Bloom Scroll

The physics under electronics

What is electricity really doing, and where does quantum mechanics come in?

6 videos, about 2 h. Watch in order, or jump to a timestamp.

  1. 1

    Introductory, Experiment, 23 min

    How does electricity find the "Path of Least Resistance"?

    • Solve a maze using electrical current.
    • Question the phrase “path of least resistance”.
    • Compare current flow with water flowing through channels.

    Jump to 0:58 solving a maze with electricity, 1:36 the path-of-least-resistance claim

  2. 2

    Introductory, Experiment, 26 min

    Watch electricity hit a fork in the road at half a billion frames per second

    • Measure electrical waves travelling down wires.
    • Understand line impedance through experiment.
    • Observe current splitting and reflecting at a branch.

    Jump to 4:12 watching waves to understand impedance, 10:54 a current wave reaching the y-junction

  3. 3

    Intermediate, Experiment, 17 min

    What does "impedance matching" actually look like? (electricity waves)

    • Watch a wave reflect from an open circuit.
    • Infer an effective resistance from voltage and current.
    • Connect impedance with a water model.

    Jump to 0:33 reflection from disconnected wires, 1:40 an unexpected 150-ohm behaviour

  4. 4

    Intermediate, How it works inside, 15 min

    What Are Electrons REALLY Doing In A Wire? Quantum Physics and High School Myths

    • Question the simple pinball picture of conducting electrons.
    • Examine the history and limits of the Drude model.
    • Connect microscopic electrical behaviour with quantum descriptions.

    Jump to 0:20 the high-school pinball model, 2:35 questioning the intuition

  5. 5

    Introductory, Lecture, 22 min

    What Is Quantum Mechanics? A Gentle Introduction

    • Relate electron energy levels to wave behaviour.
    • Identify the mathematics needed for a gentle introduction.
    • Compare classical and quantum descriptions of measurement.

    Jump to 0:29 mysterious electron energy levels, 1:32 what background you need

  6. 6

    Intermediate, Derivation, 18 min

    Bell's Theorem: The Quantum Venn Diagram Paradox

    • Derive a constraint from an ordinary shared-property model.
    • Use Venn-diagram reasoning to expose assumptions.
    • Compare the constraint with entangled-photon correlations.

    Jump to 6:28 when removing a filter changes results, 8:24 the everyday superset inequality