# UTPA STEM/CBI Courses/Quantum Mechanics/Particles and Waves

Course Title: Particle and Wave
Lecture Topic: Particle - wave dualism
Instructor: Mircea Chipara
Institution: (UTPA)

## Backwards Design

Understanding the Quantum Behavior of Matter
* Primary Objectives- By the next class period students will be able to:
** Understand the concepts of a particle and a wave
** Identify the differences between waves and particles
** Comprehend the dualism between waves and particles
* Sub Objectives- The objectives will require that students be able to:
** Recognize the differences between waves and electromagnetic waves
** Understand the need of the aether and the consequences of Michelson Morley experiment
* Difficulties- Students may have difficulty:
** Understanding the difference between a particle and a wave
* Real-World Contexts- There are many ways that students can use this material in the real-world, such as:
** Estimating the size of quantum effects
** Speculating about the possibility of wave-like behavior of particles.
*** Model of Knowledge
* Concept Map
** PARTICLES
*** Particle...
** WAVES
** DUALISM
*** Dualism in Quantum Mechanics
* Content Priorities
** Understanding matter at submicron scale
** Enduring Understanding
*** ARE ALL WAVES QUANTUM OBJECTS?
*** HOW TO DECIDE IF A PARTICLE-LIKE OR A WAVE-LIKE BEHAVIOR IS EXPECTED
*** CAN WE DESIGN A MENTAL EXPERIMENT IN WHICH BOTH PARTICLE-LIKE AND WAVE-LIKE FEATURES ARE COMPETING?
** Important to Do and Know
*** HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE OF INCERTITUDE
**** Heisenberg Principle
*** What is the length of the wave associated with a 50 Kg human walking at 5 km/h?
** Worth Being Familiar with
** What is a particle?
** What is a wave?
** What is a wave packet?
Assessment of Learning
* Formative Assessment
** In Class (groups)
*** Is the Earth motion around the Sun quantized?
*** Tunneling as an example of wave - particle dualism
**** tunneling
** Homework (individual)
*** text
* Summative Assessment
** text

## Legacy Cycle

OBJECTIVE
By the next class period, students will be able to:
* Use the Heisenberg principle for position and linear momentum
* Use the Heisenberg principle for time and energy
* Estimate when the dualism applies
The objectives will require that students be able to:
* Understand particles, waves, and dualism
* Understand the background of quantum mechanics
THE CHALLENGE
Better understanding of the fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics
GENERATE IDEAS
Light corpuscules
* Bohr's atom and the wave-particle dualism
Bohr's atom
MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
DEFINITION FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY
* Main Entry: par·ti·cle
* Pronunciation: \ˈpär-ti-kəl\
* Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin particula, from diminutive of part-, pars Date: 14th century a minute quantity or fragment/ a relatively small or the smallest discrete portion or amount of something
* archaic : a clause or article of a composition or document
* any of the basic units of matter and energy (as a molecule, atom, proton, electron, or photon)
* a unit of speech expressing some general aspect of meaning or some connective or limiting relation and including the articles, most prepositions and conjunctions, and some interjections and adverbs <the particle up has a perfective meaning in phrases such as beat up and cut up>
* a small Eucharistic wafer distributed to a Roman Catholic layman at Communion
DEFINITION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
* Here, we define a particle as a small discrete quantity of matter that has an interface with the surrounding environment.
RESEARCH & REVISE
PARTICLE-WAVE DUALISM
link title
TEST YOUR METTLE
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GO PUBLIC
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## Pre-Lesson Quiz

* What is the electron...a particle or a wave?
* What is the photon... a particle or a wave?
* List two experiments that are typical for the wave like behavior of matter.

## Test Your Mettle Quiz

* What is the wavelength associated to the SUN?(The sun mass is 1.98892 × 10^30 kilograms and speed of the sun around the galaxy is 486000 miles per hour)
* If the position of the Sun can be determined with an accuracy of 1 mm, what is the accuracy in the estimation of the speed of Sun (The sun mass is 1.98892 × 10^30 kilograms)
* Are you both a particle-like object and a wave-like object?