Scientists have now found and interesting way to understand the periodic table of elements.

With the advancement of technology, scientists have now found a way to assign a musical signature to each of the elements in the periodic table. Spearheading this research is mechanical engineer Asegun Henry who works as an assistant professor at Georgia Tech. His goal is to provide scientists and researchers with a unique way of understanding the elements.

Henry is trying to use this method of musical tones to help create a more interesting tool to educate people about the periodic table. The idea stems from his concept of the universe being constantly moving and making noise. His research may well indeed help other researchers in the field.

By creating a musical signature, scientists can use sonification as a means of analyzing particle collisions. We may very well be able to find subatomic particles by sound.

The musical tone of each element is determined by the waves produced from its vibrations. During the early 19th century, the atomic structure was thought to consist of electrons revolving around the nucleus of an atom – similarly to our solar system.

But not long after this model was developed, a man named Erwin Schrödinger found that, in reality, the electrons were like clouds surrounding the nucleus. His theory proposed that the electrons were vibrating around the nucleus. These vibrations are intensified within the molecular bonding when particles start to collide with each other. This allowed Henry to analyze the musical signature of each of the elements.

To be able to find the musical tone of the elements, Henry had to slow down each of the vibrational waves. He found that the elements were vibrating at such a high speed that the frequencies were too high. By slowing down the process, he was able to give a better distinction between each element. You will find that certain elements have a very low pitch and some can have a very high pitch.

Henry was able to identify 3 different vibrational modes which were crossfading within each other and could sync with one another. In wave theory, when the waves are in sync, they produce harmonics which can vary.

Although the sound from each element may not be very musical, the use of musical signature will help scientists analyze particles with a greater ease, especially in molecular structures as the particles will vibrate constantly within the bonds of the molecule. Henry believes that after locating the mechanism responsible for this effect he may be able to make superconducting of materials a reality. This, in turn, will open a range of applications that can have a practical use.

Henry was able to get his work published in the Journal of Applied Physics and he is currently applying for a grant to fund his app, which will allow us to hear the musical signatures and possibly make our own unique musical tone.

References:

  1. Science Alert
  2. Gizmodo

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