Visual Quantum Mechanics

Prepared for Contemporary Physics by Dean Zollman, Wally Axmann, Bob Grabhorn, Carol Regehr, and Paul Donovan Spring, 1994
From Kansas State University:http://bluegiant.phys.ksu.edu/dvi/vqm/vqm.html

Glossary

Momentum

The product of an object's mass and its velocity.

Energy

The stored ability to exert a force.

Kinetic energy

Energy of motion, described by the relationship

Potential energy

The stored energy that an object possesses by virtue of its position with respect to other objects. For example: gravitational potential energy by virtue of the position of one mass relative to other(s).

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Electron volt (eV)

In atomic and nuclear physics, it is the most commonly used unit of energy, related to the joule by 1eV = 1.6021E-19

Nanometer (nm)

A unit of length equal to 10E-9 meter. Atoms have a radius of 0.1 to 0.2 nm.

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Wavefunction

A function of position and time which is a solution to a differential equation. The square of the wavefunction that is the solution to the Schrödinger Equation predicts a probability density.

Wavelength

The distance between successive crests, troughs, or identical parts of a wave.

Amplitude

For a wave or vibration, the maximum displacement on either side of the equilibrium (midpoint) position.

Node

Point of zero amplitude in a standing wave. Antinodes are points of maximum amplitude.

Wavelength-Momentum Relation

Standing wave

A stationary wave pattern formed in a medium when two sets of identical waves pass through the medium in opposite directions or when the boundaries of the medium are rigid and do not allow transmission.

Smoothness condition

To be physically realistic, the wave function must be smoothly connected at all points including boundaries where the potential energy changes. This prevents the probability from having two values at a single point.

Max Planck

Max Planck, 1858-1947, German physicist, professor at Berlin and president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (now the Max Planck Institute). Planck made significant contributions to thermodynamics before he became involved with the problem of blackbody radiation. He was a very conservative scientist, and he regarded his quantization postulate as "an act of desperation." Planck received the Nobel Prize in 1918.

Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger, 1887-1961, Austrian theoretical physicist, professor at Berlin and at Vienna. One of the founders of the new quantum mechanics, he received the Nobel Prize in 1933.