| 释义 |
atomic, a. and n.|əˈtɒmɪk|
[f. atom n. + -ic. (Mod.L. atomicus, F. atomique.)]
A. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to atoms. atomic heat: see heat n. 2 e; atomic mass (= atomic weight): the mass of an atom, usually expressed in atomic mass units (in one scale, a unit equal to 1/16 of the mass of an oxygen atom, or spec. of the oxygen isotope 16O; since 1960, when it was formally adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, equal to 1/12 of the mass of the principal isotope of carbon, 12C), abbrev. a.m.u., amu; atomic number: (of a chemical element) the number of unit positive charges present in the nucleus of its atom, being the physical property which determines the position of the element in the periodic table; symbol Z; atomic structure (see quots.); atomic weight in Chem.: the weight of an atom of an element (or radical), as compared with that of an atom of hydrogen, which is taken as unity; also the sum of the weights of the atom of a compound; combining equivalent; (after the adoption of oxygen as a standard) the ratio between the weight of one atom of the element and 1/16 of the weight of an atom of oxygen (see weight n.1 10 d, and atomic mass, above); atomic volume of a body: the space occupied by a quantity of it proportional to its atomic or molecular weight.
1692J. Edwards Remark. Texts 229 According to their hypothesis..this *atomick bustle was from eternity.
1819J. G. Children Chem. Anal. 285 The *atomic composition of pyromucic acid.
1898S. W. Holman Matter, Energy, Force & Work 153 The terms *atomic masses, combining masses, etc., are likewise used instead of ‘atomic weights’, [etc.]. 1946Electronic Engin. May 153/1 This discovery accounted for the large discrepancy between the actual atomic mass of neon (20.2) and the..view that such masses should be whole numbers. 1955Gloss. Terms Radiology (B.S.I.) 18 Atomic mass unit..Abbreviation: amu. 1958Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics i. 10 The atomic mass M, not to be confused with the molecular weight, is the mass of an isotope in atomic mass units. Numerically the atomic mass and mass number differ by less than 1 part in 100. In fact, the mass number is obviously the atomic mass rounded off to an integer. 1962Nature 19 May 621/1 Some confusion of meaning..could be avoided if ‘atomic mass’ were reserved for the species of matter now known as nuclides and ‘atomic weight’ were used only in its traditional connotation, that is, for elements. 1963Jerrard & McNeill Dict. Sci. Units 20 The masses of atoms and molecules are generally given in atomic mass units. These units are based on a scale in which the mass of the carbon isotope C612 is taken to be 12.
1821T. Thomson in Ann. Phil. N.S. I. 5 The following table exhibits the numbers assigned to the atom of these bodies... They approach very nearly to the other *atomic numbers contained in the table. 1913H. G. J. Moseley in Phil. Mag. 6th Ser. XXVI. 1028 Table I. N atomic number. Ibid. 1031 We are therefore led by experiment to the view that N is the same as the number of the place occupied by the element in the periodic system. This atomic number is then for H 1. 1958Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics i. 4 The atomic number Z, is the number of protons in the nucleus and, since the atom as a whole is electrically neutral, this also equals the number of the electrons.
1897W. F. Magie tr. C. Christiansen's Elem. Theor. Physics i. 48 (heading) On the Molecular and *Atomic Structure of Bodies. 1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) viii. 79 The theory of atomic structure has cleared up many points on the origin and nature of the individual types of rays.
1850Daubeny Atom. The. ix. 279 Supposing that all bodies were of the same specific gravity, the atomic weight of each would represent the relative size of its atoms, or in other words, its *atomic volume.
1820T. Thomson in Ann. Phil. XVI. 329 The greater number of chemical writers in this country have adopted the *atomic weights assigned by Wollaston. 1821Ibid. N.S. I. 3 We found reason to conclude that the atomic weight of every body is a multiple of the weight of an atom of hydrogen. 1827A. Fyfe Elem. Chem. II. 493 The atomic weights are given both according to the oxigen and hydrogen scale. 1942J. D. Stranathan Particles v. 169 Results obtained with the new mass spectrograph..made it certain that atomic weights are in general not quite whole numbers; but they are very close to whole numbers. Ibid. 182 It is rather fortunate that 99·76% of all O is of atomic weight 16. 1962Nature 19 May 621/2 The chemist..needs to know the average mass of the mixture of nuclidic species which constitute the element. This is the quantity that has been called the atomic weight of the element.
2. About or concerned with atoms. In Physics and extended uses (senses 2 c, d, e) the early quots. refer to the theory of atomic structure and to various theoretical applications. Cf. atom IV.
a. Philos. Formerly, pertaining to or designating the doctrine taught by Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus: see atom n. 1 and atomism. In modern philosophy: unanalysable, irreducible, ultimate, essential; also, of a sentence: without conjunctions or other connective words.
1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. Pref. 6 The Atomick Physiology..the foundation of the Democritick Fate. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 7 The great atomic system taught by old Moschus..revived by Democritus of laughing memory; improved by Epicurus..and modernized by the fanciful Descartes. 1912L. Wittgenstein Let. (to Russell) in Notebks. 1914–16 (1961) 120, I believe that our problems can be traced down to the atomic propositions. 1918B. Russell in Monist 523 An atomic proposition is one which does mention actual particulars, not merely describe them but actually name them. 1922tr. Wittgenstein's Tract. Log.-Phil. 31 An atomic fact is a combination of objects (entities, things). 1929Wittgenstein in Knowledge, Exper. & Realism (Aristotelian Soc. Suppl., Vol. IX) 163 The propositions which represent this ultimate connexion of terms I call, after B. Russell, atomic propositions. 1933Mind XLII. 38 Similar to the species of geometry, we might have in logic ‘a logic of atomic propositions’ and ‘a logic of molecular propositions’. 1948B. Russell Human Knowl. ii. ix. 145 We give the name ‘atomic sentence’ to one not containing logical words. 1956G. Ryle in Ayer et al. Revol. Philos. 10 The analysis of compound propositions into their simple elements, the conjunctionless or ‘atomic’ propositions.
b. Chem., esp. as atomic theory, the doctrine that elemental bodies consist of aggregations of indivisible atoms of definite relative weight; that the atoms of different elements unite with each other in fixed proportions; and that the latter determine the fixed proportions in which elements and compounds enter into chemical combination with each other.
1811J. Dalton (title) Observations on Dr. Bostock's Review of the Atomic principles of Chemistry. 1880E. Cleminshaw tr. Wurtz' Atom. The. 26 From the year 1804 the atomic theory inspired all Dalton's labours.
c. Applied to research and researchers in atomic energy, structure, etc. (e.g. atomic physics, atomic physicist, atomic scientist); to apparatus (e.g. atomic furnace, atomic pile (see pile n.3), atomic reactor) used to disintegrate atomic nuclei; and to ships, industrial plant, etc., deriving power or driving-force from the harnessing of atomic energy (atomic-powered ppl. a.).
1882J. Tyndall in Knowledge II. 371/1 (title) A problem in atomic physics. 1914H. G. Wells in Century Mag. LXXXVII. 343/2 The new atomic aëroplane became indeed a mania. Ibid. 571/1 The swift aëroplane, with its atomic engine as noiseless as a dancing sunbeam. 1925F. J. Reynolds Marvels of 1924 24 The specialty of Dr. Robert A. Millikan..is atomic physics and he has done as much as any other American in this branch. 1933Discovery May 154/2 The quantum of action..taken together with the existence of the elementary particles, forms the foundation of atomic physics. 1945W. Davis (title) Atomic Power Plants of the Future. 1945War Illustr. 9 Nov. 439/1 (caption) An atomic-powered locomotive;..an atomic power-house;..a streamlined atomic-powered liner. 1946Sci. News Let. 23 Mar. 187 Atomic scientist warns against misinterpretation. 1949Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. Oct. 1013 A British atomic physicist. 1949Atomics Aug. 3 This work is particularly aimed at building an atomic power plant that will..provide steam. 1950Amer. Speech XXV. 24 The surprising thing about pile and reactor is that only a few alternatives have ever been used for them: nuclear furnace, atomic furnace, atomic-energy machine. 1950Sat. Even. Post 22 July 26 (headline) We're betting our shirts on the atomic submarine. 1952Jane's Fighting Ships 1952–53 p. vii/1 The second atomic submarine will be of the same general design as the nuclear-powered Nautilus. Ibid., Her [sc. the submarine's] power plant will use a different kind of atomic reactor. 1953Ann. Reg. 1952 403 In June President Truman was present at the laying of the keel of the first atomic-powered submarine Nautilus. 1955Times 4 July 5/1 The heat from the Atomic Energy Authority's six new reactors (atomic furnaces). 1958Listener 11 Dec. 992/1 Fourth atomic reactor at Calder Hall comes into operation. 1959Times 16 Sept. 10/2 The Soviet atomic icebreaker Lenin left Leningrad to-day on her maiden voyage into the Baltic. 1962Ibid. 4 Apr. 15/1 There is every promise that the Sizewell nuclear power station..will be the first atomic installation to produce electricity as cheaply as the most modern conventional power station.
d. atomic energy: the energy released by the fission of the atomic nuclei of certain heavy elements such as uranium 235 or plutonium or by the fusion of light nuclei; also attrib.
1906Nature 9 Aug. 357/2 Nevertheless, there is a sense in which it may be said that we are profiting by atomic energy. 1914H. G. Wells World set Free i. 40 Holsten..was destined to see atomic energy dominating every other source of power. 1921Flight XIII. 299/2 This is indeed the beginning of the liberation of atomic energy. 1924Sci. Amer. Aug. 120/1 Atomic energy is the phrase of the hour. 1946A. Boyd U.N. Handbk. v. 72 The member states had all nominated their representatives to the Atomic Energy Commission by May 1946. 1953Economist 14 Nov. 505/1 The White Paper sets out to describe the kind of organisation to which the Government has decided to entrust the development of atomic energy.
e. Of weapons: deriving their destructive power from the partial conversion of such energy, as atomic bomb (hence as vb., to attack with this type of bomb, atomic-bombing vbl. n.; atomic bomber, an aircraft designed to carry atomic bombs), atomic device, atomic shell, etc. Cf. hydrogen bomb. Also, of, pertaining to, possessing, or employing atomic weapons, as atomic club, atomic control, atomic warfare.
1914H. G. Wells World set Free ii. 96 The three atomic bombs, the new bombs that would continue to explode indefinitely. 1917S. Strunsky in Yale Rev. Jan. 295 When you can drop just one atomic bomb and wipe out Paris or Berlin, war will have become monstrous and impossible. 1925Punch 11 Feb. 152/2 When, like the bursting of atomic bombs, Cats call to cats and Toms miaul to Toms. 1932H. Nicolson Public Faces xii. 325 We must now assume that a single atomic bomb is capable of destroying all matter within a circumference of seventy to eighty miles from the point of explosion. 1944G. B. Shaw Everyb. Polit. What's What xxxii. 286 Neither Vril nor Prospero's magic nor flying islands have ever existed, nor has the atomic bomb yet been invented. 1945Times 7 Aug. 4/1 President Truman announced..yesterday that the first atomic bomb had been dropped 16 hours before by an American aircraft on Hiroshima. 1945Reader's Dig. Dec. 2/2 The atomic-bombers of nation A may be on their way to bomb nation B while their own homeland is being turned into a crematorium. 1945War Illustr. 28 Sept. 345 (title) I Visited the First City to be Atomic Bombed. Ibid. 9 Nov. 438/1 The results of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1946Ibid. 4 Jan. 572/1 The manufacture and storage of atomic weapons. Ibid. 18 Jan. 604/3 Our Royal Navy is rushing plans to revolutionize the fleet to resist atomic warfare. 1946Jane's Fighting Ships 1944–45 p. iv/2 The possibility of ships mounting guns that fire atomic shells, to say nothing of the potentialities of the atomic torpedo. 1948Ann. Reg. 1947 250 No progress was made in the discussions on the problem of atomic control. 1954Ann. Reg. 1953 376 The main spring test was made on 17 March with an ‘atomic device’ having about three-quarters of the power of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but containing less fissionable material. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Mar. 79/2 Atomic weapons do not belong to a dream world. 1955Koestler Trail of Dinosaur 238 The only deterrent against atomic aggression is an atomic stockpile. 1957Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Nov. 654/4 Can atomic attack be circumscribed? 1958Times 1 July 10/4 The French Ministers, as had been expected, last night emphasized their wish to see France become a member of the ‘atomic club’. 1958Economist 25 Oct. 297/2 If the Chinese had missiles with atomic warheads opposite Formosa now.
f. In journalistic and colloquial use: of the age, era, etc., marked by the various applications of atomic energy.
1945War Illustr. 9 Nov. 439 Wonders of the Atomic Age in the not-too-distant future. 1946A. Boyd U.N. Handbk. i. 25 It is already clear that the arrival of the ‘atomic age’ has brought in its train the possibility of outbursts of destruction on an incomparably greater scale [than in the war of 1939–45]. 1950Amer. Speech XXV. 27 The ‘Atomic Era’ will depend, both as a new term and a new thought, upon the use the generality of us give it. 1959New Statesman 19 Dec. 874/2 What are you to do about all the new long atomic-age words?
3. Of persons: Adhering to the atomic philosophy.
1691Ray Creation (1714) 41 These mechanick theists have quite outstripped..the atomick atheists. 1850Daubeny Atom. The. i. 46 That vantage ground which the atomic philosopher possesses over the rival theorist.
4. Atom-like in size; minute, tiny.
1809Pearson in Phil. Trans. XCIX. 319 These atomic globules are quite different. 1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. ii. 28 The means of measuring changes almost atomic.
5. Of the nature of atoms; simple, elemental.
1881Lockyer in Nature No. 617. 391 Whether the temperature produces a simpler form, a more atomic condition of the same thing.
6. Forming phraseological combs. with ns., as (senses 1, 2) atomic beam (see quot. 1962); atomic clock, an instrument which attains extreme accuracy by measuring time in terms of the vibration-rate of molecules of ammonia or cæsium atoms; atomic hydrogen, hydrogen dissociated into atoms; so atomic-hydrogen (arc) welding, a form of arc-welding in which hydrogen is dissociated into atoms by passing through an electric arc and then recombines, thus supplying intense heat; hence atomic-hydrogen torch, etc.; (senses 2 c, d, e) atomic power.
1928Physical Rev. XXXI. 646 The increase of the divergence of the atomic beam upon reflection at the crystal surface may obviously be due to any of several causes. 1962Gloss. Terms Nucl. Sci. (B.S.I.) 10 Atomic beam, gas atoms emerging from a small aperture into a high vacuum and collimated by one or more additional apertures so as to form a narrow beam.
1938Jrnl. Optical Soc. Amer. July 215 (title) Experimental Study of the Rate of a Moving Atomic Clock. 1958Times 14 Oct. 5/3 The caesium atomic clock, which is on exhibition at the British clock and watch industry's display in the Goldsmiths' Hall, London. 1962E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches 15 The most accurate atomic clock or frequency standard ever made employs as its ‘pendulum’ the vibration of the caesium atom, which is at 9,192,631,770 cycles a second.
1915I. Langmuir in Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. XXXVII. 428 (heading) Diffusion of Atomic Hydrogen away from the Wire. 1930H. Chatley Princ. Rocket Propulsion 5 Esnault-Pelterie..discusses the possibility of using atomic hydrogen as the propellant but little is known of this highly active material. 1933Welding Industry June 141 Atomic-Hydrogen arc welding, which originated in America..is rapidly finding favour.
1914H. G. Wells in Century Mag. LXXXVII. 704/2 The year of crisis that followed the release of atomic power. 1945Daily Tel. 7 Aug. 1/1 Congress would be asked to investigate how atomic power might be used to maintain the future peace. 1953Economist 14 Nov. 507/2 The argument is also gaining ground that a shortage of coal will compel Britain to turn to atomic power for marginal supplies of electricity, regardless of cost.
†B. n. An adherent of the atomic philosophy.
1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. Pref., Other Philosophick Atheists..before those Atomicks, Epicurus and Democritus. |