Scientist max planck - Research Paper Example

heoretical research, Planck revealed a quite extraordinary breakthrough: ‘the law of radiation of bodies as a function of temperature could not be derived solely from the Laws of Maxwellian electrodynamics’ (Einstein 1995, 106). To reach findings in agreement with the related trials, a particular frequency’s radiation had to be dealt with as if it is composed of photons of the ‘individual energy hf’(Weast 1973, 44) in which h is the universal constant of Planck. This breakthrough became the foundation of all experiments and studies in physics in the twentieth century and has almost completely directed its progress from then on.

Without this breakthrough it would have been impossible to formulate a feasible theory of energy and atomic and molecular dynamics that direct their transformations (Jammer 2000). Furthermore, it has ruined the entire structure of orthodox mechanics and electrodynamics and creates a new mission for science that is, looking for a new theoretical foundation for the whole of physics. In spite of substantial incomplete achievements, the question remains far from an agreeable answer (Einstein 1995).

However, it is still impossible to dispute the fact that the quanta of Max Planck revolutionized twentieth century physics. The efforts of Max Planck in thermodynamics resulted in the development of the quantum theory. To give explanation of the shades of hot lustrous matter, Planck suggested that energy is emitted in incredibly miniscule and isolated quantized quantities or packs, rather than in an endless and steady wave (Weir 2009). He coined the term ‘quanta’ to refer to these packs of energy and he was successful in establishing that each quantum’s energy is equivalent to the radiation’s frequency multiplied by h (Hoffman 2008).

This figure, shown in the form of erg-seconds, quantifies each quantum’s energy (Weast 1973). An erg ‘is the amount of energy needed to raise a milligram of mass by a distance of 1 centimeter’