Explaining Quantum Mechanics: What You Need to Know

[Hurlbert]

What is it?

Hi, I'm new here, but I come with questions. I come here, because I don't know of anywhere else where my questions might get answered, mainly because it is my wish to understand Creation better.

Creation is my all-encompassing word for the known universe, and any potentially unexplored universes, existenses, Planes of reality (Or uinreality as the case may be) Diminsions, so on and so forth.

But really, let me just ask what is probably, a very simply question.

Could someone explain to me, in simple, easy to understand terms, what Quantum mechanics is? I say simple, easy to understand terms, because no matter how much I would like to pretend i understand science, (And I do a little), I really do not understand that much. If it requires a mah formula, go ahead and put it in, but at least explain to me what the math is supposed to represent.

Think of it as a test of your own knowledge, if you can explain it to me, then surely you must have a firm grsp on the subject yourself.

 

[rewebster]

well, you can start here:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics



It's nice because there are many links to whatever level you may want to go.

 

[simon009988]

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl?Type=TOC
http://www.hi.is/~hj/QuantumMechanics/quantum.html
also good

 

[Dense]

Could someone explain to me, in simple, easy to understand terms, what Quantum mechanics is?

"Quantum Mechanics" is the physics of how atoms and smaller things behave.

It is easy to describe what it is in simple English, as you see.

The difficulty and complexity is in describing the actual mechanics themselves in simple English. This is difficult, not because ordinary language is inadequate to the task, but because the phenomena are not analogous to the physics we encounter in our day-to-day lives. And therefore the phenomena are difficult to explain accurately using analogies, which is how most of us would try to do it.

The trick is to get your audience to free up some space in their head for the possibility that a given phenomenon is not "like" anything else, but just "is." There's all kinds of experimental data and careful mathematics that show that it really is that way, so once you've gotten your audience ready to listen with an open mind, you can start describing the mechanics to them. There are a few books out there that describe what the subatomic phenomena are fairly well to the non-scientist.

The next step, and the hardest, is figuring out WHY the mechanics are the way they are. And explaining how the phenomena actually occur. That is where the hardcore scientists and mathematicians come in, and it really is quite difficult to discuss that stuff without learning some specialized language first. (That's all it is, though. The jargon and the equations are just another language, when you get down to it.)