Quantum Number

Quantum Number

Quantum numbers describe values of conserved quantities in the dynamics of the quantum system. Perhaps the most peculiar aspect of quantum mechanics is the quantization of observable quantities, since quantum numbers are discrete sets of integers or half-integers. This is distinguished from classical mechanics where the values can range continuously. Quantum numbers often describe specifically the energies of electrons in atoms, but other possibilities include angular momentum, spin, etc. Any quantum system can have one or more quantum numbers; it is thus difficult to list all possible quantum numbers.

Read more about Quantum Number:  How Many Quantum Numbers?, Spatial and Angular Momentum Numbers, Elementary Particles

Famous quotes containing the words quantum and/or number:

    A personality is an indefinite quantum of traits which is subject to constant flux, change, and growth from the birth of the individual in the world to his death. A character, on the other hand, is a fixed and definite quantum of traits which, though it may be interpreted with slight differences from age to age and actor to actor, is nevertheless in its essentials forever fixed.
    Hubert C. Heffner (1901–1985)

    The more elevated a culture, the richer its language. The number of words and their combinations depends directly on a sum of conceptions and ideas; without the latter there can be no understandings, no definitions, and, as a result, no reason to enrich a language.
    Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)