Illinois ECE Saturday Engineering for Everyone Lecture: Chad Orzel, Union College

We tend to think of quantum mechanics as an abstract and arcane area of physics that only applies in the exotic situations found in physics labs, billion-dollar particle accelerators, or near black holes. In fact, the development of quantum physics has its roots in very mundane, everyday phenomena. In this talk, I’ll describe how quantum physics manifests in the kind of situations you regularly encounter in the course of getting up and getting ready to face the day. From the alarm clock that gets you out of bed, to the heating element in your toaster, to the computer you use to check social media and the telecommunications lines carrying the Internet, everything you do is rooted in quantum physics. 

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