INDEX

1.Henry Moseley’s Law

2.Moseley’s Law Statement
3.Experiment
4.Derivation of Law
5.Importance
6.Examples
7.Things To Remember
8.Bibiliography
Henery Moseley’s Law:

Moseley's law is an empirical law concerning the

characteristic X-rays emitted by atoms. The law had been
discovered and published by the English physicist Henry
Moseley in 1913–1914.Until Moseley's work, "atomic
number" was merely an element's place in the periodic table
and was not known to be associated with any measurable
physical quantity.In brief, the law states that the square root
of the frequency of the emitted X-ray is approximately
proportional to the atomic number

The statement of moseley’s law is: “The square root of the

frequency of the x-ray emitted by an atom is proportional to
its atomic number”. New elements were also found because
of this law. This law came to existence because when Henry
Moseley was studying graphs, he found a strange
relationship between the lines and the atomic number. This
law also helped with organizing the elements on the periodic
table based on atomic numbers rather than atomic mass. The
formula for Moseley’s law is

ν=a(Z–b)…(1)
Statement:
The square root of the frequency of the x-ray emitted by an
atom is proportional to its atomic number.

New elements were also found because of this law. This

law came to existence because when Henry Moseley was
studying graphs, he found a strange relationship between the
lines and the atomic number. This law also helped with
organizing the elements on the periodic table based on
atomic numbers rather than atomic mass.

Experiment:

Moseley X-Ray ExperimentX-ray spectrometers are the

fundamental foundation-stones of the process of X-ray
crystallography. The working by Moseley by employing X-
ray spectrometers is as follows:

A glass-bulb electron tube was used, inside this evacuated

tube, electrons were fired at a metallic substance, which was
a sample of the pure element in his work.

The firing of electrons on a metallic substance caused the

ionization of electrons from the inner electron shells of the
element. The rebound of electrons into the holes in the inner
shells then caused the emission of X-ray photons leaving out
the tube in a semi-beam, through an opening in the external
X-ray shielding.

Now, these radiated X-rays were then diffracted by a

standardized salt crystal, with angular results emitting in the
form of photographic lines by the exposure of an X-ray film
fixed at the outside the vacuum tube at a known distance.

Next, Moseley employed the application of Bragg's law

after initial guesswork of the mean distances between atoms
in the metallic crystal, based on its density next leading to
calculate the wavelength of the emitted X-rays.

The Setup:
Analysis of Experiment:

i. Firstly, we must confirm Moseley’s law with six known

samples of elements. Since the energy is the characteristic
X-ray (according to Moseley), which is proportional to (Z
- n and channel number N is directly proportional to E,
then N is proportional to (Z - n). Therefore, N kZ = − bg
n.

ii. Draw a graph plotting N vs. Z for the six known samples.
Obtaining the best values of k and n can be observed from
this graph. Now, look at your spectra carefully and think
about what the uncertainties in your data are. Devise a
reasonable method for determining the uncertainties in n
and k.

iii. Determine Z for the unknowns by comparing the peak

position for each with your results from the six known
samples and also determine the uncertainty associated
with your findings.

Therefore, this is how we can determine the atomic number

of a material; by observing the X-ray characteristic of an
element.

Derivation:

So according to Henry Moseley Law,

We have the Equation:
ν = a (Z–b)…(1)
Let a transitive state occur from n1 to n2 state as per Bohr’s
theory. The energy of an emitted photon is
hν = RChz2 (1n21–1n22)
where,
n1 = quantum number of final energy level
n2 = quantum number of initial energy level
ν = frequency for the kα lines
z = Atomic number
h=6.63∗10−34Js
R = Rydberg constant
C = Constant

Importance of Henry Moseley’s Law:

Moseley’s law is very important because it proved that

atomic numbers are more necessary than atomic mass and it
is because of this reason that the entire periodic table was
changed based on the element's atomic number. This law
also helped with discovering new elements and explained
the property of elements way better.
 In 1914, Moseley also published a paper where he spoke
about three unknown elements between two others and
because of all his experiments and data, we now have more
information about how to study elements. He also found that
the K lines were related to the atomic number and later
found the formula by which the approximated relationship
between them could be calculated.

Examples:

If λCu is the wavelength of kα X-ray line of copper (atomic

number 29) and λMo is the wavelength of the kα X-ray line
of molybdenum (atomic number 42), the ratio λCu/λMo is
close to.
Solution:
The wavelength of kα X-ray line is related to atomic
number Z by Moseley’s Formula
λ = (Z−1)−2
∴ λcu/λmo = (Zmo −1/Zcu −1)2
λcu/λmo = (42 −1/29 −1)2 = 2.144
The elements with higher atomic number (molybdenum in
this example) give high energy X-rays (short wavelengths).
Things to Remember:
 According to Mosley's law, the atomic number is
roughly proportional to the square root of the emitted x-
ray frequency.
 According to Moseley's Law, the atomic number of an
element is its most important property.
 This law connects the frequency of an emitted X-ray
and the atomic number of an element.
 The frequency of a spectral line in a typical X-ray
spectrum varies directly as the square of the atomic
number of the element that generates it.
 The atomic number is proportional to the square root of
the frequency of the x-ray emitted by an atom.
 New elements such as Hafnium (72), Technetium (43),
Rhenium (75), and others were discovered as a result of
Mosley's law.

Bibilography:
1. https://protonstalk.com/physics/moseleys-law/
2. For Science,King and Country:Life and Legacy of
Henry Moseley.