Bose Einstein Condensate fact sheet

Bose Einstein Condensate Fact Sheet

There are 5 States of Matter Solids Liquids Gasses Plasma

And the Bose Einstein Condensates or BECS The Bose-Einstein state of matter was created in 1995 by two scientists, Cornell and Weiman. It is a condensate. When you hear the word condensate, think about condensation and the way gas molecules come together and condense to make a liquid.

It is when the molecules get denser or packed closer together.

Two other scientists, Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein, had predicted this state of matter in the 1920s, but they didn't have the equipment and facilities to make it happen at that time.

Now we do.

Atoms are the basic building blocks of all matter. https://www.youtube.com/embed/R1RMV5qhwyE

Atoms are extremely small and are made up of a few even smaller particles. The basic particles that make up an atom are electrons, protons, and neutrons. Atoms fit together with other atoms to make up matter. It takes a lot of atoms to make up anything.

Atoms last a long time, in most cases forever. They can change and undergo chemical reactions, sharing electrons with other atoms. But the nucleus is very hard to split, meaning most atoms are around for a long time.

Structure of the Atom At the centre of the atom is the nucleus. The nucleus is made up of the protons and neutrons. The electrons spin in orbits around the outside of the nucleus.

The Proton The proton is a positively charged particle that is located at the centre of the atom in the nucleus.

The Electron The electron is a negatively charged particle that spins around the outside of the nucleus. Electrons spin so fast around the nucleus, scientists can never be 100% sure where they are located, but scientists can make estimates of where electrons should be.

Electrons are attracted to the nucleus by the positive charge of the protons.

The Neutron

The neutron doesn't have any charge. The number of neutrons affects the mass and the radioactivity of the atom.

Other (even smaller!) particles • •

Quark - The quark is a really small particle that makes up neutrons and protons. Quarks are nearly impossible to detect and it's only recently that scientists figured out they existed.

Neutrino - Neutrinos are formed by nuclear reactions. They are like electrons without any charge and are usually travelling at the speed of light. Trillions and trillions of neutrinos are emitted by the sun every second. Neutrinos pass right through most solids including humans

In a solid the atoms barely move. They are packed tight.

When it gets hotter the atoms can slide past each other. They are becoming fluid….liquid.

When there is even more heat applied and the atoms move free and fast, we have a gas.

Plasmas are super hot and super excited atoms. They are an ionised gas. The electrons have been set free.

The atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) are total opposites.

They are super unexcited and super cold atoms.

About Condensation Let's explain condensation first. Condensation happens when several gas molecules come together and form a liquid. It all happens because of a loss of energy. Gases are really excited atoms. When they lose energy, they slow down and begin to collect. They can collect into one drop. Water (H2O) vapour in the form of steam condenses on the lid of your pot when you boil water. It cools on the metal and becomes a liquid again. You would then have a condensate.

The BEC happens at super low temperatures. We have talked about temperature scales and Kelvin. At zero Kelvin (absolute zero) all molecular motion stops. Scientists have figured out a way to get a temperature only a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero.

When temperatures get that low, you can create a BEC with a few special elements. Cornell and Weiman did it with rubidium (Rb).

Let the Clumping Begin So, it's cold. A cold ice cube is still a solid. When you get to a temperature near absolute zero, something special happens. Atoms begin to clump. The whole process happens at temperatures within a few billionths of a degree, so you won't see this at home. When the temperature becomes that low, the atomic parts can't move at all. They lose almost all of their energy.

Since there is no more energy to transfer (as in solids or liquids), all of the atoms have exactly the same levels, like twins. The result of this clumping is the BEC. The group of rubidium atoms sits in the same place, creating a "super atom." There are no longer thousands of separate atoms. They all take on the same qualities and, for our purposes, become one blob.