Summary
A hot body emits light with frequencies that defy the laws of classical physics.
Max Planck (1900) had the idea that this could be explained if light was emitted in quanta with E=hn
Einstein (1905) reasoned that this would also explain the photoelectric effect (light transfers quanta of energy to emitted electrons)
Niels Bohr (1912) realized the significance that the quantization could explain the stability of the atom
But at what price?
- Must give up classical physics - physical properties that are quantized and not continuous is completely different from the ideas of continuous space and time in classical physics
- Also completely different from Einstein’s relativity
Two most important Eqs in physics: E = mc2 E=hn