Atoms as Defects

What Quantum Mechanics Gets Right (and Why) SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave After rebuilding atomic structure from first mechanics, an obvious question remains: If atoms are defects in a mechanical medium, why does quantum mechanics work so well? This is not […]

Why Atoms Don’t Collapse (or Fly Apart) SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave Once atoms are understood as circulating defects embedded in a mechanical medium, a final classical worry inevitably appears: If there is inward stress, why doesn’t the atom collapse?If there

Why Energy Levels Are Quantized SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave Once atoms are understood as circulating defects constrained by the medium, one of the most distinctive features of atomic behavior comes into focus: Atoms do not change energy continuously. They absorb

Why Spin Is Not Optional SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave As atomic structure becomes clearer, one feature refuses to disappear: Rotation. Angular momentum shows up everywhere in atomic physics—spin, magnetic moments, selection rules, polarization. It is often introduced as an intrinsic

Why the Periodic Table Repeats SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave By now, two facts are clear: What remains to be explained is the most visually striking feature of chemistry: Why does the entire pattern repeat? Why does nature not simply grow

Shell Closure as Mechanical Node Locking SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave In the previous post, we saw why atomic shells exist: only certain stress envelopes are mechanically admissible around a stable defect.Now we confront a sharper, more decisive question: Why do

Why Atomic Shells Exist at All SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave If atoms are defects in a mechanical medium—not waves themselves—then the next question is unavoidable: Why do defects organize into shells at all? Why isn’t an atom just a single,

Why Atoms Must Be Defects (Not Waves) SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave Now that we’ve defined the atom mechanically—as a stable topological defect—we need to address a tempting alternative that repeatedly resurfaces: Why not treat atoms as standing waves or localized

What Is an Atom, Mechanically? SERIES IX — ATOMS AS DEFECTS IN A MECHANICAL MEDIUM Why the Periodic Table Looks Like a Standing Wave Before we can recompute physics from first mechanics, we must answer a deceptively simple question: What is an atom, mechanically? Not mathematically.Not historically.Not by postulate. Mechanically. This question sits at the