UTPA STEM/CBI Courses/Quantum Mechanics/Particles and Waves

Course Title: Particle and Wave

Lecture Topic: Particle - wave dualism

Instructor: Mircea Chipara

Institution: (UTPA)

Backwards Design

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Understanding the Quantum Behavior of Matter

  • Primary Objectives- By the next class period students will be able to:
    • Understand the concepts of a particle and a wave
    • Identify the differences between waves and particles
    • Comprehend the dualism between waves and particles
  • Sub Objectives- The objectives will require that students be able to:
    • Recognize the differences between waves and electromagnetic waves
    • Understand the need of the aether and the consequences of Michelson Morley experiment
  • Difficulties- Students may have difficulty:
    • Understanding the difference between a particle and a wave
  • Real-World Contexts- There are many ways that students can use this material in the real-world, such as:
    • Estimating the size of quantum effects
    • Speculating about the possibility of wave-like behavior of particles.
      • Model of Knowledge
  • Content Priorities
    • Understanding matter at submicron scale
    • Enduring Understanding
      • ARE ALL WAVES QUANTUM OBJECTS?
      • HOW TO DECIDE IF A PARTICLE-LIKE OR A WAVE-LIKE BEHAVIOR IS EXPECTED
      • CAN WE DESIGN A MENTAL EXPERIMENT IN WHICH BOTH PARTICLE-LIKE AND WAVE-LIKE FEATURES ARE COMPETING?
    • Important to Do and Know
      • HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE OF INCERTITUDE
      • What is the length of the wave associated with a 50 Kg human walking at 5 km/h?
    • Worth Being Familiar with
    • What is a particle?
    • What is a wave?
    • What is a wave packet?

Assessment of Learning

  • Formative Assessment
    • In Class (groups)
      • Is the Earth motion around the Sun quantized?
      • Tunneling as an example of wave - particle dualism
    • Homework (individual)
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  • Summative Assessment
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Legacy Cycle

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OBJECTIVE

By the next class period, students will be able to:

  • Use the Heisenberg principle for position and linear momentum
  • Use the Heisenberg principle for time and energy
  • Estimate when the dualism applies

The objectives will require that students be able to:

  • Understand particles, waves, and dualism
  • Understand the background of quantum mechanics


THE CHALLENGE

Better understanding of the fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics

GENERATE IDEAS

Light corpuscules

  • Bohr's atom and the wave-particle dualism

Bohr's atom

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

DEFINITION FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY

  • Main Entry: par·ti·cle
  • Pronunciation: \ˈpär-ti-kəl\
  • Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin particula, from diminutive of part-, pars Date: 14th century a minute quantity or fragment/ a relatively small or the smallest discrete portion or amount of something

  • archaic : a clause or article of a composition or document
  • any of the basic units of matter and energy (as a molecule, atom, proton, electron, or photon)
  • a unit of speech expressing some general aspect of meaning or some connective or limiting relation and including the articles, most prepositions and conjunctions, and some interjections and adverbs <the particle up has a perfective meaning in phrases such as beat up and cut up>
  • a small Eucharistic wafer distributed to a Roman Catholic layman at Communion

DEFINITION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

  • Here, we define a particle as a small discrete quantity of matter that has an interface with the surrounding environment.

RESEARCH & REVISE

PARTICLE-WAVE DUALISM

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TEST YOUR METTLE

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GO PUBLIC

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Pre-Lesson Quiz

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  1. What is the electron...a particle or a wave?
  2. What is the photon... a particle or a wave?
  3. List two experiments that are typical for the wave like behavior of matter.

Test Your Mettle Quiz

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  1. What is the wavelength associated to the SUN?(The sun mass is 1.98892 × 10^30 kilograms and speed of the sun around the galaxy is 486000 miles per hour)
  2. If the position of the Sun can be determined with an accuracy of 1 mm, what is the accuracy in the estimation of the speed of Sun (The sun mass is 1.98892 × 10^30 kilograms)
  3. Are you both a particle-like object and a wave-like object?