Roxane Marie

perpetualwisdom@outlook.com

Monday, December 13, 2010

Quantum Physics


Quantum, derived from the Latin word Quantus for "how much or how great". Contrary to popular belief and despite the fact that many people are not familiar with quantum physics (or mechanics), this is not a new area of knowledge. Albert Einstein, Newton, Marie-Curie, Max Planck, James Clerk Maxwell to name a few, laid the ground work for quantum physics by identifying and defining photons, electrons, the wave-particles duality, electromagnetic radiation and electromagnetic fields. Quantum theory was developed to interpret phenomena originating from the atom. Natural progression triggered discoveries that reached atomic and subatomic levels known as quanta, where quantum physics uses complex math and linear functions to understand it. As controversial as it is, we could not have nanotechnology today without quantum physics. Ultimately in the world of science, quantum physics was left to explain things that traditional physics could not. Subsequently, this initiated various branches of study and birthed many new theories.

Interestingly, since Newton's induction of the theory of gravity in 1687, scientists still to this day are studying this phenomenon. Although, it is not without great scientific support, it is accepted as fact.