CARREON, JANNA MAE F.

HUMSS 12-PIAGET

PHYSICAL
SCIENCE
MODULE 14

Maxwell's Electromagnectic
Newtonian Mechanics Theory

EINSTEIN'S RELATIVITY

SPECIAL RELATIVITY GENERAL RELATIVITY

Inertial Frames of Reference Accelerated frames of reference

Consistency of Principle of Principle of

the speed of light Relativity Equivalence

Time Dilation

Cosmic speed limit

Length Contraction

Relativity of simultaneity

Mass-energy Equivalence
 CARREON, JANNA MAE F.
DEEPEN HUMSS 12-PIAGET
PERFORMANCE TASK
MERCURY

When Paul Dirac combined quantum mechanics with Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity to generate
relativistic quantum mechanics, it was a watershed moment in twentieth-century science. Dirac's theory
performed a lot of things, including predicting electron spin and the positron, analyzing atomic collisions, and
kicking off the quantum electrodynamics revolution, but it also had a big impact on chemistry. However, these
ramifications were not realized for another few decades because it was discovered that relativistic effects
could be ignored in most chemistry problems. Calculation was used to solve problems like chemical bonding,
predicting the thermodynamic properties of molecules and rates of chemical reactions, and understanding the
molecular glue that holds proteins together, all without chemists having to worry about relativity.
Mercury, the sole metal with this property, has enchanted and enthralled men for millennia; a gleaming
material that flows with calculated gravity, supports the weight of coins, miraculously appears to dissolve
other metals, and defies all attempts to scoop it up. When calibrated within a thermometer, a material that can
both help and kill when it accumulates in living tissues. Mercury's liquid nature, on the other hand, is immediately
apparent to everyone who has even a passing acquaintance with it. The heat capacity of the metal was
calculated using quantum mechanics, either including or without relativistic effects, by an international team led
by Peter Schwerdtfeger of Massey University Auckland in New Zealand. They demonstrated that if they neglected
relativity in their calculations, mercury's melting point would be 82°C. However, when relativistic effects were
included in, their solution was very close to the observed measurement of -39°C. According to Relativity, objects
become heavier as they move faster. The nuclear charge is related to the velocity of the innermost electrons in
atoms. The higher the electrical attraction between the nucleus and the electrons, the faster they must move
to avoid falling into it. Instead of creating bonds between surrounding mercury atoms, the electrons stay
connected with their own nuclei in the case of mercury, and weaker interatomic forces like van der Waals bonds
hold the atoms together.
To further explain, according to special relativity, as an object's velocity approaches the speed of light,
its perceived mass increases. The velocity of an electron is related to the atomic number of an element,
according to Niels Bohr's theory of atomic structure. Because the velocity of light elements like hydrogen (atomic
number 1) is so little in comparison to the speed of light, relativity can be ignored. However, this effect becomes
important for the 1s electron of mercury (atomic number 80); the electron approaches 58 percent of the speed of
light, and its mass increases to 1.23 times its rest mass. Relativity has taken over. Because the radius of an
electron orbit (orbital, to be precise) in the Bohr theory is inversely proportional to its mass, an increase in mass
leads in a 23 percent drop in the orbital radius. This shrinking makes a huge difference because it causes the
nucleus and electrons to attract more strongly, and this effect extends to the outermost 6s orbital as well as
other orbitals. The effect is exacerbated by the d and f orbitals' inadequacy in sheltering the s electrons. The
relativistic shrinkage, along with the filled character of the 6s orbital, makes mercury extremely hesitant to
share its outermost electrons and create strong bonds with other mercury atoms.
The bonding of mercury atoms in small clusters is mostly caused by weak Van der Waals forces, which are
caused by local charge fluctuations in nearby atoms rather than electron sharing. But all of this was just
speculation; someone had to do the hard work of determining the properties of each electron in the atom
relativistically. The relevant property in this situation is the heat capacity of a substance that varies
substantially during a phase transition, such as from solid to liquid.
 CARREON, JANNA MAE F.
HUMSS 12-PIAGET

GAUGE

1. D
2. B
3. A
4. C
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. B
9. C
10. B
11. D
12. D
13. C
14. D
15. B