Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German scientist who is widely credited with developing quantum theory, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck's contributions to theoretical physics are numerous, but he is most known for being the creator of quantum theory. Just as Albert Einstein's theory of relativity altered our understanding of space and time, this theory revolutionized our understanding of atomic and subatomic processes. They are 20th-century physicists who specialize in basic theoretical physics.
Life and Career Journey
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was born on April 23, 1858, in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, to a family of intellectuals. His great-grandfather and grandfather were both theological professors at Göttingen, while his father, Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck, taught law in Kiel and Munich.
Emma Patzig, his mother (his father's second marriage). Max Planck is the family's sixth child. Planck enrolled in the Maximilians Gymnasium school in Munich in 1867, where he was raised by Hermann Müller, a mathematician who taught him astronomy, mechanics, and mathematics. The principle of energy conservation was initially taught to Planck by Müller. Planck completed his studies at the age of seventeen.
Planck began his physics studies in 1874 at the University of Munich and graduated from Berlin in 1879. In 1880, he returned to Munich to teach at the university, and in 1885, he went to Kiel. In 1886, he married Mary Mack there. He traveled to Berlin in 1889 and worked as a theoretical physicist there until 1892.
In 1899, he discovered Planck's constant, a fundamental constant that can be used to compute the energy of a photon, for example. In the same year, he introduced the Planck unit, a unit of measurement based on the fundamental physical constants.
A year later, he established Planck's equation of black body radiation, which governs heat radiation. This law served as the foundation for quantum theory, which was developed ten years later with the help of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr.
Planck was the president of the German Society of Physicists from 1905 to 1909. (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft).
In 1909, his wife died, and he married Marga von Hoesslin a year later. He became the rector of the University of Berlin in 1913. In 1918, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to quantum physics. Planck was the director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft für Förderung der Wissenschaften from 1930 until 1937. (KWG, Union-Emperor-Wilhelm for advancement in science).
Planck attempted to persuade Adolf Hitler to pardon the Jewish scientist during World War II. Erwin Planck, Planck's son, was hanged for treason in connection with Hitler's attempted assassination on July 20, 1944.
KWG was renamed Max-Planck-Gesellschaft für Förderung der Wissenschaften after Planck's death on 4 October 1947 in Göttingen (MPG, Union-Max-Planck for Improvement in Science).
Max Planck's Quantum Theory
Max Planck proposed the quantum theory in 1900. Planck came to the conclusion that atoms and molecules can only emit or absorb a certain quantity of energy.
A quantum is the smallest amount or packet of energy that may be emitted or absorbed in the form of electromagnetic radiation by an atom or molecule. The energy of a photon (quantum) is precisely proportional to the frequency of light, according to Planck.
The photoelectric effect, suggested by Albert Einstein in 1905, is one of the findings that supports the veracity of Max Planck's quantum theory. The photoelectric effect is a phenomenon in which light can expel electrons from the surface of some metals (the alkali metals being the most noticeable) (James E. Brady, 1990).
Photoelectric Effect Experiment Showing an array of apparatus that demonstrates the photoelectric effect, a beam of light shot at the surface of a metal plate will cause the metal to give up electrons. These electrons will be attracted to the positive pole and cause electricity to flow through the circuit.
Einstein explained that light consists of photon particles whose energy is proportional to the frequency of light. If the frequency is low, each photon has a very small amount of energy and is unable to hit the electrons in order to escape from the metal surface.
If the frequency (and energy) increases, the photon gains enough energy to release an electron (James E. Brady, 1990). This causes the current strength to also increase. The energy of a photon depends on its frequency.
where:
h = Planck's constant (6.626 × 10–34 J s)
c = speed of light in vacuum (3 × 108 m s–1)
= wavelength (m)
Brief Biographical Data
Birth name: Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck
Date of birth : April 23, 1858
Place of birth: Kiel, Duchy of Holstein
Died: October 4, 1947 (age 89) Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Nationality: German
Field: Physics
Institution:
- University of Kiel
- University of Berlin
- University of Göttingen
- Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft
Alma mater:
- Ludwig Maximilian
- University of Munich
Doctoral Advisor:
Alexander von Brill
Doctoral students:
- Gustav Ludwig Hertz
- Erich Kretschmann
- Walther Meissner
- Walter Schottky
- Max von Laue
- Max Abraham
- Moritz Schlick
- Walther Bothe
- Julius Edgar Lilienfeld
Other famous students:
Lise Meitner
Known:
Poststanulate
Planck
Planck's black body radiation law
Notable awards: Nobel Prize in Physics (1918), Goethe Prize (1945)
Wife: Marie Merck (1887-1909) Marga von Hösslin (1911-1947)