Sunday, April 20, 2014

Ivonne Pérez Rodríguez: Importance of Quantum Mechanics for the modern world

Quantum mechanics is a science that deals with the behavior of matter and energy at nanoscopic scales. Quantum mechanics it is responsible for many technological advances that make life easier. This branch of physics has influenced our daily lives by making modernism possible. Quantum mechanics it’s very complex to understand but its applications are countless. Without it there would be no transistor, and hence no personal computers and there would be no laser, and hence no Blu-ray players. Those are examples of some technological contributions from quantum mechanics but it haven’t just contributed in the technological field but also in the health field. 

Before the transistor, computers worked with vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes were very big, fragile and generated a lot of heat. If you wanted a powerful computer, you needed to have a big space for it and a considerable amount of money. People were not able to have computers like those. Just some companies had them. Thanks to the discoveries in quantum mechanics and the manipulation of the semiconductor properties, transistors were created. After the appearance of transistors in our world, the first transistor-based computer was created. This computer, different from the vacuum tube ones, was reliable had a low power consumption, occupied less space and it was cheaper. After that computer many more were fabricated and then the need of hook them all together arise. So we can say that quantum mechanics its an indirect promoter for the Internet creation. Also transistors appearance in our world opened the door to transistor radios and many other technologies we daily use as cellphones and ipods.

A lot of new materials can be created from different particles studied by quantum mechanics that might help in our technological advancement. As an example there is a particle that it is currently being studied that can be used to improve the material in solar panels making them more efficient for electricity generation. Quantum mechanics has also contributed in accuracy. It contributed to the creation of ultraprecise clocks. Many people will wonder why the precision of time is so important without knowing that many measurements are done based on time like the GPS. Another example of accuracy improvement thanks to this field is the quantum thermometer, a thermometer capable of measuring extreme temperatures with accuracy. This kind of thermometer it is very useful at research laboratories and places were extreme temperatures need to be measured. 

Other contribution of quantum mechanics that we can mention is the discovery of the laser. Thanks to Max Planck and this new field of physics we can apply laser technology in many things like CD players, health care, defense systems, among others. As this contribution to physics and our world, many others can arise if more people get involve in this field of study.

For all these things mentioned above, I believe that quantum mechanics is a promising field for technological advancement in our world. This field has helped us to better understand our world in detail and many new aspects of physics.

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