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====== Building a quantum model: Postulates and Experiment ======

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[[..:..:prereq20:sppre:spqmmodel | Link to Prereqs]]

===== In-class Content =====


==== Goals ====

Goals: Students should be able to:
  * articulate that the mathematics of quantum mechanics constitutes a mathematical model of physical phenomena.
  * articulate that the state of a system is the condition of the system. 
  * articulate that the quantum state is described by a vector. The quantum state vector represents all of the information we can know about a physical system.
  

==== Whole Class Discussion ====
  * What is a scientific model? Can you give some examples? Why are they important? What are their limitations?
  * What do we mean by the phrase ``the state of a physical system''?


==== Lecture ====
  * The State Postulate ``The state of a quantum mechanical system, including all the information you can know about it, is represented mathematically by a normalized ket $|\psi\rangle$.''
  * We want to describe the state of these neutral silver atoms by describing the intrinsic angular momentum.
  * The Stern-Gerlach experiment will help us to determine the state of the electron in the outer shell of the silver atoms.




====Lab: =====
  * [[..:..:prereq:sppre:sppreQSVP|Prerequisite Ideas]]
  * [[..:..:lecture:splec:splecintrospinsprog|Introduction to the SPINS program]] (Lecture, 10 minutes)
  * [[..:..:lecture:splec:splecsgterm|Terminology for the Stern-Gerlach Experiment]] (Lecture, 5 minutes)
  * [[..:..:activities:spact:sphalfprob|Probabilities in the z-direction for a Spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ System]] (Simulation, 10 minutes)
  * [[..:..:activities:spact:sphalfanalyzer|Probabilities for Different Spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Stern Gerlach Analyzers]] (Simulation, 15 minutes)



==== Homework ====
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