Advanced Physics Laboratories

Atomic nuclei have spins and magnetic moments, and the nuclei in a liquid sample can be polarized in a high magnetic field. Application of transverse electromagnetic radiation at the Larmor frequency will depolarize the sample, and this frequency can be measured by watching the depolarization signal with a "marginal oscillator". You can measure the proton magnetic moment, and verify for yourself that the spin t/z proton is not a Dirac particle. You can also measure the time constants for depolarization, which depend on the chemical environment, and provide the information used in MRI imaging.