CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Can someone explain what quantum really means? Like how do "quanta" related to what we're learning?

quantum is the singular form of quanta. Quanta is used to imply that there is minimum amount of any physical entity, like how photon energy is quantized to E = hv

Quanta are just the small packets of energy. They are the discrete packets that Lavelle talked about in class.

Quanta is a small packet of energy such as a photon.

Quanta refers to distinct packets of energy. Light has to reach a certain threshold energy to change energy levels, or, in other words, light isn't continuously changing.

Electrons exist on specific energy levels and cannot exist in between them. When an electron moves to another energy level, it must release or absorb very specific amounts of energy. This is what quantized means: the amount of energy absorbed or released can only be specific quantities called quanta