Quantum theory, physical theory based on the use of the concept of quantum unit to describe the dynamic properties of subatomic particles and the interactions between matter and radiation. The bases of the theory were laid by the German physicist Max Planck , who in 1900 postulated that matter can only emit or absorb energy in small discrete units called quanta. Another major contribution to the development of the theory was the uncertainty principle , formulated by German physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927, which says it is not possible to specify the exact same position and momentum of a subatomic particle.
Historical background
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the mechanical Newtonian or classical seemed to provide an entirely accurate description of the movements of bodies, such as planetary motion. However, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some experimental results introduced doubts about the Newtonian theory was complete. Among the new lines contained comments that appear in the spectra of light emitted by gases heated or subjected to electric shocks. According to the model of the atom developed in the early twentieth century by the British physicist New Zealand-born Ernest Rutherford , in which negatively charged electrons revolving around a positive nucleus in orbits given by Newton’s laws of motion, scientists expected that electrons emit light in a wide range of frequencies, not in the narrow frequency bands that form the lines of a spectrum.
Quantum theory, physical theory based on the use of the concept of
quantum unit to describe the dynamic properties of subatomic particles
and the interactions between matter and radiation. The bases of the
theory were laid by the German physicist Max Planck , who in 1900
postulated that matter can only emit or absorb energy in small discrete
units called quanta. Another major contribution to the development of
the theory was the uncertainty principle , formulated by German
physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927, which says it is not possible to
specify the exact same position and momentum of a subatomic particle.
Historical background
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the mechanical Newtonian or
classical seemed to provide an entirely accurate description of the
movements of bodies, such as planetary motion. However, in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some experimental results
introduced doubts about the Newtonian theory was complete. Among the
new lines contained comments that appear in the spectra of light
emitted by gases heated or subjected to electric shocks. According to
the model of the atom developed in the early twentieth century by the
British physicist New Zealand-born Ernest Rutherford , in which
negatively charged electrons revolving around a positive nucleus in
orbits given by Newton’s laws of motion, scientists expected that
electrons emit light in a wide range of frequencies, not in the narrow
frequency bands that form the lines of a spectrum.