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Word Gems 

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Quantum Mechanics

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What does "quantum" mean? 

the smallest bit of anything

a discrete amount, packet, or elemental constituent component

"quantum" (singular), "quanta" (plural)

For example, a quantum of the ocean would be one molecule of water. To "quantize" something is to structure it as separate parts: a slope, an inclined plane, is a steady rising, but a staircase is quantized, in that, the slope is broken into discrete steps.

What does "mechanics" mean?

related to, resembling a, "machine"

extended meaning, oftentimes, is "motion"

The sense is that of a complex machine with moving parts, an integrated dynamical system.

Common definition:

Quantum Mechanics (QM) is a branch of physics which investigates the motion and interaction of the smallest elements of matter, atomic and sub-atomic particles.

Editor's note: This common definition is somewhat misleading, however, as QM, properly viewed, is not the science of small things, as such, but uncertain things; it speaks to large objects, as well. QM is popularly associated with small things because, with these, uncertainty is a significant issue but not as much with macro, slow-moving objects. See articles in this regard on the main-page.

Editor's note: See the article later in the series which offers a clear view concerning the meaning of quantum mechanics; by way of contradistinction, it describes the new physics. "Mechanics" means "motion," and this is set against, in terms of answering, the great Newton with his "laws of motion." Newtonianism works only on the macro-level, and so QM offers itself as "laws of motion" on the micro-level, unaddressed by Newton.