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Freezing Electrons in Flight

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2012Science1878, arizona, artificial, arvinder sandhu, atmosphere, atom, attosecond, camera, chemical process, destruction, eadweard muybridge, earth, electron, electron emission, electronic devices, electronic motion, emulsion plate, excited atom, femtosecond, formation, ground, henry timmers, high energy, horse, iconic series, laser flash, laser pulses, microscopic dynamics, molecular process, muybridge, mystery, natural, niranjan shivaram, oxygen molecule, ozone, phenomena, photo, photograph, physical, quintillionths, real-time, second, stroboscopy, super excited, technique, touch, ultrafast, ultraviolet light, university, upper atmosphere, zeptosecond

Using the world’s fastest laser pulses, which can freeze the ultrafast motion of electrons and atoms, UA physicists have caught the action of molecules breaking apart and electrons getting knocked out of atoms. Their research helps us better understand molecular processes and ultimately be able to control them in many possible applications.

In 1878, a now iconic series of photographs instantly solved a long-standing mystery: Does a galloping horse touch the ground at all times? (It doesn’t.) The images of Eadweard Muybridge taken alongside a racetrack marked the beginning of high-speed photography.

Approximately 134 years later, researchers in the University of Arizona department of physics have solved a similar mystery, one in which super-excited oxygen molecules have replaced the horse, and ultrafast, high-energy laser flashes have replaced Muybridge’s photo emulsion plates. (more…)

NASA Finds Sea Ice Driving Arctic Air Pollutants

PASADENA, Calif. – Drastic reductions in Arctic sea ice in the last decade may be intensifying the chemical release of bromine into the atmosphere, resulting in ground-level ozone depletion and the deposit of toxic mercury in the Arctic, according to a new NASA-led study.

The connection between changes in the Arctic Ocean’s ice cover and bromine chemical processes is determined by the interaction between the salt in sea ice, frigid temperatures and sunlight. When these mix, the salty ice releases bromine into the air and starts a cascade of chemical reactions called a “bromine explosion.” These reactions rapidly create more molecules of bromine monoxide in the atmosphere. Bromine then reacts with a gaseous form of mercury, turning it into a pollutant that falls to Earth’s surface. (more…)

Tag Archives: chemical process

Freezing Electrons in Flight

NASA Finds Sea Ice Driving Arctic Air Pollutants