Unit 6: Atomic and Nuclear Physics

   Although the success of Newtonian determinism is as clear as any scientific paradigm in the history of our planet (for example, just think about all the machines you use in any one day...cars and elevators etc.), it turns out that the ideas of Isaac Newton were not able to explain the results of certain important experiments conducted in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  For example, the atomic spectra (seen above) of a hydrogen discharge tube viewed through a diffraction grating is not explainable using classical physics. In this unit we will study the "quantum" nature of the subatomic realm, which does allow us to understand these phenomena, and see that we might need to re-examine the very nature of our world in light of what science has shown us about the smallest parts of the universe.

Suggested timeframe: 4 weeks

Big Ideas:
•At the smallest scales, classical mechanics simply does not work.
•Energy is quantized.
•All matter is made of atoms, but atoms are systems of even smaller particles.
•At the center of the atom there exists a positively charged system of even smaller particles.
•Insight into both the behavior of complex systems and the interpretation of quantum mechanical systems is gained by using the mathematics of probability.