quantum
/ˈkwɒntəm
/- Bohr realized that the idea of a quantum of energy could explain how the electrons in the atom are arranged.
- To drop from a higher to a lower, it emitted a quantum of energy.
- A second problem also led to a quantum theory of light, and this time to a belief in the physical reality of the quanta.
- These symmetries tie together particles usually considered constituents of matter (like quarks and electrons) with the quanta of forces (like photons and gluons).
- In the crayfish leg extensor preparation, the number of quanta released per action potential (quantal content) was approximately 15, at low frequencies of stimulation.
- What fraction of receptors are saturated following the release of a single quantum, and is a larger synapse, with more receptors less saturated than a smaller one?
- Assessing his prospects of success in those claims and the quantum of any damages requires many of the underlying issues to be tested or tried.
- Counsel for the plaintiffs submits that the quantum of damages should be assessed in the amount of $20,000.00 for each of the plaintiffs.
- It points out at line 15 that the first matter to be determined on an application under the section is: the quantum of common law damages which would have been recoverable had they been sued for.
- You would need to go the second step and, in addition, you would need to know the quantum of the shares.
- Haryana has a sense of grievance at the non-completion of the SYL canal and the consequent non-availability of the quantum of waters allocated to it.
- The quantum and the interest rate are not known, according to sources in the banking industry.
Origin
Mid 16th century (in the general sense 'quantity'): from Latin, neuter of quantus (see quantity). Sense 1 dates from the early 20th century.
Although you will often come across a sentence like ‘This product represents a quantum leap forward in telecommunications technology’, the curious thing about the term quantum leap is that, strictly speaking, it does not describe a large change at all, but a tiny one. Quantum comes from Latin quantus, ‘how big?’ or ‘how much?’, and originally meant ‘a quantity or amount’. In physics a quantum (a term introduced by the physicist Max Planck around 1900) is a very small amount of energy, the minimum amount of energy that can exist in a given situation, and a quantum jump is the abrupt change of an electron or atom from one energy state to another. Although this is a tiny jump in terms of size, it is an instantaneous and dramatic one, which explains why the term came into general usage from around 1970 to describe a sudden large increase or major advance. Quantity (Late Middle English) comes from the same root as quantum.