Quantum Mechanics

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the development of quantum mechanics, illustrating its background which began with the classical theory of the atom, continued to Bohr's simple atomic theory, and was developed further with de Broglie's wave theory, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Schrodinger's equation. To further investigate the development of quantum mechanics, each of these stages are looked at in more detail, showing the main ideas that each stage added to the understanding of the atom. This paper shows that quantum mechanics is based on the combination of the ideas of many scientists, with the final acceptance of quantum theory occurring when Schrodinger's equation tied together previous theories and allowed them to be applied to subatomic particles.

From the Paper:

"The classical theory of the atom is based on the model of an atom being made up of a positive nucleus containing protons and neutrons with negatively charged electrons orbiting around this nucleus. This model was first proposed by Rutherford in 1911 who described the atom saying, "Most of the volume of the atom is empty space in which electrons move around the nucleus." This basic model of the atom has been expanded on and used to determine how chemicals react with each other, the charges of chemicals and the physical properties of chemicals. While this has involved expanding the theory, the basic understanding of the structure remains the same."

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