A quantum is a packet of energy that is always emitted in certain quantities. The rate at which hot bodies, such as stars, lose energy is finite. The higher the frequency of the wave, the greater the energy in each quantum.
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Quantum Term Timeline in A Brief History of Time
The timeline below shows where the term Quantum appears in A Brief History of Time. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...Planck then suggested that light, and all waves, would be emitted in certain amounts, called quanta. Higher frequencies of light would be emitted in higher-energy quanta. This would make the energy...
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...it to see where it is. The higher the frequency of the light in the quantum, the more accurately you can see the particle, because the wavelengths of the light will...
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Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, and Paul Dirac in the 1920s created quantum mechanics based on the uncertainty principle. This theory does not predict definite outcomes, but potential...
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...that light, although a wave, could act as a particle, being emitted only in certain quanta. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle made particles seem more like waves, with their movement spread out according...
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...electrons could only orbit at specific distances, which would balance it all out. According to quantum mechanics, the electrons would move as waves, and therefore would only form orbits where the...
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Einstein’s general theory of relativity is considered a classical theory because it does not include quantum mechanics. This does not lead to inconsistency, though, as gravitational forces are so weak compared...
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Chapter 12
Today, Laplace’s approach is defunct because of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, which introduces a minimum level of randomness. Quantum theory gives particles less well-defined positions...
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Introducing quantum mechanics, however, leads to ideas of a finite, four-dimensional space with no boundaries. This could...
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