Skip to main content

Result of the Stern-Gerlach Experiment

 

 

The Stern-Gerlach experiment is one of the experiments that best demonstrates the reality of quantum physics. In 1922, Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach devised a highly effective experiment to test Bohr's theory of discrete angular momentum. Let's take an in-depth look at the experimental setup below.



Stern and Gerlach used Ag atoms with 47 atoms to perform this experiment. Ag atoms with 47 atoms have 5s1 unpaired electrons in their final orbital orbitals.

Ag atoms are heated in a furnace to give them high energy. Ag atoms with high energy spins oriented in different directions are passed through the collimators in bunches and then in an inhomogeneous magnet and hit the observation screen. There are two important points here.

One of these important points is that an inhomogeneous magnet was used in the experiment. As you can see in the setup, the N pole is wide and the S pole has pointed ends. The magnetic field lines are more intense at the pointed end of the S pole.

If the dipole moment of the electrons is oriented in the same direction as the externally applied inhomogeneous magnetic field, the potential energy of the particles becomes minimum and the particles are directed towards the S pole. However, the potential energy of the particles is maximum if the dipole moment is not in the same direction as the externally applied inhomogeneous magnetic field. Since nature tends to have minimum energy, our particles will be oriented toward the N pole.

The second important point is that when we think classically, we could expect that we would observe a continuous distribution on the observation screen since we thought that the spins of Ag
The second important point is that when we think classically, we could expect that we would observe a continuous distribution on the observation screen since we thought that the spins of Ag atoms circulating in the furnace with the Boltzmann distribution would have every value. atoms circulating in the furnace with the Boltzmann distribution would have every value.

However, the Stern-Gerlach experiment clearly showed that after passing through the inhomogeneous magnet leaving the furnace, the spins of the Ag electrons make two intermittent peaks. As a result, it was understood that the spins were quantized. Thanks to this important information, it has been possible to understand the working logic of quantum and improve its applications.





Reference

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Energy-level-diagram-of-an-S1-2-moment-in-a-magnetic-field-B_fig28_263685155

Weinert, F. (1995). "Wrong theory—right experiment: The significance of the Stern–Gerlach experiments". Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. 26B: 75–86.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloch Sphere – Geometric Representation of Quantum State

    It is very difficult to visualize quantum states before our eyes. The Bloch sphere represents quantum state functions quite well. The Bloch sphere is named after physicist Felix Bloch. As you can see in the Bloch sphere figure below, it geometrically shows the pure states of two-level quantum mechanical systems. The poles of the Bloch sphere consist of bits |0⟩ and |1⟩. Classically, the point on the sphere indicates either 0 or 1. However, from a quantum mechanics point of view, quantum bits contain possibilities to be found on the entire surface of the sphere. Traditionally, the z-axis represents the |0⟩ qubit, and the z-axis the |1⟩ qubit. When the wave function in superposition is measured, the state function collapses to one of the two poles no matter where it is on the sphere. The probability of collapsing into either pole depends on which pole the vector representing the qubit is closest to. The angle θ that the vector makes with the z-axis determines this probabilit...
1 comment
Read more

A Study of Quantum Properties of Phonons - A New Kind of Quantum Computing Could Be Possible

  To date, we have quantum computers that are superconducting, ion-trapped, neutral atoms, and photons. However, it seems that a new one will be added among these types. Phonons could be popular for this new quantum computer. Before moving on to this stage, a team led by Prof. Andrew Cleland at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago conducted two experiments to establish a detailed study of phonons. As is known, quantum mechanics argues that quantum elementary particles are indivisible. For example, photons, the smallest particles of light with which we are more studied and familiar, are examples of these elementary particles. However, little attention has been paid to phonons, another quantum particle that transmits sound, in small packets. The team at the University of Chicago was able to figure out how to first capture single phonons and entangle two phonons, using phonons with a pitch that is about a million times higher than what the human ea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Introduction to Grover's Algorithm

    Another algorithm that has an important place among quantum algorithms is the Grover algorithm. It was developed by the Indian physicist Lov Grover in 1997. I described the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm algorithm in my previous articles. Although the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm helps us find the characteristics of the functions and gives us good information about the working principles of the quantum algorithm, it has no application to a real physical problem. Grover's algorithm allows us to solve real physical problems. In this article, I will give information about the working principle of the Grover algorithm and its application as an example. Let's imagine two cities, A and B! Suppose there is more than one way to get from A to B. What we want is to find the shortest path among the existing path options. When we want to solve this problem through a classical algorithm, it will deal with each option one by one with iterations and reach the result. However, Grover's algorithm...
Post a Comment
Read more