What does it mean for a property to be quantized?
1 Answer
It means it can only have discrete amounts...
Explanation:
If you drive a car on the motorway and think you are driving exactly 50 mph, chances are you are not: it depends on a myriad of factors.
For instance, how far you have the accelerator pushed down, the friction-coefficient with the road surface (which can vary), speed, strength and angle of a headwind, ambient temperature, vertical gradient (angle) of the road, etc.
Factors like these will change constantly, and even though you try to compensate for them with the accelerator, the result is that your speed will continuously vary and can have ANY value.
In contrast, consider a modern Hi-Fi amplifier/radio/TV.
In virtually all modern sets, when you adjust the volume, that will be done in digital steps: if the volume is set to 15 and you want to increase it to 20, you press the button (often on a remote) and it goes up by increments of 1: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and finally 20. No matter how you try, you can NOT adjust it to, let's say, 18.5 or 19.4.
You can consider the steps as Quantised, as they come in little "packets", or "Quantums," of 1 unit. You can't break these down into smaller units.
The term is mostly associated with the atomic model according to Bohr : He had a problem with the model as proposed by Ernest Rutherford.:
According to the Rutherford model, the electron in the Hydrogen atom was circling round the proton. Bohr concluded that it was acting as an oscillating dipole. This would result in loss of Energy, meaning that in the long run the electron would slow down and ultimately crash onto the nucleus (proton).
As this obviously didn't happen, Bohr therefore concluded that the electron couldn't slow down in minute amounts like the car mentioned above can, its Energy could ONLY be acquired or lost in discrete amounts, or "Quantums". Pretty much like you can only adjust the volume of the radio mentioned above in discrete steps....
