The Wykehamist
Although it had its roots in earlier thought, 1925 marked the start of quantum physics, and of modern physics as a whole; no longer was the world certain. Newton’ s mechanics were being challenged for the first time in over two centuries; it was becoming clear that they were only a special case of a larger, unifying theory. This shift in understanding the world’ s fundamental principles has led to numerous innovations, many of which directly impact our lives today.
In order to recognise the enormous leap in understanding that occurred 100 years ago, 2025 has thus been dubbed the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology( IYQ), and I hope you can see why this deserves such special recognition.
* The photoelectric effect is when light shone on a metal surface causes electrons to be released from it. Increasing the frequency increases the energy of each wave( or photon), but increasing the intensity at a lower frequency only increases the number of photons, not their individual energies. What confused physicists was that no matter how high the intensity, lower-frequency light could not cause electron emission. This is because photon – electron interactions are 1:1, so it is the energy of each photon, not the total intensity, that matters.
Megan Williams( K, 2024-)
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