minutephysics
Published on Oct 14, 2012Check out the Massey Lectures with Neil Turok: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-201…
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics: http://pitp.caMinute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics — all in a minute!
Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
Thanks to Nima Doroud and Bruno LeFloch for contributions and to Perimeter Institute for support.
http://www.perimeterinstitute.caProduced in association with the 2012 Massey Lecture Series http://dft.ba/-massey Created by Henry Reich
H/T to Aeon:
The physics revolution that started with the flicker of a lightbulb
The discovery of quantum mechanics at the start of the 20th century shook the very foundations of physics, forcing scientists and philosophers to reexamine everything from particles upward. But as this short animation from MinutePhysics explains, the quantum revolution was jumpstarted by a rather unremarkable question. As the German government asked the theoretical physicist Max Planck: how can lightbulbs be made more efficient? To help solve the problem, Planck tried to account for the changing colour of light based on temperature, which he eventually realised couldn’t be explained by classical Newtonian physics. Working backwards from his data in ‘an act of despair’, Planck found that light wasn’t emitted continuously, but rather in discrete packets that he referred to as ‘quanta’. And the rest is the illusory arrow of time that we call history.
