Please do not answer telling WHAT would happen if they were not quantized. the 'why' i am asking is much deeper and has to do with the actual 'why'....may be its the same why as in 'why is energy and mass conserved'.The answer is not in 'what' would happen, but in 'why' does it happen at all !
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These are not questions that physics can answer.
We try to understand what we find, and this quantum structure is simply what we have found. It is, we maintain, the very nature of the universe.
You could as well ask, "Why does an electron exist".
We try to understand what we find, and this quantum structure is simply what we have found. It is, we maintain, the very nature of the universe.
You could as well ask, "Why does an electron exist".
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Boltzmann proposed the idea of physical systems with discrete energy values. Planck tried to explain the mysteries of the atomic and subatomic scales but couldn't do it with "common sense" approaches. His decision to try to explain the smallest of the small with discrete energy levels was him throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. He didn't expect it to work, he just tried it, and it worked. The rest is history.
You may want more than that though. I'll try. Electrons are fermions, meaning they can't occupy the same state as another fellow fermion (as opposed to bosons, e.g. photons, which can occupy the same state). The position and momentum of any particle is defined by its wave function. Long story short, by solving the Schrodinger equation for electrons orbiting a nuclei finds out only certain energies are possible. Once one energy level is filled electrons have no choice but to fill more energetic states.
You may want more than that though. I'll try. Electrons are fermions, meaning they can't occupy the same state as another fellow fermion (as opposed to bosons, e.g. photons, which can occupy the same state). The position and momentum of any particle is defined by its wave function. Long story short, by solving the Schrodinger equation for electrons orbiting a nuclei finds out only certain energies are possible. Once one energy level is filled electrons have no choice but to fill more energetic states.
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Electrons can exist only at certain energy levels and no where in between.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbi…
Note the above site talks in terms of a Standing Wave. Particle Duality requires that when we do NOT know where a quantum (electron) is it fills a volume of space with a certain probability of finding the quantum somewhere inside that volume. The probability of a given location is given by a wave equation. That means the wave has peaks (areas of high probability) and troughs (areas of zero probability) The location of the peaks defines the areas where we could find the quantum. The troughs are the areas where it cannot be.
ANALOGY: Assuming you are male. You just saw your friend, also male, walk in the gym with a basketball. What are the probabilities you would find him: On a basketball court, sitting in the stands waiting for a court, in the Men's locker room, in the women's locker room?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_orbi…
Note the above site talks in terms of a Standing Wave. Particle Duality requires that when we do NOT know where a quantum (electron) is it fills a volume of space with a certain probability of finding the quantum somewhere inside that volume. The probability of a given location is given by a wave equation. That means the wave has peaks (areas of high probability) and troughs (areas of zero probability) The location of the peaks defines the areas where we could find the quantum. The troughs are the areas where it cannot be.
ANALOGY: Assuming you are male. You just saw your friend, also male, walk in the gym with a basketball. What are the probabilities you would find him: On a basketball court, sitting in the stands waiting for a court, in the Men's locker room, in the women's locker room?