The Beginning that Bridges Classical Mechanics with Quantum Mechanics

Max Planck is regarded as the Father of Quantum Mechanics, a title that truly reflects the magnitude of his contributions to the field.

The Beginning that Bridges Classical Mechanics with Quantum Mechanics

I hold great respect for the pioneers who came before, starting with James Maxwell, Rudolf Clausius, Gustaf Kirchhoff, Boltzmann, Wien, and ultimately guiding Rayleigh-Jeans with their ultraviolet catastrophe. Without the ultraviolet catastrophe, there would have been no action from Max Planck to correct it, leading to a revolutionary milestone in the history of physics.

The Impact of Planck's Revolution: A Major Insight...

• Planck was not fully aware that he had sparked a great revolution!
• Planck viewed energy quantization as merely a mathematical trick to resolve an issue, not something fundamental.
• It was not until 1905 that Einstein used this concept to explain the Photoelectric Effect, showing that light is indeed made up of quanta (photons)!
• This is what eventually gave birth to Quantum Mechanics, forever changing the landscape of physics.

Thus, Planck did not initially set out to discover quantum theory; he was merely attempting to fix a failing classical theory! Yet, his equation paved the way for the greatest revolution in 20th-century physics. Quite amazing, isn't it? 😮

The above writing is a small conclusion from many fascinating conclusions in the long journey of discussions with one of my friends, who has a deep understanding of quantum mechanics. Well, I finally met someone with whom I can have discussions on the same level, or even better

Why classical mechanics applies to the macro world

At a glance we think that quantum mechanics is a poor replacement of classical mechanics. However, a more rigorous examination reveals a startling reality: classical mechanics is nothing other than an approximation of quantum mechanics.

The certainty expressed by classical mechanics is merely a shadow, and conformity with experiment arises as a consequence of the fact that a macroscopic object consists of many individual atoms deviating from the unobserved average behavior.

Instead of a collection of physical principles, one for the macroscopic and the other for the microscopic nature; there is only one set, and quantum mechanics reveals our best effort to date to formulate it

Quantum mechanics is consistent with the principle of uncertainty

Quantum mechanics also produces a relationship between observed quantities, but the principle of uncertainty suggests that the quantity observed is different in the atomic region.

Cause and effect are still related to quantum mechanics but require careful interpretation.

In quantum mechanics the provision of future characteristics such as newtonian mechanics is not possible, since the initial position and momentum of the particle can not be obtained with sufficient accuracy.

The future of the particle is unknown because the present is unknown. Quantities whose relationships are explored by quantum mechanics are: probability.

Classical mechanics is an approximation of quantum mechanics

The main difference between newtonian mechanics and quantum mechanics lies in the way it describes them. In classical mechanics, the future of the particle has been determined by:

1. the initial position,
2. initial momentum as well as,
3. forces acting on the particle.

In the macroscopic world, this quantity can all be determined by a sufficient boiler to obtain a newton mechanics prediction that matches the observation