On this day in physics: 28 February 1928- Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, an Indian Physicist, commenced experiments with light interference which led to his discovery of what is now known as the Raman Effect. Because of this it is also the date of National Science Day in India.
Word of the Day- Raman Effect is something that occurs during some photon scattering. If you shine light through a gas, it is possible to imagine it like a single photon traveling through a sea of pool balls. Each time the photon collides with one of the pool balls, (the pool balls being gas particles) the photon merely bounces off, and may change direction, but that's that. The atom is not changed, and neither is the photon. But sometimes, usually 1 in 10 million interactions, the photon is absorbed and moves one of the electrons into a higher-than-usual energy state, creating an excited electron, and changing the fundamental nature of the particle. This is known as the Raman effect.
Quote of the Day: "The true wealth of a nation consists not in the stored- up gold but in the intellectual and physical strength of its people." -C.V. Raman
Keywords: Electron, Scattering, Energy, Feynman, Diagram, Virtual. Photon, Raman
