ABSTRACT
This book provides a starting point for an examination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and explores what it is that makes NMR so uniquely popular among scientists who deal with condensed matter of all types, from simple fluids to ceramics. It also provides an opportunity to review fundamental concepts that come up fairly often. Spectroscopy is the branch of science that deals with the interaction between energy and matter. Usually, the energy is in the form of electromagnetic radiation (EMR), and the interaction between EMR and matter is interpreted in terms of the behavior of atoms and molecules. The most convenient and commonly used approach to discussing spectroscopy is the semiclassical description. The atoms and molecules with which EMR interacts are best considered as oscillating systems of particles whose characteristic frequencies are quantized (quantum oscillators), and in order to go from one characteristic frequency to another, the appropriate amount of energy must be gained or lost.
