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Stern-Gerlach Experiment

This simulation is a preview version, and may have functional or usability bugs. This simulation is very effective when used in conjunction with a lecture, homework or other teacher designed activity.
Stern-Gerlach Experiment Screenshot Download 499 kB
Version: 2.02 (change log)
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.

See Below

Teaching Resources

Main Topics

  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Spin
  • Quantum Measurement

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.

Tips for Teachers

The teacher's guide (pdf) contains tips created by the PhET team.

Teaching Ideas

Title Authors Level Type Updated
Visualization and Visual Illusions SIM Homework This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Kathy Perkins, Carl Wieman UG-Intro HW 1/9/11
Stern Gerlach clicker questions This contribution was designed by PhET. This contribution has received a Gold Star because it is a high quality inquiry-based activity that follows the PhET design guidelines (PDF) and teachers have found it useful. Sam McKagan, Kathy Perkins, Carl Wieman, and Noah Finkelstein UG-Intro
UG-Adv		 CQs 1/9/11
Spinometer Doug Mounce UG-Adv Demo 10/29/09
Spinometer Chris Mounce UG-Adv Demo 7/28/09

You can submit your own ideas and activities.

Translated Versions:

Language Language (Translated) Simulation Title
Basque Basque Stern-Gerlach Esperimentua Run Now
Bosnian Bosnian ŠTERN-GERLAHOV EKSPERIMENT Run Now
Brazilian Portuguese português (Brasil) Experimento de Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Chinese - Simplified 中文 (中国) 斯特恩·盖拉赫实验 Run Now
Chinese - Traditional 中文 (台灣) Stern-Gerlach(自旋量子化)實驗 Run Now
Croatian hrvatski Stern-Gerlachov eksperiment Run Now
Czech čeština Stern-Gerlach Experiment Run Now
Danish Dansk Stern-Gerlach Eksperimentet Run Now
Dutch Nederlands stern-gerlach Run Now
French français Expérience de Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Galician Gallegan Experimento Stern-Gerlach Run Now
German Deutsch STERN-GERLACH Experiment Run Now
Greek Ελληνικά Πείραμα Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Hebrew עברית ניסוי שטרן-גרלך Run Now
Hungarian magyar Iránykvantálás (Stern-Gerlach) Run Now
Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia eksperimen Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Italian italiano Esperimento di Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Japanese 日本語 シュテルン-ゲルラッハの実験 Run Now
Korean 한국어 슈테른-게를라흐 실험 Run Now
Macedonian македонски Штерн-Герлахов експеримент Run Now
Persian Persian آزمایش اشترن - گرلاخ Run Now
Polish polski Eksperyment Sterna-Gerlacha Run Now
Serbian Српски ШТЕРН-ГЕРЛАХОВ ЕКСПЕРИМЕНТ Run Now
Slovak Slovenčina Stern-Gerlachov pokus Run Now
Spanish español Experimento de Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Spanish (Peru) español (Perú) Experimento de Stern-Gerlach Run Now
Turkish Türkçe Stern-Gerlach Deneyi Run Now
Turkmen Turkmen Kwant fizikasy: Ştern-Gerlah tejribesi Run Now
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt Thí nghiệm Stern-Gerlach Run Now

Software Requirements

Windows Macintosh Linux
Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7
Macromedia Flash 9 or later 		OS 10.5 or later
Macromedia Flash 9 or later 		Macromedia Flash 9 or later

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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