Interesting. Mass-energy change at the atomic scale is usually ignored by chemists and physicists because it is too small measure. Now that such a small change can be measured perhaps it will lead to the discovery/recognition of novel phenomena at the interface of chemical and nuclear physics. Harry
On Sat, May 9, 2020 at 1:33 PM Terry Blanton <hohlr...@gmail.com> wrote: > A new door to the quantum world has been opened: When an atom absorbs or > releases energy via the quantum leap of an electron, it becomes heavier or > lighter. This can be explained by Einstein's theory of relativity (E = > mc2). However, the effect is minuscule for a single atom. Nevertheless, the > team of Klaus Blaum and Sergey Eliseev at the Max Planck Institute for > Nuclear Physics has successfully measured this infinitesimal change in the > mass of individual atoms for the first time. In order to achieve this, they > used the ultra-precise Pentatrap atomic balance at the Institute in > Heidelberg. The team discovered a previously unobserved quantum state in > rhenium, which could be interesting for future atomic clocks. Above all, > this extremely sensitive atomic balance enables a better understanding of > the complex quantum world of heavy atoms. > > > https://phys.org/news/2020-05-successfully-infinitesimal-mass-individual-atoms.html > >
