Femtochemistry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Femtochemistry is the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10–15 seconds (this is one femtosecond, hence the name).
In 1999, Ahmed H. Zewail received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering work in this field.
Zewail’s technique uses flashes of laser light that last for a few femtoseconds. One femtosecond equals one millionth of one billionth of a second (0.000000000000001 second). Femtochemisty is the area of physical chemistry that addresses the short time period in which chemical reactions take place and investigates why some reactions occur but not others. Zewail’s picture-taking technique made possible these investigations. One of the first major discoveries of femtochemistry was that intermediate products that form during chemical reactions differ from the starting and end products. By understanding these molecular dynamics, chemists one day may be able to better control chemical reactions and create new molecules.
[edit] External links
- The 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, article on nobelprize.org
 |
This chemistry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
