Quantum Club: why no fractions are allowed?

Project #629 on iSENSEProject.org

Background:

The topic: “Why are there are such things as discreet quanta in chemistry/quantum physics. Why whole quantum numbers instead of infinite variableness?”

Procedure:

Equipment: rolling lab cart, old fashioned overhead projector, centrifuge, 1 test tube to fit ½ filled with water, and a petrie dish ½ filled with water.

Place projector on cart, with petrie dish centered on the field. Next to it, set the centrifuge with the one test tube. Turn on light and focus the water surface onto a good projection screen. Turn centrifuge on and off and observe projected image on the screen, specifically, note the rings on the water.

To get the precise times for the transitions from 1 to 2 waves, or from 2 to 3 waves, etc, film the overhead image with a digital camera. Run the film in slow motion and determine the precise moment of the transition. Mark the x axis as Elapsed Time, with 0.1 second intervals.

Analysis:

Count the number of waves in the dish as energy increases and decreases. Measure energy increase by counting seconds after turning the centrifuge on. Measure energy decrease by counting seconds after turning the centrifuge off. Analyze the digital images to get the number of seconds to the nearest tenth, or hundreth, at each transition.