The ULTRAVIOLET CATASTROPHE

How did the field of quantum mechanics come about in the first place? The Rayleigh-Jeans catastrophe, also known as the ultraviolet catastrophe was a prediction by the Rayleigh-Jeans law that a blackbody would radiate infinite amounts of ultraviolet light. It wasn’t until Max Planck came along and predicted that light came in packets or quanta that the field of quantum mechanics emerged and unintentionally solved the ultraviolet catastrophe.

Creator: Dianna Cowern
Editor: Jabril Ashe
Writer: Sophia Chen
Animations: Jabril Ashe/Kyle Norby

Thanks to Ashley Warner and Kyle Kitzmiller

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Music: APM

[bloogaming]

What's the difference between a board and a plank? Boards can change, but Planck's constant.

[markjparr]

I live just up the road from Lord Rayleigh's home in Terling, Essex, UK, and it's great to see the recognition of his work, explained briefly, but perfectly. For the record the double noble prize winners observatory, and laboratory is still there untouched, left as he left it in 1919. Keep up the great work, and get the youth fascinated about the physical world.

[sidkemp]

My favorite part of this is Einstein's role in explaining Planck with the Photoelectric Effect, arguably the basis of quantum mechanics. In a sense, Einstein was the father of quantum mechanics, as he clearly was of relativity. Yet many people maintain that he either failed to understand it or rejected it, even though he was one of the core creators of the field and its theories.

[TerraPupaAbyssus]

I definitely want to start a rock band and name it the Ultraviolet Catastrophe.

[slep]

"When you switch a plus to a minus" lol true, or adding a random natural log somewhere to make something line up with the graph

[LookingGlassUniverse]

Yay, I loved this! And the message at the end about being wrong is one of those things people don't like to emphasis about science but it's crucial.

[hp]

Just revisiting to experience the amazing videos again with Physics Girl. Hope that she will recover from longcovid soon. Hope to see you soon in full swing!

[ronaldderooij]

In fact Max Planck did realise what he did immediately. He felt deeply depressed about it, but did it anyway. He indeed quantified light.

[upandatom]

beautiful video :) love the new hair! Purple suits you ;)

[incongruouswalrus]

This is a fun video, but to go deeper only welcomes confusion. 6 Quark formations determine all the atoms in our universe. Quantum Mechanics is difficult to explain to the laymen. The Bohr model of the atom is, indeed, outdated. The electrons do not "orbit" the atomic nucleus, and it takes a few years of physics education to explain why.

Planck's number is a number that is taken into account only with the understanding that how it is used is in such a way as to say, "the more we discover, the less we know."

Prior to the Hubble discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy, Einstein believed our galaxy was the universe; and he was THE premiere physicist of his time. So I liked the ending of this video.

Science is the search for truth. It changes because of new discoveries and calculations. It's a fun ride which many embark, but when it's wrong, Science has no problem admitting it and then moving on to a clearer truth.

This video was much better than the crap posted weeks ago concerning "5 easy Science tricks you can use to fool your friends." That wasn't the verbatim title, but rather the direction. Press minds; don't impress for clicks. Thank you.

[janmacek]

Hi. I am several years late to the party, but this blonde-blue hair is absolutely flawlessly perfect. I also like the enthusiasm and happyness in these older video. Newer ones are imo more "scientific", more concrete, less broad so the topic is told more precisely and the professional level is higher there, but this older inner fire was just somethin' else.

[TR]

Came for my physics homework, stayed for the hair.

[TheFranchfry]

This video is excellent, all the way around. Production, ease of understanding, visual aids, humor, seriousness, depth of content, and length. I greatly appreciate the work put into this, Thank You ALL!

[clarkfeeley]

The real catastrophe was when some thought it a good idea to temp spray color your hair to appeal to 12 yr. olds.

[magicalpencil]

the speedo on my car was broken so I took it to my local quantum mechanics, now I can't find the car

[theCodyReeder]

Anyone else think she needs to add red to the top of her head with green and yellow part way down?

[pozzowon]

Still one of my favorite videos... So simple, yet so precise explaining such a relevant concept...

[fjbayt]

The term "Ultra-violet Catastrophe" was first used by Paul Ehrenfest in 1911 talking about the Rayleigh Jeans law from 1905 and his attempts from 1903 to 1906 to solve the blackbody radiation problem using classical physics, Planck's work is from late 1900, but Planck was aware of a first try from Rayleigh from early that year (in 1900). So the catastrophe was solved before it was discovered... It was more like the desperation from those who couldnt accept the new quantum approach of physics. But i guess it wouldnt make a catchy soundbyte...

[agerven]

One glorious highspeed journey through the history of quantum mechanics. Great and thank you!
I'm missing Neils Bohr in the story, but nice to get Lord Raleigh and the ultraviolet catastrophe, i never heard actually something interesting on that before. Very nice and admirable how you jump around like a superexited ultraviolet quantum!
Exciting and educational video!

[liammargetts]

I'm so happy, I've been given this video to watch for my A levels, to further myself in education I need to watch a Youtube channel I enjoy... Incredible