First images of an atom's electron probability clouds

[n2doc]

These are the first images of a carbon atom's electron clouds, showing several arrangements of the clouds (in blue) as they orbit the nucleus.

The images were captured by Igor Mikhailovskij's team at the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, Ukraine.

The team unravelled a sheet of graphene – a one-atom-thick lattice of carbon atoms – to create a carbon-atom chain, which they put in a vacuum at 4.2 kelvin.

They then ran 425 volts through the carbon, causing the atom at the tip to emit electrons onto a phosphor screen and produce the image.

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn15018-pick-of-the-pictures

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. mapping probabilities. neat.

and cosmic neat, as well.

[On the Road]

2. I Thought They Did This Years Ago

or maybe that was just hydrogen atoms. Carbon has the outer orbital.

[Ian David]

3. Those aren't electrons. The atom is mooning us.

[patrice]

6. The one on the bottom right is a bowling ball for an alien.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Until I saw these pictures, I was convinced

that electrons are really little grey ball bearings in well defined orbits, no matter what anyone says.

Now I see that I was wrong. They're blue.

[Why Syzygy]

8. And they are probablities.

:bounce:

[NNadir]

5. p-like pictures. There's something an uncertainty problem here, no?

I'll try to look for the publication when it comes out.

It should be a fun read.

Thanks.

[patrice]

7. The electrons are the ones that bond the atom with other atoms, right?

[Indenturedebtor]

9. If they come to share an electron is my understanding

So basically you have one atom that is "missing" an electron, and another atom that has a loose enough grip on one of it's electrons so they "share" the loosely held electron.

[comtec]

10. LOL OMFG Do you know what this is???

It's the beginnings of a real Heisenberg compensator!!!! LOL
yay wacky ruskies (heh heh my Ukraine colleagues would kill me if they heard that)

[Orrex]

11. I won't be impressed until I see their working model of a pattern buffer

[comtec]

12. pfft already have those

my company does that for video signals all the time.

the trick is a real honest to god Heisenberg compensator =]

[Orrex]

13. Double pfft. Let's see your annular confinement beam.

[Hissyspit]

14. Hey no sex threads.

[Odin2005]

15. SWEET!!!