
Contents
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Black Body Radiation Black Body Radiation
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Planck’s Radiation Law Planck’s Radiation Law
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The Oscillator Energy The Oscillator Energy
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The Ingredients The Ingredients
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The Recipe The Recipe
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Step (1): Derive the Oscillator Entropy from Thermodynamics Step (1): Derive the Oscillator Entropy from Thermodynamics
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Step (2): Derive the Oscillator Entropy from Statistics Step (2): Derive the Oscillator Entropy from Statistics
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Step (3): Make the Comparison Step (3): Make the Comparison
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Enter Einstein Enter Einstein
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Notes Notes
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Further Reading Further Reading
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1 Planck’s Derivation of E=hν: The Quantization of Energy
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Published:January 2020
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Abstract
Planck was unwilling to accept Boltzmann’s statistical interpretation of the second law. He therefore needed to find a way to show how irreversible processes could result from continuous matter. Planck chose the physics of black body radiation as a battleground. After discovering his radiation law in October 1900, he sought a deeper theoretical interpretation for it. Now thermodynamics is not the most obvious place to look for evidence of the quantum nature of radiation and, in an ‘act of desperation’, Planck had to torture the theory in a way that would eventually allow this conclusion to emerge from an entirely classical structure. Planck’s derivation heralded the very beginning of the quantum revolution, but only in promise, not in deed. The revolution began in earnest in 1905 with the help of Albert Einstein.
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