Which of the following drawings best represents the precession of the spin angul

Question

Which of the following drawings best represents the precession of the spin angular momentum vector (shown in blue in the drawing) of a hydrogen atom (shown in purple in the drawing) in the presence of an external magnetic field? Case A Case B Case C Briefly explain your answer to the previous question. If the energy difference between the spin states is Delta E = hf, which frequency f_rf of the oscillating field is required to induce the hydrogen atoms to flip their spins? f_rf > f f_rf f f_rf

Explanation / Answer

Case B is correct option.

This is explained using the Zeeman effect. The energy levels of the hydrogen atom are effected by the interaction between the electron spin magnetic moment and orbital angular momentum. It can be visualized as a magnetic field caused by the electron's orbital motion interacting with the spin magnetic moment. The directions of spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum changes constantly as they precess about J. This applicable for weak external magnetic field.

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