Month: September 2013

Laser-Cooled Atoms: Cesium

L to R, cesium metal in a glass ampule, a college classmate working on a cesium cooling apparatus at Stanford, and an electron shell diagram.

Element: Cesium (Cs) Atomic Number: 55 Mass: One stable isotope, mass 133 amu. Laser cooling wavelength: 854nm, but see below. Doppler cooling limit: 125 μK. Chemical classification: Yet another alkali metal, column I of the periodic table. This one isn’t greyish, though! It’s kind of gold color. Still explodes violently in water, though. Other properties… Continue reading Laser-Cooled Atoms: Cesium

So Long, Summer

Last ice cream of pool season.

It’s Labor Day in the US, and due to a weird quirk of scheduling, for once I didn’t have to spend it at work. This is also the traditional end of the summer season, so SteelyKid and I went over to the JCC pool for one last dip and a final ice cream cone from… Continue reading So Long, Summer