Meaning & use
Zeeman
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Meanings
proper nounproper
The surname of the Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman, who found that a magnetic field splits spectral lines.
Grammar: Capitalized: Zeeman won the Nobel Prize in 1902.
Patterns
- Pieter Zeeman
Pieter Zeeman shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Zeeman studied light from sodium flames in a magnet.
The physicist Zeeman was a student of Lorentz.
adjectivebefore a nounphysicstechnical
Relating to the splitting of spectral lines in a magnetic field, as in the Zeeman effect.
Grammar: Used before nouns like effect, splitting or spectroscopy.
Patterns
- Zeeman effect
- Zeeman splitting
Astronomers measure the Zeeman effect to find magnetic fields in stars.
Zeeman splitting shows up in the spectrum of the sunspot.
Zeeman spectroscopy helps map magnetic fields.
Common combinations
- Zeeman effect
- The Zeeman effect splits a spectral line into several lines.
- Zeeman splitting
- Zeeman splitting depends on field strength.
- Zeeman energy
- The Zeeman energy grows with the magnetic field.
- Zeeman spectroscopy
- Zeeman spectroscopy reveals magnetic fields in stars.
- anomalous Zeeman effect
- The anomalous Zeeman effect puzzled early physicists.
Word family
- Zeeman effect noun
- the splitting of spectral lines in a magnetic field
- Stark effect noun
- the similar splitting caused by an electric field
- spectroscopy noun
- the study of light spectra
Commonly confused: Zeeman or Stark effect?
Zeeman vs Stark effect
The Stark effect is splitting of spectral lines by an electric field, while the Zeeman effect involves a magnetic field.
Practice
The Zeeman effect describes the splitting of spectral lines in the presence of a ______.
Choose one answer.
Zeeman discovered splitting caused by a magnetic field. An electric field causes the related Stark effect, so it is a tempting but wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Zeeman”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.