Here's a video,I found on YouTube. Why did 'Quantum Mechanics' take birth when the world had the 'Classical Mechanics'? The following video gives the answer.
You see,the electrons are particles, however they behave like waves. These are some of the questions which the 'Classical mechanics' couldn't answer. So came the 'QUANTUM MECHANICS'.
Let me put some light on the history of Quantum mechanics.
Developmental milestones:
1. It started with Huygens' wave theory of light. Huygens was the one to propose that Light behaves like a wave. He tried to explain phenomenon of reflection,refraction with his theory, but couldn't give satisfactory explanations. We all know that, Light does not need any medium like air,water for it's propagation. It's due to this fact, we can receive sunlight even though there is void between the sun and the earth. However, Huygens assumed a invisible medium to be present everywhere,called as 'Luminiferous ether'. He said that this medium is essential for propagation of light. Many scientists tried to locate it, but their attempts were in vain.
2.Then came,one of the most famous men in the world, Isaac Newton. He proposed the 'corpuscular theory of light'. It said that, the light consists of small,little particles called 'corpuscles'. With this theory he could easily explain phenomenon of reflection. Somehow, he also managed to explain Refraction, the propagation of light through the lens etc.
3.In the early 1800, Young and Fresnel put forward their experiments to support the Huygens' wave theory of light. Young's double slit experiment was the first to discover that the light travels as transverse waves but not longitudinal waves. He observed that when the light is passed through two slits, a pattern containing alternate bright and dark bands is observed on the screen. This pattern is called as 'Interference pattern'.
4. In the late 1800, James Maxwell explained light as the propagation of electromagnetic waves using some mathematics. This theory was accepted widely.
5.In 1901, Max Plank proposed that light propagates as small packets of energy called as 'Quanta'. The theory was carried forward by the person of century, 'Albert Einstein'. However, Einstein preferred calling 'Quantum' as 'Photons'. He explained the phenomenon of photoelectric effect using theory of photons for which he received the 'noble prize' in physics in 1921. Who switches off the lamp posts on highways in the morning? Why can't a bugler break in a house so easily,nowadays? How do we measure intensity of light? It is all possible because of this one man and the photoelectric effect.
6.De Broglie's Hypothesis: Mr.De Broglie claimed that not just the light, but all matter behaves as a particle as well as waves.He called them 'matter waves'. He found a relationship between momentum of photon and the wavelength. This guy also was awarded a noble prize in physics in 1929.
So, "Is light a wave or a particle?” Perhaps it depends on the type of experiment you do,as you can see above.
-reference WikipediaNote: If you find any mistake in information or logic written above, Please let me know. Suggestions are welcome.
3 comments:
I am not daring to point out a mistake, even if it exists. I fear the goddamn " - ref. Wikipedia" note tucked over there.
Anyway, quite well summarized, We had a chapter on it in Physics. ;)
fantastic post once again......
but this time ur post is just awesome......
i liked ur way of explaining by shwing us d videos so dat people like us who knw only the theory part nd cant actually knw its practical implementation can also understnd the concept properly......
i also appreciate for having so much interest to make people knw wht physics is.......
i request all d people to plzz see all d post as it ill surely benifit u directly or indirectly.......(its my personal opinion)......
I have it in this semester. I have managed to understand a little after I saw this video.;)
[I am not daring to point out a mistake, even if it exists. I fear the goddamn " - ref. Wikipedia"]
~Looks like referring to Wikipedia has benefited a lot to me. :);) Just kidding.
Anyways,Thanks Chintan and Sid.
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