Neil McCauley
20-09-2016, 09:50
Howard Popeck asked Geoffrey Owen, the driving force behind Helius Designs if he could and indeed would find the time to explain the reality behind effective mass and - in so doing - confound the misinformation, disinformation and scientific ignorance that clouds so many discussions of this topic.
As an aside and somewhat mischievously, Howard (who prior to this article couldn’t explain Eff.M to save his life, and neither could I) if Eff.M was actually important and if so, how could a ‘civilian’ make use of this knowledge. Mr. Owen graciously replied and below is what he told us. We are, as is always the case with his contributions, both enlightened and appreciative.
Thank you Geoffrey
Neil McCauley / editor in chief
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When asked to explain meaning of Effective Mass, I feel a certain affinity with Stephen Hawking when he talks of Schrödinger’s Cat – ‘I reach for my gun’, he famously said.
Erwin Schrödinger’s wave equation has one thing in common with Effective Mass - its significance is just as obscure when transposed to the real world. The cat story is something you can look up on the internet if you’re interested; suffice it to say the scenario was created to illustrate the absurdity of scaling up quantum phenomena to human size. Schrödinger’s ‘thought experiment’ remains as entertaining and bizarre today as it was in the 1930’s, yet it still remains mathematically correct to describe the cat as being simultaneously half alive and half dead.
The context is all important
Effective Mass is a parameter considered ........
Continues at http://www.hifianswers.com/2016/09/effective-mass-here-is-a-cogent-scientifically-based-a-rational-explanation/
UPDATE: September 20 @ 12:04 readers might be interested in this topic from a different AoS contributor's perspective (Barry) at http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?46685-EFFECTIVE-MASS-Here-is-a-cogent-scientifically-based-and-rational-explanation
As an aside and somewhat mischievously, Howard (who prior to this article couldn’t explain Eff.M to save his life, and neither could I) if Eff.M was actually important and if so, how could a ‘civilian’ make use of this knowledge. Mr. Owen graciously replied and below is what he told us. We are, as is always the case with his contributions, both enlightened and appreciative.
Thank you Geoffrey
Neil McCauley / editor in chief
---//---
When asked to explain meaning of Effective Mass, I feel a certain affinity with Stephen Hawking when he talks of Schrödinger’s Cat – ‘I reach for my gun’, he famously said.
Erwin Schrödinger’s wave equation has one thing in common with Effective Mass - its significance is just as obscure when transposed to the real world. The cat story is something you can look up on the internet if you’re interested; suffice it to say the scenario was created to illustrate the absurdity of scaling up quantum phenomena to human size. Schrödinger’s ‘thought experiment’ remains as entertaining and bizarre today as it was in the 1930’s, yet it still remains mathematically correct to describe the cat as being simultaneously half alive and half dead.
The context is all important
Effective Mass is a parameter considered ........
Continues at http://www.hifianswers.com/2016/09/effective-mass-here-is-a-cogent-scientifically-based-a-rational-explanation/
UPDATE: September 20 @ 12:04 readers might be interested in this topic from a different AoS contributor's perspective (Barry) at http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?46685-EFFECTIVE-MASS-Here-is-a-cogent-scientifically-based-and-rational-explanation