TELEVISION

Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World

Series: Great Courses
4.3
(15)
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Episodes
24
Rating
TVPG
Year
2015
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Discover how the immense variety of matter-stars, mountains, plants, people-is made by a limited number of elements that combine in simple ways. In the engaging lectures of The Nature of Matter, no scientific background is needed to appreciate everyday miracles like a bouncing rubber ball or water's astonishing power to dissolve. Knowledge of materials drives the development of civilization. Where will we go next?

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 24

1. Matter, Energy, and Entropy

30m

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Starting with a deck of cards tossed into the air, explore the key concepts of matter, energy, and entropy, which are the building blocks of the physical universe. Study examples of these phenomena, and see how they are demonstrated by the behavior of the airborne cards.

2. The Nature of Light and Matter

30m

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Trace a scientific revolution that started with a curious observation about light and a seemingly nonsensical explanation. Learn how Max Planck's proposal that energy is related to frequency, and Albert Einstein's application of this principle to light, gave birth to modern physics.

3. A New Theory of Matter

30m

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Discover how the idea that light comes in discrete packets called quanta led to a startling new theory of matter: quantum mechanics. One prediction is that matter, like light, behaves as both a particle and a wave, a property observed in subatomic particles such as electrons.

4. The Structure of Atoms and Molecules

30m

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Understand atomic and molecular structure with the help of a simple analogy: the rooms of a house and the collection of houses in a city. See how the electrons of an atom occupy shells, subshells, and orbitals, which give atoms and molecules their distinctive properties.

5. The Stellar Atom-Building Machine

30m

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Where did atoms come from? Trace the story of nucleosynthesis-the formation of complex nuclei and atoms. Cover this process from the big bang, which filled the universe with hydrogen and helium, to the events inside stars that produced practically all of the heavier elements.

6. The Amazing Periodic Table

30m

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Investigate an astonishingly powerful scientific tool: the periodic table of the elements. Delve into the insights that led Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev to construct the first modern version of the table in the 1860s, and explore the world of information it contains.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish