91Ó°ÊÓ

What does it mean when we say that the energy of something is "quantized"?

Of the things that a car owner has to purchase routinely-gasoline, oil, antifreeze, tires, spark plugs, and so on - which are normally sold in quantized units, and which are not?

How might you explain the concept of quantization to a younger child (brother, sister, niece, ctc.), using money as the quantized entity?

Two common controls in a car are the steering wheel and the windshield wiper speed selector. Indicate whether each is controlling something in a quantized or a continuous fashion.

What assumption allowed Planck to account for the observed features of blackbody radiation?

What is a photon? How is its energy related to its frequency? To its wavelength?

Describe the photoelectric effect. Name some devices that make use of this process.

Sodium undergoes the photoelectric effect, with one clectron absorbing a photon of violet light and another absorbing a photon of ultraviolet light. What is different about the two electrons afterward?

Can you think of a reason why metals exhibit the photoelectric effect most easily? (Hint: Do you see any connection between this phenomenon and the properties of a good electrical or thermal conductor?)

If sunlight can be conceived of as a beam of photons, each of which carries a certain amount of energy and momentum, why don't we experience (or feel) any recoil as these particles collide with our bodies when, say, we're at the beach on a sunny day?