Quantization of Energy
Quantization of energy is the limitation of energy at discreet values. I t refers to the fact that at
subatomic levels, energy occurs in discreet packets called photons (packages of energy which
corresponds to different types of colors in the electromagnetic spectrum). Max Planck explained
the UV catastrophe by proposing that the energy of electromagnetic waves is quantized rather
than continuous which means that for each temperature, there is a maximum intensity of radiation
that is emitted in a black body object. Albert Einstein explained heat capacity using Planck's
hypothesis and explained that each oscillating atom could have an energy. However, Einstein
only assumed one frequency of oscillation and Peter Debye used a more realistic distribution of
frequencies and better agreement with the experimental data approached to a statement:
mechanical motion and electromagnetic radiation is quantized. Atoms and molecules exist in
states with discrete energies. Niels Bohr assumed that the electron could only move in fixed
orbits and this led to the Bohr frequency condition. When a photon of light emitted upon
transition from upper to lower orbit has a fixed energy, and therefore also frequency and
wavelength. If energy of atoms or molecules is confined to discrete values, the energies that a
molecule can discard or acquire are also confined to discrete values. When a molecule undergoes
spectroscopic transition, it will result to a appearance of a sharply defined peak or emission line
in the spectrum at a frequency.
Wave particle duality
Wave-particle duality postulates that particles exhibit both particle and wave characteristics, and
this is the heart of quantum mechanics. Planck's treatment of black body diagram of radiation
introduced the idea that an oscillator of frequency can have only the energies 0, hv, 2hv ...nhv.
This quantization led to the suggestion that the resulting electromagnetic radiation of that
frequency can be thought of consisting of 0, 1, 2 ...n particles, each particle having an energy, hv.
Einstein applied Planck's quantum theory of light to account for the extraordinary features if
photoelectric effect wherein he introduced a new concept. It can then b e stated that
electromagnetic radiation exhibits wave-like properties such as reflections, refraction, diffraction,
and interference but also exhibits particle-like properties in that its energy occurs in discrete
packets called light quanta or photons. Particle nature of electromagnetic radiation can be
represented by photoelectric effect, a phenomenon of ejection of electrons from metals when
they are exposed to ultraviolet radiation. When a particle-like projectile collides with a metal, and
if the energy of the projectile is high enough, an electron is ejected. The Davisson-Germer
experiment which has since been repeated with other particles which shows clearly that particles
have wave-like properties. Louis de Broglie suggested that any particle, not only photons, traveling
with a linear momentum should have in some sense of a wavelength given by what is now
called the de Broglie relation. He showed that the wavelength of a particle is equal to Planck's
constant divided by the mass time the velocity of the particle.
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