PHYS 3650 - Modern Physics
Lesson 9 - Blackbody Radiation and the Photoelectric Effect

Study Assignment:

Chapter 30, Section 30.1

Lesson notes:

A major revolution in physics was produced by Max Planck's explanation of the spectral distribution of blackbody radiation and Albert Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect.

Objectives:

1. Understand the failure of classical physics to explain blackbody radiation and the contribution Planck made to the development of the quantum theory.

Vocabulary:

ultraviolet catastrophe
Planck's constant

Homework:

TQ: 30-2
TP: 30-2, 30-4, 30-6

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Additional resources:

A biography of Max Planck is provided by the Nobel Foundation.

Last update: August 07, 2007