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121-402: All physical damage begins on the atomic level, with the shifting or breaking of atomic bonds , and the rate at which damage to any physical thing occurs is therefore largely dependent on the elasticity of such bonds in the material being subjected to stress. Damage can occur where atomic bonds are not completely broken, but are shifted to create unstable pockets of concentration and diffusion of

242-434: A hospital patient, a child in a school, or a prison inmate . Some forms of institutional damage, such as medical errors and hospital-acquired infection are relatively easily measured; others, such as long-term damage to development and mental health are significantly harder to measure. There is controversy as to whether such damage can be measured and if it actually occurs. It is not a widely used term, however, but it

363-411: A basic unit of weight, with each element having a unit of unique weight. Dalton decided to call these units "atoms". For example, there are two types of tin oxide : one is a grey powder that is 88.1% tin and 11.9% oxygen, and the other is a white powder that is 78.7% tin and 21.3% oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in the grey powder there is about 13.5 g of oxygen for every 100 g of tin, and in

484-431: A change in the condition of a single good can have ramifications beyond that good. Menger wrote: If it is established that the existence of human needs capable of satisfaction is a prerequisite of goods-character [...] This principle is valid whether the goods can be placed in direct causal connection with the satisfaction of human needs, or derive their goods-character from a more or less indirect causal connection with

605-460: A common topic of study and commentary for the Austrian school of economics given its emphasis on methodological individualism . This is to such an extent that unexpected consequences can be considered as a distinctive part of Austrian tenets. In " Principles of Economics ", Austrian school founder Carl Menger (1840 - 1921) noted that the relationships that occur in the economy are so intricate that

726-517: A decrease as intended. According to an anecdote , the British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes in Delhi , offered a bounty for every dead cobra. This was a successful strategy as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, enterprising people began breeding cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, they scrapped the reward program, causing

847-410: A deficit or a surplus of electrons are called ions . Electrons that are farthest from the nucleus may be transferred to other nearby atoms or shared between atoms. By this mechanism, atoms are able to bond into molecules and other types of chemical compounds like ionic and covalent network crystals . By definition, any two atoms with an identical number of protons in their nuclei belong to

968-422: A different way, is internal conversion —a process that produces high-speed electrons that are not beta rays, followed by production of high-energy photons that are not gamma rays. A few large nuclei explode into two or more charged fragments of varying masses plus several neutrons, in a decay called spontaneous nuclear fission . Each radioactive isotope has a characteristic decay time period—the half-life —that

1089-478: A drug for an unlicensed purpose. Famously, the drug Viagra was developed to lower blood pressure, with its use for treating erectile dysfunction being discovered as a side effect in clinical trials. The implementation of a profanity filter by AOL in 1996 had the unintended consequence of blocking residents of Scunthorpe , North Lincolnshire , England, from creating accounts because of a false positive . The accidental censorship of innocent language, known as

1210-401: A final example: nitrous oxide is 63.3% nitrogen and 36.7% oxygen, nitric oxide is 44.05% nitrogen and 55.95% oxygen, and nitrogen dioxide is 29.5% nitrogen and 70.5% oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in nitrous oxide there is 80 g of oxygen for every 140 g of nitrogen, in nitric oxide there is about 160 g of oxygen for every 140 g of nitrogen, and in nitrogen dioxide there

1331-456: A finite set of orbits, and could jump between these orbits only in discrete changes of energy corresponding to absorption or radiation of a photon. This quantization was used to explain why the electrons' orbits are stable and why elements absorb and emit electromagnetic radiation in discrete spectra. Bohr's model could only predict the emission spectra of hydrogen, not atoms with more than one electron. Back in 1815, William Prout observed that

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1452-419: A fractional electric charge. Protons are composed of two up quarks (each with charge + ⁠ 2 / 3 ⁠ ) and one down quark (with a charge of − ⁠ 1 / 3 ⁠ ). Neutrons consist of one up quark and two down quarks. This distinction accounts for the difference in mass and charge between the two particles. The quarks are held together by the strong interaction (or strong force), which

1573-484: A given accuracy in measuring a position one could only obtain a range of probable values for momentum, and vice versa. Thus, the planetary model of the atom was discarded in favor of one that described atomic orbital zones around the nucleus where a given electron is most likely to be found. This model was able to explain observations of atomic behavior that previous models could not, such as certain structural and spectral patterns of atoms larger than hydrogen. Though

1694-451: A mathematical function that characterises the probability that an electron appears to be at a particular location when its position is measured. Only a discrete (or quantized ) set of these orbitals exist around the nucleus, as other possible wave patterns rapidly decay into a more stable form. Orbitals can have one or more ring or node structures, and differ from each other in size, shape and orientation. Each atomic orbital corresponds to

1815-417: A military operation, is called collateral damage , while damage specifically done to public or private property is called property damage . By extension, damage is also used to describe a degradation in the value of intangible things such as relationships , self-image , reputation , and goodwill . The propensity for damage to occur to physical objects and systems, as well as to intangible characteristics,

1936-493: A much more dangerous intoxicant—owing to its high flammability—by those seeking to become intoxicated without breaking the letter of their pledge. It was thought that adding south-facing conservatories to British houses would reduce energy consumption by providing extra insulation and warmth from the sun. However, people tended to use the conservatories as living areas, installing heating and ultimately increasing overall energy consumption. A reward for lost nets found along

2057-415: A particular energy level of the electron. The electron can change its state to a higher energy level by absorbing a photon with sufficient energy to boost it into the new quantum state. Likewise, through spontaneous emission , an electron in a higher energy state can drop to a lower energy state while radiating the excess energy as a photon. These characteristic energy values, defined by the differences in

2178-435: A photograph of her home online. Before the lawsuit had been filed, only 6 people had downloaded the file, two of them Streisand's attorneys. The lawsuit drew attention to the image, resulting in 420,000 people visiting the site. The Streisand Effect was named after this incident, describing when an attempt to censor or remove a certain piece of information instead draws attention to the material being suppressed, resulting in

2299-412: A poor economy and/or corrupt government (the so-called " resource curse ") The two concepts, damage caused by institutions and damage caused to institutions, are related in many situations. In widespread political trials (" witch hunting ") in democratic countries, such as in the famous House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1940s, damage was said to occur in both directions, i.e., not only

2420-423: A purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularized in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton . Unintended consequences can be grouped into three types: The idea of unintended consequences dates back at least to John Locke who discussed the unintended consequences of interest rate regulation in his letter to Sir John Somers, Member of Parliament. The idea

2541-547: A series of experiments in which they bombarded thin foils of metal with a beam of alpha particles . They did this to measure the scattering patterns of the alpha particles. They spotted a small number of alpha particles being deflected by angles greater than 90°. This shouldn't have been possible according to the Thomson model of the atom, whose charges were too diffuse to produce a sufficiently strong electric field. The deflections should have all been negligible. Rutherford proposed that

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2662-519: A set of atomic numbers, from the single-proton element hydrogen up to the 118-proton element oganesson . All known isotopes of elements with atomic numbers greater than 82 are radioactive, although the radioactivity of element 83 ( bismuth ) is so slight as to be practically negligible. About 339 nuclides occur naturally on Earth , of which 251 (about 74%) have not been observed to decay, and are referred to as " stable isotopes ". Only 90 nuclides are stable theoretically , while another 161 (bringing

2783-472: A short-ranged attractive potential called the residual strong force . At distances smaller than 2.5 fm this force is much more powerful than the electrostatic force that causes positively charged protons to repel each other. Atoms of the same element have the same number of protons, called the atomic number . Within a single element, the number of neutrons may vary, determining the isotope of that element. The total number of protons and neutrons determine

2904-440: A size that is too small to be measured using available techniques. It was the lightest particle with a positive rest mass measured, until the discovery of neutrino mass. Under ordinary conditions, electrons are bound to the positively charged nucleus by the attraction created from opposite electric charges. If an atom has more or fewer electrons than its atomic number, then it becomes respectively negatively or positively charged as

3025-563: A sub-component of complexity (in the scientific sense), the chaotic nature of the universe—and especially its quality of having small, apparently insignificant changes with far-reaching effects (e.g., the butterfly effect )—applies. In 1936, Robert K. Merton listed five possible causes of unanticipated consequences: In addition to Merton's causes, psychologist Stuart Vyse has noted that groupthink , described by Irving Janis , has been blamed for some decisions that result in unintended consequences. The creation of " no-man's lands " during

3146-557: A systematic analysis to the problem of unintended consequences of deliberate acts intended to cause social change . He emphasized that his term purposive action , "[was exclusively] concerned with 'conduct' as distinct from 'behavior.' That is, with action that involves motives and consequently a choice between various alternatives". Merton's usage included deviations from what Max Weber defined as rational social action: instrumentally rational and value rational. Merton also stated that "no blanket statement categorically affirming or denying

3267-410: A thousand times lighter than hydrogen (the lightest atom). He called these new particles corpuscles but they were later renamed electrons since these are the particles that carry electricity. Thomson also showed that electrons were identical to particles given off by photoelectric and radioactive materials. Thomson explained that an electric current is the passing of electrons from one atom to

3388-432: A tiny atomic nucleus , and are collectively called nucleons . The radius of a nucleus is approximately equal to 1.07 A 3 {\displaystyle 1.07{\sqrt[{3}]{A}}}   femtometres , where A {\displaystyle A} is the total number of nucleons. This is much smaller than the radius of the atom, which is on the order of 10  fm. The nucleons are bound together by

3509-482: A transportation method is uncommonly sighted, the likelier it could be deemed to be accident prone) Research by Vulcan, et al. found that the reduction in juvenile cyclists was because the youths considered wearing a bicycle helmet unfashionable. A health-benefit model developed at Macquarie University in Sydney suggests that, while helmet use reduces "the risk of head or brain injury by approximately two-thirds or more",

3630-470: A whole; a charged atom is called an ion . Electrons have been known since the late 19th century, mostly thanks to J.J. Thomson ; see history of subatomic physics for details. Protons have a positive charge and a mass of 1.6726 × 10  kg . The number of protons in an atom is called its atomic number . Ernest Rutherford (1919) observed that nitrogen under alpha-particle bombardment ejects what appeared to be hydrogen nuclei. By 1920 he had accepted that

3751-406: Is 320 g of oxygen for every 140 g of nitrogen. 80, 160, and 320 form a ratio of 1:2:4. The respective formulas for these oxides are N 2 O , NO , and NO 2 . In 1897, J. J. Thomson discovered that cathode rays are not a form of light but made of negatively charged particles because they can be deflected by electric and magnetic fields. He measured these particles to be at least

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3872-517: Is 78.1% iron and 21.9% oxygen; and there is another iron oxide that is a red powder which is 70.4% iron and 29.6% oxygen. Adjusting these figures, in the black powder there is about 28 g of oxygen for every 100 g of iron, and in the red powder there is about 42 g of oxygen for every 100 g of iron. 28 and 42 form a ratio of 2:3. Dalton concluded that in these oxides, for every two atoms of iron, there are two or three atoms of oxygen respectively ( Fe 2 O 2 and Fe 2 O 3 ). As

3993-438: Is a legal concept of considerable importance, because it is extremely common, particularly in countries where human rights of prisoners and other people under institutional care are not respected or guaranteed by law . Constitutional law , civil law (common law) and criminal law codices have many provisions to protect individuals against injuries caused by institutions to which they are unwillingly committed. The extent and

4114-408: Is a measure of the distance out to which the electron cloud extends from the nucleus. This assumes the atom to exhibit a spherical shape, which is only obeyed for atoms in vacuum or free space. Atomic radii may be derived from the distances between two nuclei when the two atoms are joined in a chemical bond . The radius varies with the location of an atom on the atomic chart, the type of chemical bond,

4235-485: Is accompanied by a loss of ability to recover quickly from various kinds of biological damage. Damage is one of two factors proposed to influence biological ageing (the other being programmed factors follow a biological timetable). Damage-related factors include internal and environmental assaults to living organisms that induce cumulative damage at various levels. Damage that occurs as an unintended consequence of an effort to cause intentional damage elsewhere, such as with

4356-573: Is affected by the ratio of protons to neutrons, and also by the presence of certain "magic numbers" of neutrons or protons that represent closed and filled quantum shells. These quantum shells correspond to a set of energy levels within the shell model of the nucleus; filled shells, such as the filled shell of 50 protons for tin, confers unusual stability on the nuclide. Of the 251 known stable nuclides, only four have both an odd number of protons and odd number of neutrons: hydrogen-2 ( deuterium ), lithium-6 , boron-10 , and nitrogen-14 . ( Tantalum-180m

4477-541: Is another key figure in the Austrian School of Economics who is notable for his comments on unintended consequences. In " The Use of Knowledge in Society " (1945) Hayek argues that a centrally planned economy cannot reach the level of efficiency of the free market economy because the necessary (and pertinent) information for decision-making is not concentrated but dispersed among a vast number of agents. Then, for Hayek,

4598-496: Is built into the prices of goods and services that depend on the supply of these things, particularly as a component of insurance costs. In law , damages are the award, typically of money , to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury (i.e., economic or physical damage). Institutional damage is broadly defined as unintended consequences to an individual resulting from interaction with an institution which has responsibility for his or her care. The individual might be

4719-558: Is composed of discrete units, and so applied the word atom to those units. In the early 1800s, John Dalton compiled experimental data gathered by him and other scientists and discovered a pattern now known as the " law of multiple proportions ". He noticed that in any group of chemical compounds which all contain two particular chemical elements, the amount of Element A per measure of Element B will differ across these compounds by ratios of small whole numbers. This pattern suggested that each element combines with other elements in multiples of

4840-510: Is determined by the amount of time needed for half of a sample to decay. This is an exponential decay process that steadily decreases the proportion of the remaining isotope by 50% every half-life. Hence after two half-lives have passed only 25% of the isotope is present, and so forth. Unintended consequence In the social sciences , unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences , more colloquially called knock-on effects ) are outcomes of

4961-438: Is higher than its proton number, so Rutherford hypothesized that the surplus weight was carried by unknown particles with no electric charge and a mass equal to that of the proton. In 1928, Walter Bothe observed that beryllium emitted a highly penetrating, electrically neutral radiation when bombarded with alpha particles. It was later discovered that this radiation could knock hydrogen atoms out of paraffin wax . Initially it

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5082-430: Is made up of tiny indivisible particles is an old idea that appeared in many ancient cultures. The word atom is derived from the ancient Greek word atomos , which means "uncuttable". But this ancient idea was based in philosophical reasoning rather than scientific reasoning. Modern atomic theory is not based on these old concepts. In the early 19th century, the scientist John Dalton found evidence that matter really

5203-429: Is mediated by gluons . The protons and neutrons, in turn, are held to each other in the nucleus by the nuclear force , which is a residuum of the strong force that has somewhat different range-properties (see the article on the nuclear force for more). The gluon is a member of the family of gauge bosons , which are elementary particles that mediate physical forces. All the bound protons and neutrons in an atom make up

5324-502: Is odd-odd and observationally stable, but is predicted to decay with a very long half-life.) Also, only four naturally occurring, radioactive odd-odd nuclides have a half-life over a billion years: potassium-40 , vanadium-50 , lanthanum-138 , and lutetium-176 . Most odd-odd nuclei are highly unstable with respect to beta decay , because the decay products are even-even, and are therefore more strongly bound, due to nuclear pairing effects . The large majority of an atom's mass comes from

5445-400: Is only a matter of discovering these laws. For his part, for Karl Marx what can be understood as unintended consequences are actually consequences that should be expected but are obtained unconsciously. These consequences (that no one consciously sought) would be (in the same way as it is for Engels ) product of conflicts that confront actions from countless individuals. The deviation between

5566-477: Is required to bring them together. It is this energy-releasing process that makes nuclear fusion in stars a self-sustaining reaction. For heavier nuclei, the binding energy per nucleon begins to decrease. That means that a fusion process producing a nucleus that has an atomic number higher than about 26, and a mass number higher than about 60, is an endothermic process . Thus, more massive nuclei cannot undergo an energy-producing fusion reaction that can sustain

5687-421: Is that an accelerating charged particle radiates electromagnetic radiation, causing the particle to lose kinetic energy. Circular motion counts as acceleration, which means that an electron orbiting a central charge should spiral down into that nucleus as it loses speed. In 1913, the physicist Niels Bohr proposed a new model in which the electrons of an atom were assumed to orbit the nucleus but could only do so in

5808-470: Is the mass loss and c is the speed of light . This deficit is part of the binding energy of the new nucleus, and it is the non-recoverable loss of the energy that causes the fused particles to remain together in a state that requires this energy to separate. The fusion of two nuclei that create larger nuclei with lower atomic numbers than iron and nickel —a total nucleon number of about 60—is usually an exothermic process that releases more energy than

5929-449: Is what binds them to the nucleus. If the numbers of protons and electrons are equal, as they normally are, then the atom is electrically neutral as a whole. If an atom has more electrons than protons, then it has an overall negative charge, and is called a negative ion (or anion). Conversely, if it has more protons than electrons, it has a positive charge, and is called a positive ion (or cation). The electrons of an atom are attracted to

6050-521: The Cold War , in places such as the border between Eastern and Western Europe, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone , has led to large natural habitats. The sinking of ships in shallow waters during wartime has created many artificial coral reefs , which can be scientifically valuable and have become an attraction for recreational divers. This led to the deliberate sinking of retired ships for

6171-485: The Schroedinger equation , which describes electrons as three-dimensional waveforms rather than points in space. A consequence of using waveforms to describe particles is that it is mathematically impossible to obtain precise values for both the position and momentum of a particle at a given point in time. This became known as the uncertainty principle , formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927. In this concept, for

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6292-650: The Scunthorpe problem , has been repeated and widely documented. In 1990, the Australian state of Victoria made safety helmets mandatory for all bicycle riders. While there was a reduction in the number of head injuries, there was also an unintended reduction in the number of juvenile cyclists—fewer cyclists obviously leads to fewer injuries, all else being equal . The risk of death and serious injury per cyclist seems to have increased, possibly because of risk compensation , or due to invisibilisation of cyclists. (the more

6413-606: The Taliban and Al-Qaeda . The introduction of exotic animals and plants for food, for decorative purposes, or to control unwanted species often leads to more harm than good done by the introduced species. The protection of the steel industry in the United States reduced production of steel in the United States, increased costs to users, and increased unemployment in associated industries. In 2003, Barbra Streisand unsuccessfully sued Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for posting

6534-504: The War on Drugs , intended to suppress the illegal drug trade , instead increased the power and profitability of drug cartels who became the primary source of the products. In CIA jargon , " blowback " describes the unintended, undesirable consequences of covert operations, such as the funding of the Afghan Mujahideen and the destabilization of Afghanistan contributing to the rise of

6655-438: The hydrostatic equilibrium of a star. The electrons in an atom are attracted to the protons in the nucleus by the electromagnetic force . This force binds the electrons inside an electrostatic potential well surrounding the smaller nucleus, which means that an external source of energy is needed for the electron to escape. The closer an electron is to the nucleus, the greater the attractive force. Hence electrons bound near

6776-468: The nuclide . The number of neutrons relative to the protons determines the stability of the nucleus, with certain isotopes undergoing radioactive decay . The proton, the electron, and the neutron are classified as fermions . Fermions obey the Pauli exclusion principle which prohibits identical fermions, such as multiple protons, from occupying the same quantum state at the same time. Thus, every proton in

6897-505: The 'surface' of these particles is not sharply defined. The neutron was discovered in 1932 by the English physicist James Chadwick . In the Standard Model of physics, electrons are truly elementary particles with no internal structure, whereas protons and neutrons are composite particles composed of elementary particles called quarks . There are two types of quarks in atoms, each having

7018-529: The Austrian school, this process of social adjustment that generates a social order in an unintendedly way is known as catallactics . For Hayek and the Austrian School, the number of individuals involved in the process of creating a social order defines the type of unintended consequence: Sociologist Robert K. Merton popularised this concept in the twentieth century. In "The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action" (1936), Merton tried to apply

7139-592: The Normandy coast was offered by the French government between 1980 and 1981. This resulted in people vandalizing nets to collect the reward. Beginning in the 1940s and continuing into the 1960s, the Canadian federal government gave Quebec $ 2.75 per day per psychiatric patient for their cost of care, but only $ 1.25 a day per orphan. The perverse result is that the orphan children were diagnosed as mentally ill so Quebec could receive

7260-414: The actions are intended, but the results which actually follow from these actions are not intended; or when they do seem to correspond to the end intended, they ultimately have consequences quite other than those intended. Historical events thus appear on the whole to be likewise governed by chance. But where on the surface accident holds sway, there actually it is always governed by inner, hidden laws, and it

7381-403: The act—takes precedence. Damage to a living organism may be referred to as an injury . The kinds of damage experienced by living things range from microscopic direct DNA damage and cell damage in a biological cell, to damage to larger systems such as nerve damage , brain damage , and articular cartilage damage . Damage to the body on a larger scale is often referred to as trauma . Ageing

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7502-444: The atom logically had to be balanced out by a commensurate amount of positive charge, but Thomson had no idea where this positive charge came from, so he tentatively proposed that it was everywhere in the atom, the atom being in the shape of a sphere. This was the mathematically simplest hypothesis to fit the available evidence, or lack thereof. Following from this, Thomson imagined that the balance of electrostatic forces would distribute

7623-422: The atomic mass unit (for example the mass of a nitrogen-14 is roughly 14 Da), but this number will not be exactly an integer except (by definition) in the case of carbon-12. The heaviest stable atom is lead-208, with a mass of 207.976 6521  Da . As even the most massive atoms are far too light to work with directly, chemists instead use the unit of moles . One mole of atoms of any element always has

7744-491: The atomic weights of many elements were multiples of hydrogen's atomic weight, which is in fact true for all of them if one takes isotopes into account. In 1898, J. J. Thomson found that the positive charge of a hydrogen ion is equal to the negative charge of an electron, and these were then the smallest known charged particles. Thomson later found that the positive charge in an atom is a positive multiple of an electron's negative charge. In 1913, Henry Moseley discovered that

7865-413: The center of the potential well require more energy to escape than those at greater separations. Electrons, like other particles, have properties of both a particle and a wave . The electron cloud is a region inside the potential well where each electron forms a type of three-dimensional standing wave —a wave form that does not move relative to the nucleus. This behavior is defined by an atomic orbital ,

7986-478: The chemical elements, at least one stable isotope exists. As a rule, there is only a handful of stable isotopes for each of these elements, the average being 3.1 stable isotopes per element. Twenty-six " monoisotopic elements " have only a single stable isotope, while the largest number of stable isotopes observed for any element is ten, for the element tin . Elements 43 , 61 , and all elements numbered 83 or higher have no stable isotopes. Stability of isotopes

8107-455: The cobra breeders to set the now-worthless snakes free. As a result, the wild cobra population further increased. The apparent solution for the problem made the situation even worse, becoming known as the Cobra effect . Theobald Mathew 's temperance campaign in 19th-century Ireland resulted in thousands of people vowing never to drink alcohol again. This led to the consumption of diethyl ether ,

8228-450: The core of the Sun protons require energies of 3 to 10 keV to overcome their mutual repulsion—the coulomb barrier —and fuse together into a single nucleus. Nuclear fission is the opposite process, causing a nucleus to split into two smaller nuclei—usually through radioactive decay. The nucleus can also be modified through bombardment by high energy subatomic particles or photons. If this modifies

8349-518: The decrease in exercise caused by reduced cycling as a result of helmet laws is counterproductive in terms of net health. Prohibition in the 1920s United States , originally enacted to suppress the alcohol trade, drove many small-time alcohol suppliers out of business and consolidated the hold of large-scale organized crime over the illegal alcohol industry. Since alcohol was still popular, criminal organisations producing alcohol were well-funded and hence also increased their other activities. Similarly,

8470-404: The dispersion (or lack of concentration) of information. The implication of this is that the social order (which derives from social progress, which in turn derives from the economy), would be result of a spontaneous cooperation and also an unintended consequence, being born from a process of which no individual or group had all the information available or could know all possible outcomes. In

8591-555: The effects of burning, water damage done by water to materials not resistant to its effects, and radiation damage due to ionizing radiation . Some kinds of damage are specific to vehicles and mechanical or electronic systems, such as foreign object damage caused by the presence of any foreign substance, debris, or article; hydrogen damage due to interactions between metals and hydrogen; and damage mechanics , which includes damage to materials due to cyclic mechanical loads. When an object has been damaged, it may be possible to repair

8712-512: The electrons throughout the sphere in a more or less even manner. Thomson's model is popularly known as the plum pudding model , though neither Thomson nor his colleagues used this analogy. Thomson's model was incomplete, it was unable to predict any other properties of the elements such as emission spectra and valencies . It was soon rendered obsolete by the discovery of the atomic nucleus . Between 1908 and 1913, Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden performed

8833-506: The energies of the quantum states, are responsible for atomic spectral lines . The amount of energy needed to remove or add an electron—the electron binding energy —is far less than the binding energy of nucleons . For example, it requires only 13.6 eV to strip a ground-state electron from a hydrogen atom, compared to 2.23  million eV for splitting a deuterium nucleus. Atoms are electrically neutral if they have an equal number of protons and electrons. Atoms that have either

8954-665: The energies of the recoiling charged particles, he deduced that the radiation was actually composed of electrically neutral particles which could not be massless like the gamma ray, but instead were required to have a mass similar to that of a proton. Chadwick now claimed these particles as Rutherford's neutrons. In 1925, Werner Heisenberg published the first consistent mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics ( matrix mechanics ). One year earlier, Louis de Broglie had proposed that all particles behave like waves to some extent, and in 1926 Erwin Schroedinger used this idea to develop

9075-433: The frequencies of X-ray emissions from an excited atom were a mathematical function of its atomic number and hydrogen's nuclear charge. In 1919 Rutherford bombarded nitrogen gas with alpha particles and detected hydrogen ions being emitted from the gas, and concluded that they were produced by alpha particles hitting and splitting the nuclei of the nitrogen atoms. These observations led Rutherford to conclude that

9196-418: The history of society, on the contrary, the actors are all endowed with consciousness, are men acting with deliberation or passion, working towards definite goals; nothing happens without a conscious purpose, without an intended aim. [...] For here, also, on the whole, in spite of the consciously desired aims of all individuals, accident apparently reigns on the surface. That which is willed happens but rarely; in

9317-416: The hydrogen nucleus is a distinct particle within the atom and named it proton . Neutrons have no electrical charge and have a mass of 1.6749 × 10  kg . Neutrons are the heaviest of the three constituent particles, but their mass can be reduced by the nuclear binding energy . Neutrons and protons (collectively known as nucleons ) have comparable dimensions—on the order of 2.5 × 10  m —although

9438-445: The hydrogen nucleus is a singular particle with a positive charge equal to the electron's negative charge. He named this particle " proton " in 1920. The number of protons in an atom (which Rutherford called the " atomic number " ) was found to be equal to the element's ordinal number on the periodic table and therefore provided a simple and clear-cut way of distinguishing the elements from each other. The atomic weight of each element

9559-519: The larger amount of money. This psychiatric misdiagnosis affected up to 20,000 people, and the children are known as the Duplessis Orphans in reference to the Premier of Quebec who oversaw the scheme, Maurice Duplessis . There have been attempts to curb the consumption of sugary beverages by imposing a tax on them. However, a study found that the reduced consumption was only temporary. Also, there

9680-588: The lives, families and professional activities of a number of individuals were wrecked by the public exposure, but also the political institutions of individual rights and freedom in the United States were also similarly damaged by the Committee's activities. Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements . An atom consists of a nucleus of protons and generally neutrons , surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons . The chemical elements are distinguished from each other by

9801-407: The majority of instances the numerous desired ends cross and conflict with one another, or these ends themselves are from the outset incapable of realization, or the means of attaining them are insufficient. Thus the conflicts of innumerable individual wills and individual actions in the domain of history produce a state of affairs entirely analogous to [...] the realm of unconscious nature. The ends of

9922-416: The material instead becoming widely known, reported on, and distributed. Passenger-side airbags in motorcars were intended as a safety feature, but led to an increase in child fatalities in the mid-1990s because small children were being hit by airbags that deployed automatically during collisions. The supposed solution to this problem, moving the child seat to the back of the vehicle, led to an increase in

10043-421: The material, which are more susceptible to later breakage. The effect of outside forces on a material depends on the relative elasticity or plasticity of the material; if a material tends towards elasticity, then changes to its consistency are reversible, and it can bounce back from potential damage. However, if the material tends towards plasticity, then such changes are permanent, and each such change increases

10164-472: The merchant's reaction to price signals helps to ensure that the allocation of resources accurately reflects the structure of consumer preferences; and the drive to better our condition contributes to economic growth ." Influenced by 19th century positivism and Charles Darwin 's evolution , for both Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, the idea of uncertainty and chance in social dynamics (and thus unintended consequences beyond results of perfectly defined laws)

10285-432: The mutual repulsion of the protons requires an increasing proportion of neutrons to maintain the stability of the nucleus. The number of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus can be modified, although this can require very high energies because of the strong force. Nuclear fusion occurs when multiple atomic particles join to form a heavier nucleus, such as through the energetic collision of two nuclei. For example, at

10406-415: The next, and when there was no current the electrons embedded themselves in the atoms. This in turn meant that atoms were not indivisible as scientists thought. The atom was composed of electrons whose negative charge was balanced out by some source of positive charge to create an electrically neutral atom. Ions, Thomson explained, must be atoms which have an excess or shortage of electrons. The electrons in

10527-435: The nucleus splits and leaves behind different elements . This is a form of nuclear decay . Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical compounds such as molecules or crystals . The ability of atoms to attach and detach from each other is responsible for most of the physical changes observed in nature. Chemistry is the science that studies these changes. The basic idea that matter

10648-509: The nucleus must occupy a quantum state different from all other protons, and the same applies to all neutrons of the nucleus and to all electrons of the electron cloud. A nucleus that has a different number of protons than neutrons can potentially drop to a lower energy state through a radioactive decay that causes the number of protons and neutrons to more closely match. As a result, atoms with matching numbers of protons and neutrons are more stable against decay, but with increasing atomic number,

10769-515: The nucleus to emit particles or electromagnetic radiation. Radioactivity can occur when the radius of a nucleus is large compared with the radius of the strong force, which only acts over distances on the order of 1 fm. The most common forms of radioactive decay are: Other more rare types of radioactive decay include ejection of neutrons or protons or clusters of nucleons from a nucleus, or more than one beta particle . An analog of gamma emission which allows excited nuclei to lose energy in

10890-559: The number of children forgotten in unattended vehicles, some of whom died under extreme temperature conditions. Risk compensation, or the Peltzman effect , occurs after implementation of safety measures intended to reduce injury or death (e.g. bike helmets, seatbelts, etc.). People may feel safer than they really are and take additional risks which they would not have taken without the safety measures in place. This may result in no change, or even an increase, in morbidity or mortality, rather than

11011-449: The number of hydrogen atoms. A single carat diamond with a mass of 2 × 10  kg contains about 10 sextillion (10 ) atoms of carbon . If an apple were magnified to the size of the Earth, then the atoms in the apple would be approximately the size of the original apple. Every element has one or more isotopes that have unstable nuclei that are subject to radioactive decay, causing

11132-450: The number of neighboring atoms ( coordination number ) and a quantum mechanical property known as spin . On the periodic table of the elements, atom size tends to increase when moving down columns, but decrease when moving across rows (left to right). Consequently, the smallest atom is helium with a radius of 32  pm , while one of the largest is caesium at 225 pm. When subjected to external forces, like electrical fields ,

11253-451: The number of protons in a nucleus, the atom changes to a different chemical element. If the mass of the nucleus following a fusion reaction is less than the sum of the masses of the separate particles, then the difference between these two values can be emitted as a type of usable energy (such as a gamma ray , or the kinetic energy of a beta particle ), as described by Albert Einstein 's mass–energy equivalence formula, E=mc , where m

11374-423: The number of protons that are in their atoms. For example, any atom that contains 11 protons is sodium , and any atom that contains 29 protons is copper . Atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons are called isotopes of the same element. Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100  picometers across. A human hair is about a million carbon atoms wide. Atoms are smaller than

11495-427: The object, thereby restoring it to its original condition, or to a new condition that allows it to function despite the damage. Damage can be intentional or accidental. When an object or building is deliberately damaged, the act can be socially significant as a way to degrade the meaning of the object. Though things can have multiple meanings, in circumstances where they are deliberately damaged one meaning—which prompts

11616-481: The original intended goal and the product derived from conflicts would be a marxist equivalent to «unintended consequences.» This social conflicts would happen as a result of a competitive society, and also lead society to sabotage itself and prevent historical progress. Thus, historical progress (in Marxist terms) should eliminate these conflicts and make unintended consequences predictable. Unintended consequences are

11737-435: The positive charge of the atom is concentrated in a tiny volume at the center of the atom and that the electrons surround this nucleus in a diffuse cloud. This nucleus carried almost all of the atom's mass, the electrons being so very light. Only such an intense concentration of charge, anchored by its high mass, could produce an electric field that could deflect the alpha particles so strongly. A problem in classical mechanics

11858-414: The possibility of a crack or fault appearing in the material. Although all damage at the atomic level manifests as broken atomic bonds, the manifestation of damage at the macroscopic level depends on the material, and can include cracks and deformation , as well as structural weakening that is not visible. Damage to structures and other objects can take a number of forms, such as fire damage caused by

11979-418: The practical feasibility of all social planning is warranted." More recently, the law of unintended consequences has come to be used as an adage or idiomatic warning that an intervention in a complex system tends to create unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes. Akin to Murphy's law , it is commonly used as a wry or humorous warning against the hubristic belief that humans can fully control

12100-474: The price system in the free market allows the members of a society to anonymously coordinate for the most efficient use of resources, for example, in a situation of scarcity of a raw material, the price increase would coordinate the actions of an uncountable amount of individuals "in the right direction". The development of this system of interactions would allow the progress of society, and individuals would carry it out without knowing all its implications, given

12221-448: The protons and neutrons that make it up. The total number of these particles (called "nucleons") in a given atom is called the mass number . It is a positive integer and dimensionless (instead of having dimension of mass), because it expresses a count. An example of use of a mass number is "carbon-12," which has 12 nucleons (six protons and six neutrons). The actual mass of an atom at rest is often expressed in daltons (Da), also called

12342-399: The protons in an atomic nucleus by the electromagnetic force . The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to each other by the nuclear force . This force is usually stronger than the electromagnetic force that repels the positively charged protons from one another. Under certain circumstances, the repelling electromagnetic force becomes stronger than the nuclear force. In this case,

12463-486: The purpose of replacing coral reefs lost to global warming and other factors. In medicine , most drugs have unintended consequences (' side effects ') associated with their use. However, some are beneficial. For instance, aspirin , a pain reliever , is also an anticoagulant that can help prevent heart attacks and reduce the severity and damage from thrombotic strokes . The existence of beneficial side effects also leads to off-label use —prescription or use of

12584-422: The respect to these laws vary widely among countries and communities. These controversies relate to the old government versus individual debate which has permeated philosophy and political science since Ancient Greece . The same expression is also used in the opposite sense, i.e., as damage caused to institutions, as opposed to damage caused to individuals. For example, political exception situations, such as

12705-412: The same chemical element . Atoms with equal numbers of protons but a different number of neutrons are different isotopes of the same element. For example, all hydrogen atoms admit exactly one proton, but isotopes exist with no neutrons ( hydrogen-1 , by far the most common form, also called protium), one neutron ( deuterium ), two neutrons ( tritium ) and more than two neutrons . The known elements form

12826-498: The same number of atoms (about 6.022 × 10 ). This number was chosen so that if an element has an atomic mass of 1 u, a mole of atoms of that element has a mass close to one gram. Because of the definition of the unified atomic mass unit , each carbon-12 atom has an atomic mass of exactly 12 Da, and so a mole of carbon-12 atoms weighs exactly 0.012 kg. Atoms lack a well-defined outer boundary, so their dimensions are usually described in terms of an atomic radius . This

12947-664: The satisfaction of human needs. [...] Thus quinine would cease to be a good if the diseases it serves to cure should disappear, since the only need with the satisfaction of which it is causally connected would no longer exist. But the disappearance of the usefulness of quinine would have the further consequence that a large part of the corresponding goods of higher order would also be deprived of their goods-character. The inhabitants of quinine-producing countries, who currently earn their livings by cutting and peeling cinchona trees, would suddenly find that not only their stocks of cinchona bark, but also, in consequence, their cinchona trees,

13068-539: The shape of an atom may deviate from spherical symmetry . The deformation depends on the field magnitude and the orbital type of outer shell electrons, as shown by group-theoretical considerations. Aspherical deviations might be elicited for instance in crystals , where large crystal-electrical fields may occur at low-symmetry lattice sites. Significant ellipsoidal deformations have been shown to occur for sulfur ions and chalcogen ions in pyrite -type compounds. Atomic dimensions are thousands of times smaller than

13189-469: The shortest wavelength of visible light, which means humans cannot see atoms with conventional microscopes. They are so small that accurately predicting their behavior using classical physics is not possible due to quantum effects . More than 99.9994% of an atom's mass is in the nucleus. Protons have a positive electric charge and neutrons have no charge, so the nucleus is positively charged. The electrons are negatively charged, and this opposing charge

13310-566: The suspension of political rights for a time, are said to damage democratic institutions. Other examples are vandalism of public buildings, extremely large epidemics that disrupt normal functioning of society's institutions, such as in the case of AIDS in Africa ; external military intervention, such as in the invasion of Iraq by the USA and allied nations ; and even (paradoxically), external aid to countries which are rich in natural resources but have

13431-413: The tools and appliances applicable only to the production of quinine, and above all the specialized labor services, by means of which they previously earned their livings, would at once lose their goods-character, since all these things would, under the changed circumstances, no longer have any causal relationship with the satisfaction of human needs. Economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek (1899 – 1992)

13552-731: The total to 251) have not been observed to decay, even though in theory it is energetically possible. These are also formally classified as "stable". An additional 35 radioactive nuclides have half-lives longer than 100 million years, and are long-lived enough to have been present since the birth of the Solar System . This collection of 286 nuclides are known as primordial nuclides . Finally, an additional 53 short-lived nuclides are known to occur naturally, as daughter products of primordial nuclide decay (such as radium from uranium ), or as products of natural energetic processes on Earth, such as cosmic ray bombardment (for example, carbon-14). For 80 of

13673-445: The unified atomic mass unit (u). This unit is defined as a twelfth of the mass of a free neutral atom of carbon-12 , which is approximately 1.66 × 10  kg . Hydrogen-1 (the lightest isotope of hydrogen which is also the nuclide with the lowest mass) has an atomic weight of 1.007825 Da. The value of this number is called the atomic mass . A given atom has an atomic mass approximately equal (within 1%) to its mass number times

13794-406: The wavelengths of light (400–700  nm ) so they cannot be viewed using an optical microscope , although individual atoms can be observed using a scanning tunneling microscope . To visualize the minuteness of the atom, consider that a typical human hair is about 1 million carbon atoms in width. A single drop of water contains about 2  sextillion ( 2 × 10 ) atoms of oxygen, and twice

13915-404: The white powder there is about 27 g of oxygen for every 100 g of tin. 13.5 and 27 form a ratio of 1:2. Dalton concluded that in the grey oxide there is one atom of oxygen for every atom of tin, and in the white oxide there are two atoms of oxygen for every atom of tin ( SnO and SnO 2 ). Dalton also analyzed iron oxides . There is one type of iron oxide that is a black powder which

14036-407: The word atom originally denoted a particle that cannot be cut into smaller particles, in modern scientific usage the atom is composed of various subatomic particles . The constituent particles of an atom are the electron , the proton and the neutron . The electron is the least massive of these particles by four orders of magnitude at 9.11 × 10  kg , with a negative electrical charge and

14157-407: The world around them, not to presuppose a belief in predestination or a lack or a disbelief in that of free will. Possible causes of unintended consequences include the world's inherent complexity (parts of a system responding to changes in the environment), perverse incentives , human stupidity , self-deception , failure to account for human nature, or other cognitive or emotional biases. As

14278-469: Was also discussed by Adam Smith , the Scottish Enlightenment , and consequentialism (judging by results). The invisible hand theorem is an example of the unintended consequences of agents acting in their self-interest. As Andrew S. Skinner puts it: "The individual undertaker ( entrepreneur ), seeking the most efficient allocation of resources, contributes to overall economic efficiency ;

14399-634: Was an increase in the consumption of beer among households. The New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law , which was intended to protect children from accidental discharge of firearms by forcing all future firearms sold in New Jersey to contain "smart" safety features , has delayed, if not stopped entirely, the introduction of such firearms to New Jersey markets. The wording of the law caused significant public backlash, fuelled by gun rights lobbyists , and several shop owners offering such guns received death threats and stopped stocking them. In 2014, 12 years after

14520-444: Was only apparent, (if not rejected) since social actions were directed and produced by deliberate human intention. While discerning between the forces that generate changes in nature and those that generate changes in history in his discussion of Ludwig Feuerbach , Friedrich Engels touched on the idea of (apparent) unintended consequences: In nature [...] there are only blind, unconscious agencies acting upon one another, [...] In

14641-432: Was thought to be high-energy gamma radiation , since gamma radiation had a similar effect on electrons in metals, but James Chadwick found that the ionization effect was too strong for it to be due to electromagnetic radiation, so long as energy and momentum were conserved in the interaction. In 1932, Chadwick exposed various elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, to the mysterious "beryllium radiation", and by measuring

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