no theory could describe the whole shape of the spectral distribution curve--> crisis in classical physics
no theory could describe the whole shape of the spectral distribution curve--> crisis in classical physics
1900 Max Planck: a solution which describes well the distribution
BUT!!! Planck uses a hypothesis in total contradiction with classical physics
- Atomic oscillators (whose vibration produce the radiation) can vibrate only with certain discrete energies!
- Electromagnetic radiation caries this energy also in bundles, or quanta, this energy quanta is: E=hf (h: the famous Planck constant,
f: the frequency) h=6.63 x 10-34 Js
- every atomic oscillator can have an energy which is a multiple of this quanta (if it oscillates with frequency: f)
Discreteness of energy in disagreement with classical physics
Electromagnetic waves caries energy in discrete units --> back to the particle model for light