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=    Max Planck     =

(April 1858 - October 1947)

__ Biography __ Max Karl Ernest Ludwig Planck was born on April 23, 1858 in Kiel, Germany. His parents were named Julius Wilhelm and Emma Planck. He studied at the Universities of [|Munich] and [|Berlin], where he received a doctorate in philosophy. He was inspired by two professors in particular, [|Hermann von Helmhold] and [|Gustav Kirchhoff], both famous physicists of the time. He later went on to replace Kirchhoff and become a professor at Berlin University. He won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1918 for his work on black-body radiation and quantum theory. __  Black-body Radiation Problem   __  A blackbody is defined as an object that absorbs all radiation that falls on it. No energy from this radiation is passed through or reflected. Thus, as no radiation is reflected it appears black when it is cold. When a black-body is hot, however, it emits thermal radiation. This theory of black-bodies can be applied to humans as well. We emit electromagnetic radiation as well but most of this radiation is emitted in the form of infrared radiation. This energy can be seen in a thermal imaging device, and is called Thermography. An example of this can be seen below: media type="youtube" key="sRSMq-0u4RI" height="344" width="425"  It was originally assumed that light is a wave, and that energy increased exponentially as frequency increased. Based on this, one would assume that as one neared the end of the light spectrum, there would be massive amounts of energy! (This was the "ultraviolet catastrophe" which can be seen on the right as the gray bar). Planck solved this problem when he discovered that **light is quantum in nature** -- that light is emitted in discrete units or "packages" of energy, which he called [|quanta] .  The discovery of the quantum**,** which is defined as "the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess" ( [|Princeton WordNet] ), was the beginning of a science, quantum physics. ( [|nobelprize.org] )     For this discovery, Planck won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1918. His work  later helped Albert Einstein explain the photoelectric effect and Niels Bohr to come up with his model of different energy levels for electrons within an atom. In fact, Planck was the first physicist to endorse Einstein's theory of Relativity in 1908, and the term "theory of relativity" was coined by him. This also relates to Planks creation of    [|Planck's constant]**.**    <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Planck came to the conclusion that the energy of light waves is equal to the frequency times a constant, //h//. This constant //h// is known as **Planck's constant,** and be used in this formula: (Narins 524).

__ Other Accomplishments __
Planck's first accomplishments included numerous papers on Thermodynamics, which he was interested in since college and was introduced to it by a man named Gustav Kirchhoff, who was his professor at the Berlin University in Germany. After he made his biggest discovery, he went on to make numerous other discoveries in physics, thermodynamics, and many other fields. He was a major contributor to schools and universities, including Berlin, Prussian Academy of Science, and many others. He was considered to be of such high intelligence that he was allowed to speak to Adolf Hitler and speak his outrage at Germany's racial policies. (   [|Barron]      )

**Work Cited** Barron, Raul. "Max Planck." __CSU Stanislaus__. California State University. http://chem.csustan.edu/. Narins, Brighham, ed. __World of Mathematics__. 2001.