How Quantum Physics Works
Discover the bizarre principles that govern the subatomic universe, from particles acting like waves to spooky connections across space. Unravel classic thought experiments and see how quantum mechanics powers modern microchips and future computers.
Like Duolingo, but for How Quantum Physics Works. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
21 levels across 3 sections, about 42 minutes end to end, roughly 8 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Bizarre Rules of the Microscopic World, Strange Realities Demystified, and Harnessing the Quantum in the Real World. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in How Quantum Physics Works
- Light looks smooth to human eyes only because billions of packets hit per second
- At the microscopic scale, light can only be absorbed or emitted one packet at a time
- You cannot absorb half a packet of light
- A quantum is the baseline minimum chunk of energy in quantum physics
- Physical energy comes in whole multiples of this unit, never fractions
- Electrons in atoms jump between specific fixed energy steps rather than sliding smoothly
- Each jump releases a packet with an exact color, producing sharp individual lines instead of a full rainbow
- A continuous rainbow only happens when all energies are allowed
- Light color corresponds to packet energy: red packets carry low energy, blue or ultraviolet carry high energy
- Making light brighter only sends more packets, but each individual packet still lacks the energy to free an electron
- Switching to a higher-frequency color gives each single packet enough punch to eject an electron instantly
- Classical physics assumes energy can be smoothly dialed up or down by any tiny fraction
- Inside atoms, electrons can exist at specific allowed steps but never anywhere in between
- The everyday illusion of smoothness fails completely at atomic scales
- Unobserved particles create alternating bright and dark bands (an interference pattern), not two simple stripes
- Even single particles sent one at a time interfere with themselves like rippling waves
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives How Quantum Physics Works the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
At the tiny microscopic scale, how does light get taken in or sent out?
Get it right to open this lesson and 20 more in the app.
Where How Quantum Physics Works takes you
- 1
The Bizarre Rules of the Microscopic World
- Energy Comes in Packets
- Particles That Act Like Waves
- The Limits of Knowing: Heisenberg's Trade-Off
- 2
Strange Realities Demystified
- Superposition and the Measurement Puzzle
- Entanglement and Non-Local Connections
- Tunneling Through Solid Barriers
- 3
Harnessing the Quantum in the Real World
- From Microchips to Quantum Computers
3 sections · 7 units · 21 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
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Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
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- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
How Quantum Physics Works is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Science on Tomo
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Quantum Physics in the Real World
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Start How Quantum Physics Works today.
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