Quantum

Theory Fill in the Blank Challenge Name: _____________________________

The _____________________________ is the smallest particle of an element that retains the properties of

that element. The smallest part of that particle is called the _____________________________ and has 1/2000th of

the mass of a proton or neutron. _____________________________ was the first person to discover these little

things, using a cathode ray tube. Later he proposed that atoms were much like this food,

_____________________________, with a _____________________________-charged fluid studded with negatively-charged

_____________________________.

In 1913, _____________________________ discovered that these little particles can pop from one location

to another, without traveling the space between! This is called a ________________ ______________. He was so

excited that he postponed his _____________________________ to publish a paper on it (Not such a smooth move,

gentlemen!). His paper, called On the Constitutions of Atoms and Molecules, went on to reason that

electrons did not fall into the positively charged nucleus because they only traveled in specific

_____________________________. With this information, he proposed the _____________________________ Model of the

Atom.

These tiny little particles are made of _____________________________, meaning they have a mass (even if

it is really tiny) and take up space, much like a rock (but a super small one). The weird thing is that these

things can actually also exhibit (or show) behavior of _____________________________, too (think the ocean). So

how can an electron behave both like a _____________________________ and a _____________________________???

While the rock-like nature of electrons was understood, _____________________________ set out to

explain the ocean-like behavior of electrons. So confused by his math (matrix mechanics) and the crazy
behavior of matter that popped from one place to another, he proposed a hypothetical experiment

(meaning: not real) called the “_____________________________- in-the-box” thought experiment. Here he said

that a _____________________________ was placed in a box with a radioactive substance that could degrade. You

couldn’t really predict that the radioactive substance would degrade enough to break a vial of poison

around the _____________________________’s neck, so you had to believe that the _____________________________ was

100% _____________________________ AND 100% _____________________________ at the same time!!!

As physics now had two opposing theories, Heisenberg came up with a compromise, saying that

matter could indeed act like a _____________________________ and a _____________________________. He outlined his

famous _____________________________ Principle, which goes on further to say that you can know the

_____________________________ or the _____________________________ of an electron, but the more you know about

one, the less you know about the other.

One final word about the strange behavior of electrons: They have this thing called

_____________________________, which can happen either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Electrons come in

_____________________________, so if one happens to be going one direction, the other will simultaneously

change to go in the _____________________________ direction. Even if electrons are separated by 7 miles (yes, it’s

been done), they can “sense” what the other is doing and start doing the opposite. This is called

_____________________________ (think spaghetti).

The author of the Theory of Relativity, _____________________________, was so irritated by these

behaviors. He and _____________________________ went around and around, arguing through published papers.

At one point, _____________________________ said, “God doesn’t play dice!” To which _____________________________

responded, “Stop telling God what to do!” J