Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

The solar system picture of the atom, in which electrons orbit the
nucleus, is problematic because it is unstable. The electrons would
impossible. Planck’s solution to the problem of blackbody radiation and
Einstein’s solution to the problem of the photoelectric effect led Bohr to
posit a quantized atom. The result would the development of a full theory
that made probability a necessary component of physical law.
As mentioned in the last lecture, the solar system model of the atom
would result in instability. If electrons orbited the nucleus, their
that kept them orbiting. All atoms would quickly collapse, making
matter impossible.
A clue concerning this mystery came from work of the German
physicist Max Planck on the question of blackbody radiation.
Consider a hollow black metal sphere, heated up. We know
that metal glows when it gets hot; that is, it gives off light,
electromagnetic radiation. Because the sphere is hollow, some
of the light would be given off inside. And because the walls
are black, that light would be completely absorbed by the
inside walls of the sphere, giving them more energy, which
would mean the walls would give off light. That light would
then be absorbed by the walls, which would then have more
energy, and so on.
The higher the frequency of the light, the more energy the
sphere would contain. The classical theory predicted that the
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