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Groups of atoms, say two of them, can have angular momentum as a group, but only because they individually have linear momentum and are bound together through a force that causes them to pull on each other so that the group as a whole spins. Does it make sense to talk about the angular momentum of a single atom?

I was trying to understand how a photon's angle of reflection is determined, since there really is no such thing as a continuous surface. There are just groups of atoms. So, what's the difference of the interaction when a photon hits a single atom or hits an atom is surrounded by (8) other atoms in a 2-D arrangement (i.e. a 3x3 grid)?

HDE 226868
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Triynko
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  • See http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/82464/. You cannot usefully model reflection of light by single photons interacting with single atoms. – John Rennie Nov 01 '13 at 14:18
  • googling "photon scattering" yields: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CE4QFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcourses.physics.illinois.edu%2Fphys581%2Fphoton_scatt.pdf&ei=y7pzUuO7EubesAT3uICABQ&usg=AFQjCNFdeOfxo8r3nSJuOuehibfW_oT_KQ&sig2=TDMA6FKzjkUU2BfJR9_FBA&bvm=bv.55819444,d.cWc which provides a model for photon scattering – Dave Nov 01 '13 at 14:30
  • in the "related questions" is "What does it mean for a particle with no size to have angular momenta [sic]?": http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/31448/ – Dave Nov 01 '13 at 14:32
  • What I'm asking is... at a macroscopic level, light is reflected at very specific angles relative to a macroscopic flat surface of atoms. That being the case, whether you call it a photon or a wave, what is the mechanism or what values determine how the light is reflected. A single atom can reflect light. Suppose you shine a laser directly on one atom. Can you describe how the EM field is altered? – Triynko Nov 01 '13 at 15:05
  • @Triynko: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_scattering – John Rennie Nov 01 '13 at 15:07

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