Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Why does ice melt above 0°C? Why does water boil above 100°C? What quantity governs the equilibrium between liquid and gaseous phases? Use phase diagrams to probe these and other questions. Also watch a stunning demonstration of the triple point, where freezing and boiling occur simultaneously!
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
A theory of everything must fit gravity into the quantum realm, reconciling the general theory of relativity with the standard model of particle physics. Explore the features of gravity that make this unification so difficult, and evaluate two intriguing approaches: superstring theory and loop quantum gravity.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Use a classic science fair project - the potato battery - to trace the source of the electron flow that makes batteries so indispensable to modern life. In the process, learn about the electrochemical potential, which describes the underlying thermodynamics of any system in which chemical reactions are occurring together with charged particles.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Dig deeper into the properties of phases and phase diagrams. First, see how a flask of water can be made to boil by cooling it. Then, explore why a curve in a phase diagram has a certain slope. Close with a multicomponent phase diagram that explains why salt causes ice to melt.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
See how the strong and electromagnetic forces shape the nuclei of all atoms. Focus on the curve of binding energy, which explains why heavy nuclei are prone to fission, releasing energy in the process, while light nuclei release energy by fusing. Visit some classroom lab equipment to explore the principles that govern particle accelerators, which are used to probe the structure of nuclear matter.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Light propagates through space as a wave, but it exchanges its energy in the form of particles. You learn how Louis de Broglie showed that this weird wave-particle duality also applies to matter, and how Max Born inferred that this relationship makes quantum mechanics inherently probabilistic.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
You investigate the age-old debate over whether the physical world is discrete or continuous. By the 19th century, physicists saw a clear demarcation: Matter is made of discrete atoms, while light is a continuous wave of electromagnetic energy. However, a few odd phenomena remained difficult to explain.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Macroscopic objects obey the snowflake principle. No two are exactly alike. Quantum particles do not obey this principle. For instance, every electron is perfectly identical to every other. You learn that quantum particles come in two basic types: bosons, which can occupy the same quantum state; and fermions, which cannot.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Marvel at the power of osmosis by investigating the thermodynamic force that drives a liquid to flow from one side of a barrier to another. This force is called the chemical potential gradient, and it has wide application in performing work, from desalinating water to generating electricity.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2000.
Language
English
Description
Quantization places severe limits on our ability to observe nature at the atomic scale because it implies that the act of observation disturbs that which is being observed. The result is Werner Heisenberg's famous Uncertainty Principle. What exactly does this principle say, and what are the philosophical implications?
91) The Particle Zoo
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2000.
Language
English
Description
Are quarks, the particles that make up protons and neutrons, the truly elementary particles? What are the three fundamental forces that physicists identify as holding particles together? Are they manifestations of a single, universal force?
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
After the dust settled from the quantum revolution, physics was left with two fundamental theories: the standard model of particle physics for quantum phenomena and general relativity for gravitational interactions. Follow the quest for a grand unified theory that incorporates both. Armed with Karl Popper’s demarcation criteria, see how unifying ideas such as string theory fall short.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
See how hydrogen, helium, and a few other light nuclei were forged in the fiery aftermath of the Big Bang. Then, trace the formation of heavier nuclei in the interiors of stars, in supernova explosions, and in the collisions of neutron stars. Special attention is paid to the sequence of reactions and the required conditions that gave us the complete periodic table of elements.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2000.
Language
English
Description
Understanding motion is the key to understanding space and time. Is there a "natural" state of motion? Learn why the ancients gave different answers to this question, and how Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo laid the foundation for a new approach.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2000.
Language
English
Description
Why can't we answer questions about what happened before the Big Bang, or what goes on at the center of a black hole? Can we manage the formidable task of combining quantum physics with general relativity? Physics may well be the most important subject in the universe, a theoretical realm that ranges from the infinitesimally small to the infinitely vast, its laws governing time, space, and the forces that created our world.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Investigate the properties of different materials as they change phase from solid to liquid to gas. Witness the surprising behavior of supercooled water, and discover that phase diagrams are an important tool for predicting how temperature and pressure determine when phase transitions occur.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Gravity is by far the weakest of the fundamental forces. Learn how Newton achieved the first major unification in physics by showing that terrestrial and celestial gravity are the same. He also tacitly equated inertial mass and gravitational mass, leading to the startling theory 250 years later.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
Define the Gibbs free energy, which is closely related to entropy and allows the determination of equilibrium for systems under realistic experimental conditions. Then encounter a related variable, enthalpy, which is useful when discussing constant pressure processes.
100) The Great Questions of Philosophy and Physics: Episode 8,Quantum States: Neither True nor False?
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
Enter the quantum world, where traditional philosophical logic breaks down. First, explore the roots of quantum theory and how scientists gradually uncovered its surpassing strangeness. Clear up the meaning of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which is a metaphysical claim, not an epistemological one. Finally, delve into John von Neumann’s revolutionary quantum logic.
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