PCh7 Lec 1 2
Chapter 7, Lectures 1 and 2 (previously delivered)
Quantum mechanics seeks to address all modes motion/energy. As discussed at the beginning of Chapter 7, there are three types of motion:
- - Translational
- - Vibrational
- - Roational
Translational motion in QM is described by the particle in a box (Chap 4). Vibrational motion is described by the harmonic oscillator (sec 7.1). Rotational motion is described by a particle on a ring (2D - Sec 7.2) or sphere (3D - Sec 7.3).
It is convenient for us to discuss all of these modes of motion/energy as separate things, but in the end, we cannot separate the motions from each other and so the final "solution" is a bit messy.
I can draw an analogy to understanding 3D space by using the dimensions of x, y, and z. I could explain the concept of an x-axis (1D), or position along the x-axis and then tell you that a y-axis and z-axis follow all of the same concepts as the x-axis. We then put them all together in order to describe 3D space. In this case, x, y, and z fully describe all 3D space and we need to know nothing more than the x, y, and z values to know where an object is in this 3D space; we sometimes refer to x, y, and z as a "complete set."