Title

Teaching the Spin Selection Rule: An Inductive Approach

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Published In

Journal of Chemical Education

Volume

90

Issue

1

Pages

70-75

DOI

10.1021/ed200795t

Abstract

In the group exercise described, students are guided through an inductive justification for the spin conservation selection rule (ΔS = 0). Although the exercise only explicitly involves various states of helium, the conclusion is one of the most widely applicable selection rules for the interaction of light with matter, applying, in various ways, to atoms and molecules of all sizes. Connections are made among several concepts routinely covered in physical chemistry courses including the Pauli Principle, orthonormal wave functions, overlap integrals, atomic term symbols, multiplicity, radiative lifetimes, fluorescence, and phosphorescence. Detailed student directions are included in the Supporting Information.

Keywords

Atomic spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, inquiry-based/discovery learning, physical chemistry, quantum chemistry, upper-division undergraduate

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