Max Karl ernst ludwig Planck (1858 ~ 1947) is a German theoretical physicist. One of the founders of quantum theory. 1858 was born in Kiel on April 23rd and spent his youth in Munich. In middle school, he loved labor. Strong sense of responsibility, smart and diligent, the comment on the report card is "although I am the youngest in the class, my mind is very clear and logical." Being methodical and meticulous is his style. 1874 was born in Munich University, 1878 graduated from Munich University, and received a doctorate in philosophy the following year. 1880- 1885 teaches at Munich university. Professor of theoretical physics at Kiel University ranges from 1885 to 1888. 1888 After Kirchhoff's death, Berlin University appointed him as Kirchhoff's successor, first as an associate professor and then as a professor in 1892. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 19 18 for introducing energy quantum into the study of blackbody radiation in 1900.
Planck's early scientific research field was mainly thermodynamics. He studied the change of matter aggregation state, gas and solution theory from the viewpoint of thermodynamics. But soon, he learned that American physicist Gibbs had done the work. Therefore, we turned our attention to the problem of blackbody radiation. 1893- 1896, Wayne published his research results on blackbody radiation and put forward a distribution formula of radiation density p, namely Wien formula. This result was confirmed by experiments at that time, but it was only applicable to the case of short wavelength and low temperature, and the basis of the demonstration was based on Maxwell's law of molecular rate probability distribution, which was not completely convincing. Planck began to study the energy distribution of thermal radiation from 1896.
Planck thought of a particularly meaningful question: why is the spectrum of an ideal blackbody as independent of the chemical properties of the material composition as gravity? Is there a more general rule hidden in this? He said: "This so-called normal energy distribution represents something absolute. Since in my opinion, finding absolute things is the highest form of research, I am committed to solving this problem. " He creatively introduced the basic concept of entropy into oscillator, electromagnetic wave energy distribution and other issues, and thought that the energy distribution of blackbody radiation was the most stable distribution, that is, the distribution with the largest entropy value. 1June, 900, Rayleigh deduced another blackbody radiation formula based on the principle of standing wave and energy sharing in blackbody cavity. Jenkins modified the coefficients in the formula, which is in good agreement with the experiment of long wave, that is, Rayleigh-Jenkins formula. Inspired by this, Planck got his new formula by interpolation, and presented a report on "Improvement of Wien's Radiation Law" at the German Physical Society in Berlin on June 1900+1October19. The next morning, Rubens (H.Rulens, 1865 ~ 1922). Planck is not satisfied with the "accidentally guessed interpolation formula", but "committed to finding out the real physical meaning of this equation". Finally, he accepted Boltzmann's statistical explanation of entropy and found an important universal formula, S = klnw, which represents the combination of macro-state and micro-state, that is, the total combination of all micro-states is a discrete set, that is, it must be assumed that the energy e radiated by matter is discontinuous and appears in batches, which can only be an integer multiple of a certain minimum energy unit E, which can explain the energy distribution formula of absolute blackbody radiation he deduced. In addition, he deduced for the first time that H is Planck constant and gave the values of H and K for the first time. S is only about 3.5% higher than modern value. He thinks that H, the speed of light C and the gravitational constant G are three important universal constants, which are the basic quantities of the natural unit system that define mass, length and time. 1900 14 February 14 He read the Theory on the Law of Normal Spectrum Energy Distribution at the German Physical Society and summarized the above theory. This day became the birth day of quantum theory.
At that time, Planck did not pay enough attention to the role of energy quantum e = hy. Later, he talked about "this futile attempt to reconcile basic quantum with classical theory, which I continued for many years (until 19 15)". Planck's concept of discontinuous quantum exchange between radiation system and radiation field broke the framework of classical physics and set off a storm of physics revolution in this century, thus opening up a new era.
In the aspect of relativity, Planck also made contributions. He was one of the first physicists to understand and support the theory of relativity. 1906, he deduced the equations of relativistic dynamics and obtained the expressions of electron energy and momentum, thus completing the relativity of classical mechanics. 1906, he introduced the term "relativity". 1907 extends thermodynamics within the framework of special relativity.
In 1887, he also gave a general deduction of the law of chemical equilibrium in gases and dilute solutions.
Since the 1920s, Planck has become the core figure in German scientific field, and has a close relationship with internationally renowned physicists at that time. 1894 was elected as an academician of Berlin Academy of Sciences. 19 12 ~ 1938 is the permanent secretary. 19 18 was elected as a member of the royal society. 1926 was elected as a foreign academician of the Soviet academy of sciences. 1930- 1935, President of Emperor William Association for the Advancement of Science. In order to show respect for Planck, after 1945, the association was renamed Max Planck Association for the Advancement of Science.
Planck wrote a lot in his life, including Introduction to General Thermochemistry (1893), Lectures on Thermodynamics (1897), Principles of Conservation of Energy (2nd edition, 1908) and Thermal Radiation Theory (19). Thermal theory (1932), physics papers and lectures (3 volumes, 1958), philosophy of physics (1959), etc.
In addition to physics, Planck loved music and mountain climbing all his life. At the age of 80 and 84, he also climbed the great Venetiago, a mountain more than 3000 meters high. During World War II, he provided as much support and help as possible to persecuted Jewish scientists.
Selected from: Physics Teacher's Manual