tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3616408672620077758.post6485463017421745184..comments2023-06-09T04:33:43.773-07:00Comments on Physical Chemistry and You: The Failures of Classical Physicsrodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01176615884569486861noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3616408672620077758.post-91218159110024387032008-04-07T06:07:00.000-07:002008-04-07T06:07:00.000-07:00"So did Rayleigh and Jeans only come up with their..."So did Rayleigh and Jeans only come up with their invalid model to show that classical mechanics were incomplete/wrong?"<BR/><BR/>No, it was an honest attempt to explain the phenomenon with the knowledge of physics at that time. It is perhaps unfortunate that their names are forever associated with failure, though both of them had distinguished careers in science (Jeans in astrophysics, Rayleigh in optics and acoustics).<BR/><BR/>"Also, I don't see how atomic spectra fits into this "failure of classical mechanics" topic. What is the failure? Is it that it only worked for hydrogen?"<BR/><BR/>No, it was because no one could explain why line spectra occurred at all. It'll turn out that one needed to assume that electrons can only possess discrete/quantized energies in the atom, but that notion was pretty much heresy at the time.rodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01176615884569486861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3616408672620077758.post-84137798550195794272008-04-06T18:03:00.000-07:002008-04-06T18:03:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17477076198940933752noreply@blogger.com