Quantum and Orbital Mechanics Trivia

1. Most of the advancements in quantum physics arose from physicists trying to understand the nature of this very common form of energy. Which form of energy was postulated to have a dual nature, comprising of waves and particles?

From Quiz Quantum Quirks

Answer: Light

Light is one of the principal forms of energy, and many experiments, such as the double-slit experiment and Einstein's photoelectric effect, helped to understand the true nature of light, as packets of energy called 'photons'.

From Quiz Exploring the Fourth Dimension

Answer: Euclidean

If we were speaking of time-space, the answer would be Minkowski space. Spatial dimensions are different from space-time theory. Our third dimension is composed of length, width, and depth. The fourth dimension is believed to have another inexplicable dimension. There are therefore FOUR dimensions.

From Quiz The Quantum Quiz

Answer: Joule-second

Planck first proposed his theory in 1900 after working on a discrepancy related to black-body radiation (the phenomenon in which extremely hot objects radiate light). For those who are wondering, Planck's constant, denoted as "h", which describes the size of the fundamental quantum, has a value of 6.626x10^-34 Joule-seconds. The extremely small value of this constant explains why we don't experience any obvious effects of quantization in everyday life.

From Quiz Elementary Quantum Mechanics

Answer: deBroglie

Thus, another name for quantum mechanics is wave mechanics.

From Quiz A Quiz on Quantum Mechanics

Answer: the black-body radiation curve

The ultraviolet catastrophe was one of the biggest scientific issues of the twentieth century. The black-body radiation curve represents the distribution of frequencies emitted by black bodies in comparison to the intensity of their energies. According to the physics of the time, black bodies contained an infinite supply of energy. Therefore, the distribution of frequencies would infinitely increase with energy. However, this concept did not match the experimental data.In reality the radiation would increase in terms of energy right until it reached the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and would then abruptly plummet down. The solution to this issue came from the concept of quantized energy.The concept of quantized energy does not require the need for an infinite amount of energy. Therefore, at a certain point in time, the amount of of energy being emitted will run out, due to a fixed amount of energy. That is why the energy plummets down, as opposed to increasing. There simply isn't enough energy for this to happen. As a result, the emitted energy will increase until it reaches the amount of energy present in the body, and will then decrease because there isn't any energy left to keep the increase going.

From Quiz Quantum Quirks

Answer: De Broglie

Louis De Broglie's equivalence is one of the most central concepts in modern physics.

From Quiz Quantum Physics for Dummies

Answer: Quantum is Latin for "how much", "what amount"

Black body radiation, photoelectric effect and atomic line spectra all suggest that energy - as other physical variables like angular momentum - are quantized, i.e. in their change in a physical transition between one state and another can come only in certain amounts. Max Planck showed that in order to explain the radiation that is emitted from a "black body", the energy cannot be continuous, but only appears in certain amounts, i.e. quants. Generally, for quantum mechanical systems, physical variables such as energy and angular momentum can only change in quants.

From Quiz Quantum Theory...What A Ride!

Answer: Albert Einstein

Yes, weird as it may sound, he published his special theory of relativity in 1905, and then the general theory in 1911. It may have seemed a bit satirical at that point, but that was the man - the greatest undoubtedly. Basically, the papers on special relativity focused mainly on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and electromagnetic waves. After its phenomenal success mainly based on the legendary equation E=mc^2, he published general relativity based on macroscopic phenomena such as gravitation.

From Quiz Exploring the Fourth Dimension

Answer: Tesseract

A hypercube is a figure used to describe the space in other dimensions. The hyperspace in the fourth dimension is impossible to describe due to the limitations of our own dimensions. The fourth dimension can only be understood as an abstract.

From Quiz Elementary Quantum Mechanics

Answer: Bohr

This theory is now defunct and has been replaced by the newer, better quantum mechanical model.

From Quiz Quantum Quirks

Answer: Einstein and Bohr

Einstein argued that Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics was correct, yet incomplete. However, several decades later, it was Bell who settled this debate.

From Quiz Quantum Physics for Dummies

Answer: Max Born

The idea of particles having wave characteristics seemed to imply that a particle could be characterized by a certain mass density. Max Born rather interpreted this as a probability density of finding the particle at a certain position. Furthermore he said that quantum mechanics can predict only probabilities for the outcome of a measurement. He also formulated a rule (for which he later got the Nobel Prize) about how to calculate those probabilities - but as promised, I will not stoop to deal in mathematics here.

From Quiz Quantum Theory...What A Ride!

Answer: The Solvay Conference

The Solvay Conference consisted of some of the biggest names in quantum physics back then - Planck, Curie, Einstein, Bohr, Dirac, Heisenberg, Pauli, Debye - you name them. It was presided over by Heindrik Lorentz, a leading proponent of the electromagnetic theory. The battle between the young group led by Pauli and Dirac and the veterans led by Planck and Bohr was a mouth-watering contest, with both sides coming up with well-founded theories. But there was really no concrete outcome of this - the problems remained bigger, the solutions far away.

From Quiz Exploring the Fourth Dimension

Answer: Charles Hinton

Charles Hinton (1853 - 1907) coined the term "tesseract" in the Dublin University magazine in 1880. Hinton was a British mathematician who also wrote science fiction pieces.

From Quiz Journey Through Orbital Mechanics

Answer: Ellipse

Kepler's First Law states "The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with one star at its focus." In orbital mechanics, a circle, a parabola, and a hyperbola are all forms of elliptical orbits, with varying eccentricity. A hyperbolic orbit is a high energy orbit, and allows rockets to travel past the gravitational influence of the body. When the Apollo astronauts were travelling to the Moon, they were in a hyperbolic orbit. A parabolic orbit means the orbiting object has the minimum amount of energy to escape, or escape velocity. A circular orbit is an ellipse with zero eccentricity.

From Quiz Elementary Quantum Mechanics

Answer: Nu

While nu is used to show frequency, lambda is used to show wavelength.

From Quiz A Quiz on Quantum Mechanics

Answer: magnetic quantum number

Scientists use four quantum numbers to describe electrons and other particles: 1.Principal quantum number: this number denotes the energy level of the orbital. 2.Angular momentum quantum number: this number denotes the orbital shape. Its value is always less than the value of the principal quantum number. 3.Magnetic quantum number: this number denotes orbital orientation. This quantum number ranges from the negative value of the angular momentum value to the positive. 4.Spin quantum number: this number denotes the angular momentum of a particle.

From Quiz Quantum Quirks

Answer: Spin

The spin is associated with a component of the angular momentum of a particle, and the concept of symmetry forms one of the cornerstones of quantum physics.

From Quiz Quantum Physics for Dummies

Answer: Niels Bohr

Society in general and also leading scientists took a long time to accept even the basic ideas of quantum mechanics: the particle wave duality and the probabilistic nature of quantum physics. Certainly in the early days most physicists were baffled by the philosophical implications. Danish physicist Niels Bohr won fame and the Nobel Prize for his model of the atom and founded the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Copenhagen University, later to be known as Niels Bohr Institute. The group of his colleagues and correspondents was known as "The Copenhagen School" of quantum mechanics.

From Quiz Quantum Theory...What A Ride!

Answer: Cat

Obviously, he wanted a cat for his famous gamma-ray box hiding trick. We really do not know of any specific reason why! The outcome of this thought experiment is history - he put a strong theory about uncertainty, something even Heisenberg had not formulated. This was in response to the Copenhagen interpretation of the erstwhile quantum physics. He proclaimed that the cat, depending upon some random phenomenon, may be both alive and dead! Although it was only a thought experiment, it paved the way for bolder assumptions and bigger strides in quantum mechanics.

From Quiz Exploring the Fourth Dimension

Answer: "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions"

Flatland was written in 1884. It is about a two dimensional world in which men are polygons and women are line segments. The narrator, A. Square, is then visited by a three dimensional sphere but does not understand it due to his dimensional limitations. Since then, numerous imitations have been created including "Sphereland" by Dionys Burger.

From Quiz The Quantum Quiz

Answer: position and momentum

An interesting consequence of the Indeterminancy Principle is that you cannot confine an object to an arbitrarily small space. If you were to attempt to do so, you would be attempting to decrease both the uncertainty in the object's position and the uncertainty in its momentum simultaneously, which is impossible, and you would inevitably see the object escape its cage. This would be analogous to dropping a ping pong ball into a small cup and watching it shoot out right through the walls of the cup.

From Quiz A Quiz on Quantum Mechanics

Answer: Albert Einstein&Einstein

The term "photoelectric effect" refers to the phenomenon that occurs when light hits certain metals, resulting in the production of an electric current. The issue here was that the production of an electric current required a specific wavelength, as opposed to a specific intensity. According to classical physics, this issue would not arise because light was thought to be continuous. With a continuous source of light, and electric current would eventually be produced. However, this did not match the experimental data. Albert Einstein(1879-1954) used the newly-born concept of quantized energy to solve this problem. He proposed that because energy is quantized, the photon would have to have a certain wavelength, and therefore a certain energy to be able to cause electron emission.

From Quiz Quantum Physics for Dummies

Answer: He didn't like the probability interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Although in common knowledge mainly connected with the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, which was one of the milestones in establishing quantum mechanics. He was in constant dialogue with the physicists working on the development of quantum mechanics and contributed much to the ensuing philosophical discussions.

From Quiz Quantum Theory...What A Ride!

Answer: Dirac and Pauli

Paul Dirac, along with Wolfgang Pauli, placed quantum mechanics on a firm mathematical footing, disregarding the "old guard"'s idea of free orbits. They really wanted the aesthetic beauty of the equations rather than what they implied. With his famous equation, Dirac properly introduced fermions and their behaviour under various fields.

From Quiz Exploring the Fourth Dimension

Answer: 2(π^2)(r^3)

Most people tend to use an incorrect formula. This is because they usually add or multiply the formulas for circumference (2πr) and surface area (4π(r^2)) improperly. The accepted formula for the surface volume of a fourth dimension hypersphere (2(π^2)(r^3)) has been rigorously tested.

From Quiz Journey Through Orbital Mechanics

Answer: Hohmann Transfer

A Hohmann Transfer is the simplest maneuver to reach a higher altitude and uses the least amount of fuel, but takes a long time to complete.

From Quiz Elementary Quantum Mechanics

Answer: position and momentum

From Quiz Quantum Quirks

Answer: Cat

The end result of the experiment being that, until measurement, the cat is in a superposition state of both 'dead' and 'alive' at the same time.

From Quiz Quantum Physics for Dummies

Answer: Erwin Schrödinger

The Schrödinger equation describes the time development of a quantum mechanical systems, like the Hydrogen atom and more complicated systems. Actually, the Hydrogen atom is one of the few systems for which this equation can be "solved" exactly, i.e. no approximations have to be made. One of the successes of quantum mechanics is that the solution of the Schrödinger Equation gives the correct spectrum of the Hydrogen atom.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:03 AM

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