Quantum Wave Interference
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About
Topics
- Quantum Mechanics
- Photons
- Electrons
- Atoms
- Particles
- Waves
Description
When do photons, electrons, and atoms behave like particles and when do they behave like waves? Watch waves spread out and interfere as they pass through a double slit, then get detected on a screen as tiny dots. Use quantum detectors to explore how measurements change the waves and the patterns they produce on the screen.
Sample Learning Goals
- Visualize a photon, electron, neutron, or helium atom as a wave packet that collapses upon detection.
- Visualize what happens to the wave between slit and screen.
- Justify how the double slit experiment explains that matter and light behave as waves.
- Describe the behavior of a wave function in the presence of a detector, and explain how putting a detector over a slit destroys the interference pattern. Determine how the interference pattern will change if you change the mass, speed, or wavelength.
- Recognize large range of size scales involved in quantum interference experiments.
- Recognize that two coherent light sources can interfere, but only if they have the same wavelength.
Keywords
For Teachers
Teacher Tips
Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ). |
Teacher-Submitted Activities
Title | Authors | Level | Type | ||
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Visualization and Visual Illusions SIM Homework | Kathy Perkins, Carl Wieman | UG-Intro | HW | ||
Probability and Randomness Interactive Lecture | Sam McKagan, Kathy Perkins, Carl Wieman, and Noah Finkelstein | UG-Adv UG-Intro |
CQs Demo |
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Wave Particle Duality | Sam McKagan, Kathy Perkins, and Carl Wieman | UG-Intro UG-Adv |
HW | ||
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? | Sarah Borenstein | MS | Other | ||
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS | Trish Loeblein | HS | Other | ||
PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum | Julia Chamberlain | HS UG-Intro |
Other | ||
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment | Elyse Zimmer | MS HS |
Other | ||
The Two-Slit Experiment | Roberta Tevlin | HS | Demo HW CQs |
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Simulações no Ensino de Fisica | Carla Tavares | HS | Guided Demo MC Discuss HW Other Lab |
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Interferencia de onda cuántica | Patricia Abdel Rahim | UG-Adv | Lab |
Translations
Software Requirements
Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
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Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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OS 10.5 or later Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later
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Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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Credits
Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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