Stern used silver for his atoms, detected them with a glass plate, where the beams made silvery spots:
Stern used silver for his atoms, detected them with a glass plate, where the beams made silvery spots:
He saw distinct spots corresponding to the m quantum number, proof of the”amazing” spatial quantization;
but he saw two where he expected three
mystery solved by two Dutch grad students, who didn’t know why what they proposed couldn’t be right:
they said that the electron had an “intrinsic spin” of angular momentum =1/2
and that factor 2 had blocked experts!!