When you hear the word “spin”, what comes into your mind? You might think of a little ball bouncing on the floor or you might imagine a ribbon of light spinning around a light bulb. In either case, spin is a force that acts in a direction that cannot be predicted. The direction of spin is always the same, which is always in the same plane as the spin axis (aka the “speed of light”). If you would like to get more information about spin, you can learn more about it from the Physics Properties of Spins tutorial page.
What is spin exactly? The simplest description would be “piece motion”. For example, when two balls are thrown, one of them will spin, while the other will remain still. Spin is an inherent form of electromagnetic momentum carried via elementary particles, which includes atomic nuclei and various composite particles.
How does spin carry energy? Like all the other particles in the world, spin can be “bounced” or “moved” to another state. For instance, an electron can be “entrusted” with a particular orbital state, which gives the electron a particular electric charge. An electron can only be in a single orbital at a given time; it cannot be in two different orbital states at once. And so, if we take into consideration all these basic laws of classical ( Newtonian ) physics, it becomes clear that spin is also involved in Quantum mechanics.
Let’s look into spin in more detail. Basically, spin is a virtual particle that can be observed by looking at a rotating system, like the surface of an atom. The spin is a resultant of the angular momentum of the system, which is a constant. There are two forces that result from spin, namely the force that is caused by the spin axis of a system, and the force that is caused by the spin motion of a distant point from the central axis of rotation.
In the case of the nuclear Physics atom, spin is carried through the nucleus as a result of the mutual spin attraction between the neutrons and protons. Thus, the nucleus can have a spin. The electron spin is a subatomic particle that is unique to a specific atom. When the atom has a lone proton, there is no electron spin; the only thing that can give it a spin is a bonding between the electron and the neutrons that results in a bonding energy, which can be used as a source of electricity.
In terms of the entire physics of the atom, spin plays a crucial role in the behavior of sub atomic particles. In many cases, spin is considered to be an emergent property of some sort, without any physical cause or explanation. Particles with a high level of spin appear to move faster than particles with a lower level of spin. This is why spin is taken into account when calculating the energy levels of particles in the laboratory.