What does it mean to be 'quantized'?

[MIA6]

What does it mean to be 'quantized'? My teacher often says about Quantum Physics. I just don't get what that means. My teacher explained that quantized means everything can be or can not be (I didn't listen carefully) cut indefinitely. If everything can be cut indefinitely, then how about electron? It can not be cut since scientists haven't found what electron is made of, so please explain to me what quantized really means in a easy and understandable way. thanks a lot.

 

[christianjb]

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

 

[rootX]

What does it mean to be 'quantized'? My teacher often says about Quantum Physics. I just don't get what that means. My teacher explained that quantized means everything can be or can not be (I didn't listen carefully) cut indefinitely. If everything can be cut indefinitely, then how about electron? It can not be cut since scientists haven't found what electron is made of, so please explain to me what quantized really means in a easy and understandable way. thanks a lot.

are you in a high school?
My last year, grade 12 physics, teacher used to say that a lot.

maybe, university professors would do the same.

"What I am going to tell you about is what we teach our physics students in the third or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does."
-- Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988), QED, The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Penguin Books, London, 1990, p 9.

 

[MIA6]

yes, I am in high school. My teacher first tallked about tearing papers in half, and she said it could be cut into infinity, then she talked about molecule, but i forgot if the molecule can be cut or not. Anyway, can any object cut into infinity?

 

[G01]

If something is quantized, it essentially means that that something comes in "chunks," and that these "chunks" cannot be broken into smaller "chunks."

Take light as an example. The chunks that light is made up of are called photons. A sensor can only deal with whole numbers of photons. It cannot absorb 1/2 a photon, or 1.33333 photons, since the smallest amount of light that can be dealt with is 1 photon. 1/2 a photon or 1/3 of a photon don't exist.

Does this help?

 

[MIA6]

If something is quantized, it essentially means that that something comes in "chunks," and that these "chunks" cannot be broken into smaller "chunks."

Take light as an example. The chunks that light is made up of are called photons. A sensor can only deal with whole numbers of photons. It cannot absorb 1/2 a photon, or 1.33333 photons, since the smallest amount of light that can be dealt with is 1 photon. 1/2 a photon or 1/3 of a photon don't exist.

Does this help?

So it's like a multiples of integer. it will give 1n,2n,3n. but no any decimals.