CD: The Structure of Matter, Part I: Fundamentals

„The Structure of Matter“ offers an introduction into the fundamentals of chemistry and physics, mineralogy and petrology, crystallography and crystal optics, chemistry of crystals and fundamental structures, quantum mechanics and high-energy physics. The focus of physics research is a fundamental particle hierarchy going from atoms to quarks and leptons. Even the entire cosmos has become a gigantic laboratory; once the laws governing subatomic particle behavior and interactions are understood, the origin of the universe will become that much clearer. This new CD offers students the possibility of bringing the fascination of this research field into the daily school program. A special effort was made to bring home the focal point of these studies in a visual manner. The accompanying texts furnish a wealth of reliable facts and data, the respective contents complementing each another; they have been crafted in a brief, precise language and are not „overloaded“ with terminology. Contents: Structure of the atom, elemental particles, atomic nuclei and structure of the atomic mantle. Using selected examples, the evolution from ancient ideas to current findings regarding the fine structure of matter is reviewed. Energy, matter, interactions: an attempt to visualize obscure processes taking place in the domain of elemental components of matter through their possible interactions. Classes of matter, properties of matter, chemical bond. Laws and relationships linking the physical and the chemical properties of matter. Model representations of atomic structure and chemical bonds. Crystal symmetry, properties of minerals, research into structure. Correlation between elemental particle lattice arrangement and macrosymmetry in crystallized matter. Macrophysical properties as criteria for determination of minerals. Principles governing X-ray structural analysis and its methods.