Can someone explain this to me?

[Innit]

Could someone explain to me the basic idea of quantum physics and quantum theory. I tend to find complex analysis's of the subject on the internet, and what I have understood, is that it is the physics of atomic and subatomic particles. In other words, very small particles - which have a very different physics from the normal physics we learn about of normal large objects. Basically, it shows that most of the stuff we learn in school about atoms etc. is not true, and we are introduced to quarks, mesons, baryons and the like. I'm still in 10th Grade, so I still in the "learning the wrong stuff" stage, but I would like to understand the concept of quantum physics, and what exactly quarks, mesons and baryons are.

 

Could someone explain it to me in a way that I can understand it? It would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

[nexteinstein]

the first thing you should understand about quantum mechanics is that some of the main principles are the uncertainty principle which states that you can not calculate the exact velocity and position of a particle.this is because you need to use em that has a short wavelength to find out the position but the short waveleth EM has a higher frquency which means that the velocity of the particle willl be affected to much.and vice versa for short wavelength EM

[Innit]

^ Yes, I heard about that when they were explaining that it would be very difficult to state the exact location and speed of an electron because it would change speed in the process of finding its location.

 

Thanks.

 

Any other explanations?

[swansont]

^ Yes, I heard about that when they were explaining that it would be very difficult to state the exact location and speed of an electron because it would change speed in the process of finding its location.

 

Thanks.

 

Any other explanations?

 

That's an example of it, but the uncertainty principle actually comes right from the solutions of physics equations.

 

Small things do indeed behave differently — it turns out that everything has a wave behavior, but the wavelength is given by h/p, where h is Planck's constant and p is momentum. h is very small, and p is typically large enough for anything above atomic scale (and often at the atomic scale) that you don't notice this.

 

And there are other behaviors that don't correspond to classical observation. Energy states in bound systems are quantized rather than being continuous (i.e. only certain values are allowed). "Particles" have angular momentum but without physically spinning.

 

Quarks are one type of subatomic particle, with six different "flavors." Mesons are made up of two quarks and baryons are made up of three.

 

 

 

edit: http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/751.mf1i.fall02/

the first few links under "lectures" may be of some help ("Introduction" and the three following)

[koantum]

You may find this site very useful. It follows Einstein's motto: "Everything should be made as simple as possible — but not simpler!"

[someguy]

^ Yes, I heard about that when they were explaining that it would be very difficult to state the exact location and speed of an electron because it would change speed in the process of finding its location.

 

Thanks.

 

Any other explanations?

 

I think the meaning is deeper than that. it is not a limitation on technology of observation. it is not because the mere fact of observing disturbs the experiment. it is a property of the observed.

[Innit]

^ I see. And what kind of technology is used to view these tiny electrons, or other subatomic particles? What instruments are used?