atomic disguise makes helium look like hydrogen, New Scientist, Retrieved on 2011-01-30

Source Material [www.newscientist.com]

Folksonomies: science physics atom atomic alchemy

Triples

30 JAN 2011

Helium Made to Mimic Hydrogen and High-Pitched Voices

How to Disguise a Helium Atom as a Hydrogen Atom > Cause and Effect > How Much Would a Heavier Helium Atom Affect the Pitch of Your Voice?
Physicists made a helium atom act like a hydrogen atom, and the geeks at Slashdot figure out how much the new helium atom would affect the pitch of your voice in comparison to a normal helium atom.

Folksonomies: physics geekiness geeking out fun nerd