An object absorbing an electromagnetic wave would experience a force in the direction of propagation of the wave. This force occurs because electromagnetic waves contain and transport momentum. The force accounts for the wave's radiation pressure exerted on the object. Maxwell's prediction was confirmed in 1903 by Nichols and Hull by precisely measuring radiation pressures with a torsion balance. The measuring instrument had mirrors suspended from a fiber kept inside a glass container. Nichols...

An applied magnetic field causes the electrons present in the molecule to circulate, setting up a local diamagnetic current within the molecule. The local diamagnetic current arising from circulating sigma-bonding electrons induces a magnetic field, Blocal that opposes the applied magnetic field, B0. The effective magnetic field experienced by these nuclei is given by the difference between the applied and local magnetic fields in a phenomenon called local diamagnetic shielding. Essentially,...

Near absolute zero temperatures, in the presence of a magnetic field, the majority of nuclei prefer the lower energy spin-up state to the higher energy spin-down state. As temperatures increase, the energy from thermal collisions distributes the spins more equally between the two states. The Boltzmann distribution equation gives the ratio of the number of spins predicted in the spin −½ (N−) and spin +½ (N+) states.

The earth's gravitational field produces a 'twisting force' perpendicular to the angular momentum of a spinning mass (such as a spinning top) that causes the mass to 'wobble' around the gravitational field axis in a phenomenon called precession. Similarly, the magnetic moment (μ) of a spinning nucleus precesses due to an external magnetic field directed along the z-axis. The precession of the magnetic moment vector about the magnetic field is called Larmor precession, and the angular frequency...

All atomic nuclei are positively charged. When they have a nonzero spin, they behave like rotating charges. As a consequence of their charge and spin, these nuclei generate a magnetic field (B). This, in turn, gives rise to a magnetic moment (μ), which is randomly oriented in the absence of an external magnetic field. When an external magnetic field (B0) is applied, the magnetic moment vectors can align with the field or against it in 2 + 1 orientations. A hydrogen nucleus, which is just a...

NMR-active nuclei have energy levels called 'spin states' that are associated with the orientations of their nuclear magnetic moments. In the absence of a magnetic field, the nuclear magnetic moments are randomly oriented, and the spin states are degenerate. When an external magnetic field is applied, the spin states have only 2 + 1 orientations available to them. A proton with = ½ has two available orientations. Similarly, for a quadrupolar nucleus with a nuclear spin value of one, the...