ATOMS IN MOTION
Many materials in nature are crystals. Table salt is an example of a crystal. Take a close look at a bit of salt. Upon close examination you see that it is made of little cubes.

Pure metals such as gold, silver, aluminum, platinum, copper, and nickel are crystals. In their purest form these metals are constructed in what is called a face-centered-cubic crystal.

A face-centered-cubic crystal is formed as follows. Imagine that you have a small pile of gold atoms. In this virtual experiment, imagine that you also have a cube to which the gold atoms will stick. Now place a gold atom at each of the eight corners of the cube. At this point, we have what is called a simple-cubic crystal. Gold atoms do not like to stay in this type of arrangement. Finally, place a gold atom in the center of each of the six faces of the cube. You have formed a face-centered-cubic crystal.

Surface scientists study the surface of materials. To facilitate communication between surface scientists, a shorthand notation consisting of three numbers was developed to describe the type of surface.

To see [for best results, download the linked files on this page and save to a temporary location for viewing] a nickel face-centered-cubic crystal formed and cut click here. When you have finished watching the animated gif click on the BACK button

The world of the atom is very small. The distance between the nickel (Ni) atoms is about 2 Angstroms. Comparing the distance between two nickel atoms in a crystal to a meter stick is like comparing one person to the world's population in size.

In the real world the atoms in a crystal move around. Since the distance between the atoms is very small, we must look at very small periods of time to see the motion. In the next animated gif file, times are recorded in pico-seconds - abbreviated as psec. A pico-second is one-trillioneth second. A pico-second is to a regular second what a U.S. dollar is to the national debt.

To see the nickel atoms in motion, click here. When you have finished watching the animated gif click on the BACK button

Ok. I'm a physicist and could not resist this third animated gif file. It delves a bit more into the science end of things. Click here to see the conclusion of the three part animation.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have questions, feel free to email me at jenc@torah.net.