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Stern-Gerlach Experiment

The classic Stern-Gerlach Experiment shows that atoms have a property called spin. Spin is a kind of intrinsic angular momentum, which has no classical counterpart. When the z-component of the spin is measured, one always gets one of two values: spin up or spin down.

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Version 2.01
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Topics

Main Topics

  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Spin
  • Quantum Measurement

Related Topics

Sample Learning Goals

  • Describe the observations made in the Stern-Gerlach experiment.
  • Describe how spins behave in the presence of a magnetic field.
  • Recognize that spin is quantized.
  • Describe how measuring spin along some direction changes its state.
  • Argue from experimental observations that spin in the x direction and spin in the z direction must be incompatible observables.

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Teaching Ideas

Tips for Teachers

The teacher's guide contains tips for teachers created by the PhET team (PDF).

Ideas and Activities for this Sim

There are 3 contributions listed.

Ascending Sort (Z-A)Title Author Level Type Updated
Spinometer C. MounceUG-AdvDemo7/09
Spinometer D. MounceUG-AdvDemo10/09
Stern Gerlach clicker questions Designed by PhET IconImage of Gold StarS. McKaganUG-Intro
UG-Adv
CQs4/10

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Software Requirements

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Windows Systems Macintosh Systems Linux Systems
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7
Macromedia Flash 8 or later
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later, or Firefox 2 or later
OS 10.4.11 or later
Macromedia Flash 8 or later
Safari 2 or later, or Firefox 2 or later
Macromedia Flash 8 or later
Firefox 2 or later

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Translated Versions

Run localized Download
Chinese Taiwan Chinese, Taiwan Download
Croatian Croatian Download
Dutch Dutch Download
French French Download
Macedonian Macedonian Download
Spanish Spanish Download
Vietnamese Vietnamese Download

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Credits

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Michael Dubson (developer/lead)
  • Sam McKagan (co-lead)
  • Carl Wieman
  • Interviewer: Sam McKagan
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