Let me try to explain this to my grandma.
Me: You know about atoms, right.
Grandma: Yea, I think so, but I died 50 years ago, so go slow.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja…
Me: You know about atoms, right.
Grandma: Yea, I think so, but I died 50 years ago, so go slow.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja…
M: Atoms have nuclei and electrons. We worry about where the nuclei are, because the electrons just sort of follow them around.
G: Got it. This is easy.
M: We are made up of molecules. Molecules are groups of atoms connected in a specific way.
G: Like a group of friends.
G: Got it. This is easy.
M: We are made up of molecules. Molecules are groups of atoms connected in a specific way.
G: Like a group of friends.
M: More like a patchwork quilt. The pieces are the nuclei and the stitching is the electrons.
G. But you said not to worry about the electrons.
M: Well, the electrons can follow around more than one nuclei, holding groups together.
G: Like Friends.
G. But you said not to worry about the electrons.
M: Well, the electrons can follow around more than one nuclei, holding groups together.
G: Like Friends.
M: Ok, like friends. But if you think of the quilt, a certain way of stitching holds the patches, together in a certain way. That is the molecule. I will call each way of stitching a “state” and the very best way the “ground state.”
Some less good way of stitching is the “excited state.”
G: Ground state, excited state, got it.
M: So you shine a light on one quilt, and it changes its stitching, and it goes up to another quilt and changes that one’s stitching.
G: You don’t know much about quilts, do you?
G: Ground state, excited state, got it.
M: So you shine a light on one quilt, and it changes its stitching, and it goes up to another quilt and changes that one’s stitching.
G: You don’t know much about quilts, do you?
M: Ok, like a group of friends. If you break up one friendship, it can break up another, and after a while the groups have changed. Call the first friendship the “sensitizer” and their breaking up puts them in an excited state.
G: So the friends fight over a quilt, got it.
G: So the friends fight over a quilt, got it.
M: Uh, yea, ok, so it makes a difference which friends fight. There are violent high-energy friends that when they fight, it is a bar fight. They hit the people around them, and then they hit more people. Everyone around scurries.
It is hard to guess which other friendships will end and which new ones will form, but the changes are most likely for those closest to the fight.
G: That is why this is a dry town. Bars are bad.
G: That is why this is a dry town. Bars are bad.
M: But fights between mild-mannered low-energy friends still make a difference. When they fight, it will still cause everyone else to change over time. But it is predictable. The weakest friendships will end.
G: How do you know which are the weakest?
G: How do you know which are the weakest?
M: Well, actually, it is the friendships between the lighter people that change most.
G: Here, have some cake. Your friendships will last forever. You are such a cute boy.
G: Here, have some cake. Your friendships will last forever. You are such a cute boy.
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