11/18/2025
Highlights from our SPS chapter education at local school. We used musical instruments to demonstrate for 6th grade students two principles of quantum physics: the harmonic series in music is an example of quantization of possible standing wave states, and the frequency spectrum of a musical note is actually a superposition of harmonic states. We also showed pictures that Dr. Laing took of the aurora here in Tennessee that week, explaining that the colors we see in the aurora come from the frequency spectrum of oxygen and nitrogen gas. Students enjoyed using diffraction grating glasses to observe the frequency spectrum of gasses and other light sources.
