The Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World

Exploring the key concepts of matter, energy and entropy; they are the building blocks of the physical universe; examples of these phenomena; how they are demonstrated by the behavior of the airborne cards.

Tracing a scientific revolution that has started with a curious observation about light and a nonsensical explanation; learning about Max Planck's proposal that energy is related to frequency; Albert Einstein's application of this principle.

The idea that light comes in discrete packets called quanta leads to a new theory of matter; quantum mechanics; matter, like light, behaves as both a particle and a wave; a property of subatomic particles such as electrons.

Understanding atomic and molecular structure with the help of a simple analogy; how the electrons of an atom occupy shells, subshells, and orbitals, which give atoms and molecules their distinctive properties.

The origins of atoms; the story of nucleosynthesis; the formation of complex nuclei and atoms; this process fills the universe with hydrogen and helium; the events inside stars that are producing practically all of the heavier elements.

Investigating a scientific tool; the periodic table of the elements; the insights that lead Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev to construct the first modern version of the table; the information it contains.