Toward Quantum Physics In The High School Classroom

As part of a mini-unit on Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, I will first conduct a brief survey of students’ attitudes toward the relevance of quantum physics. I will then discuss with the students the usefulness and practical applications of quantum mechanical tunneling. This will be connected to the Law of Conservation of Energy by posing the question: if a ball has insufficient speed to get to the top of a hill, how else could it get to equal height on the opposite side? Students will also be introduced to the relevance of attosecond physics by doing a calculation of the “orbital” period of an electron in the hydrogen atom, which is roughly 150 attoseconds. They will also investigate the motion of an electron (after it has tunneled) in a sinusoidally varying electric field of a laser pulse.