Waves (2.2)

Moving like a wave and hitting like a particle (3.2)

History of computation (5.2)

- Idea that computers are devices, no inherent understanding
- Rough timeline of computational history

World is made of notes (7.1)

Looking at the sky (7.2)

Catching waves (8.1, 8.2)

- Trapped waves (Guitar strings, drum heads, fundamental, harmonics, notes/colors, how they depend on the size of the trap, etc.)*
- Electron waves in a quantum corral
- Electron waves in an atom
- Spectra, and how the colors we see are related to the electron waves*
- How quantum dots work, why they have different colors

"Fun" essay question examples:

Describe how bandwidth (color range) relates to the length of a particle ripple, and how this is related to spectrum allocation. [Key ideas: ripple length and color range; central color; bunching of light; bandwidth; spectrum allocation.]
In a classic experiment milliKelvin He atoms were dropped onto a sensor. If the Helium was isotope He4 bunching was observed, if isotope He3 was used anti-bunching was seen. Explain these results using the ideas of particle ripples. [Key ideas: size of a particle ripple; extroverts and introverts; packing fermions to act like bosons.]
Explain why larger telescopes have better resolving power. [Key ideas: width of a particle ripple; how ripples from sources overlap (e.g. beach metaphor); what is needed to separate light from different sources.]
Starting with analogy of waves on a guitar string, explain the discrete spectra seen from atoms. [Key ideas: specific energy waves in a trap (fundamental, first harmonic, etc.); electron waves in an atom; energy of light is difference in electron wave energy; color of light is given by energy.]
Explain how quantum dots work. [Key ideas: specific energy waves in a trap (fundamental, first harmonic, etc.); how energy of wave depends on trap size; electron wave in a quantum dot; how color of quantum dot is related to their size.]