Related papers: Why we should teach the Bohr model and how to teac…
Most physics textbooks at college and university level introduce quantum physics in a historical context. However, the textbook version of this history does not match the actual history. In this article, the first in a series of articles…
Students are taught several models of conductivity, both at the introductory and the advanced level. From early macroscopic models of current flow in circuits, through the discussion of microscopic particle descriptions of electrons flowing…
The dual nature of matter and radiation and the concept of the structure of an atom share a number of key conceptual elements from quantum mechanics. Despite the similarities, we find that the concept of the structure of an atom is well…
Superconductors have often been described as `giant atoms'. The simplest description of atoms that heralded their quantum understanding was proposed by Bohr in 1913. The Bohr atom starts from some simple assumptions and deduces that the…
Ever since the advent of quantum mechanics, it has been clear that the atoms composing matter do not obey Newton's laws. Instead, their behavior is described by the Schroedinger equation. Surprisingly though, until recently, no clear…
The modeling theory of instruction is widely applied and highly successful in high-school instruction, and seldom in university physics. One reason is lack of familiarity with models in the physics classroom. Ongoing curriculum development…
Bohr's atomic model, its relationship to the radiation spectrum of the hydrogen atom and the inherent hypotheses are revisited. It is argued that Bohr could have adopted a different approach, focusing his analyzes on the stationary orbit of…
Physics faculty consider the photoelectric effect important, but many erroneously believe it is easy for students to understand. We have developed curriculum on this topic including an interactive computer simulation, interactive lectures…
Bohr atomic model is based on the assumption that electrons on allowed quantized orbits do not radiate. Its main results include the values of the radii of circular quantized orbits and of the hydrogen atom energy levels. Quantum mechanical…
We report on a large-scale study of student learning of quantum tunneling in 4 traditional and 4 transformed modern physics courses. In the transformed courses, which were designed to address student difficulties found in previous research,…
Hydrogen atom is studied as a quantum-classical hybrid system, where the proton is treated as a classical object while the electron is regarded as a quantum object. We use a well known mean-field approach to describe this hybrid hydrogen…
A primary goal of physics is to create mathematical models that allow both predictions and explanations of physical phenomena. We weave maths extensively into our physics instruction beginning in high school, and the level and complexity of…
Most introductory quantum physics instructors would agree that transitioning students from classical to quantum thinking is an important learning goal, but may disagree on whether or how this can be accomplished. Although (and perhaps…
Learning to create, use, and evaluate models is a central element of becoming a scientist. In physics, we often begin an analysis of a complex system with highly simplified or toy models. In introductory physics classes, we tend to use them…
The quantum theory of Bohr has roots in the theories of Rutherford and J. J. Thomson on the one hand, and that of Nicholson on the other. We note that Bohr neither presented the theories of Rutherford and Thomson faithfully, nor did he…
Philosophers have claimed that: (a) Born-Oppenheimer approximation methods for solving molecular Schr\"odinger equations violate the Heisenberg uncertainty relations; therefore, (b) `quantum chemistry' is not fully quantum; and (c)…
Throughout all years of study, students of physics are confronted with the question 'what exactly is light?' - a question that is impossible to answer correctly and, therefore, continuously discussed within the framework of models. Numerous…
Many-body descriptors are widely used to represent atomic environments in the construction of machine learned interatomic potentials and more broadly for fitting, classification and embedding tasks on atomic structures. It was generally…
This paper posits the existence of, and finds a candidate for, a variable change that allows quantum mechanics to be interpreted as quantum geometry. The Bohr model of the Hydrogen atom is thought of in terms of an indeterministic electron…
Instructors in introductory physics courses often use labs and demonstrations to reinforce that the physics equations introduced in lectures and textbooks describe what actually happens in the real world. The surface features and…