What does Planck's constant really mean?

Planck's constant is said to be the smallest amount of heat which can
be radiated at the vibration frequency v. (See.
http://www.hypertextbook.com/physics/modern/planck/) This is in
accordance with the formula Energy = (any integer value representing
number of photons) X (Planck's constant 6.63 X 10^-34 J*s) X (frequency
in cycles/second).

My question is whether this also means that this is also the smallest
amount of energy difference between any frequencices. In other words,
the amount of energy has to be some whole number multiple of 6.63 X
10-34. The formula does not place any quantization limits on
frequencies, so an infinity of frequencies is allowed. This would also
imply that an infinity of energy amounts would also be allowed. But
this would seem to be in contradition with the whole idea that energy
only come in quantized packets.

It would seem that one possible solution is that frequencies would also
have to be quantisized, meaning that only certain frequencies would be
allowed and if you were to closely examine a spectra which
theoretically contained all possible frequencies, you would actually
see frequency bands corresponding to energy spacings equal to Planck's
constant.

For example, if we simply the formula by using 1 as the integer amount
in the formula (energy of a single photon) and assume that the
frequency is 1 cycle/second, It appears that the seconds terms cancel
out leaving just Joules which is a measure of energy of 6.63 X 10-34
Joules. Now the question is, can I modify the frequency to produce any
arbitrary amount of energy like 6.64 X 10-34 J, or would I have to
modify the frequency enough to produce another Planck constant worth of
energy or 13.38 X 10-34 Joules?

If frequency can only come in particular quanta, some rough
calculations show that the frequency would have to differ somewhere in
the magnitude of 1 X 10-21 meters for such a small jump to occur. This
would also imply that this would correspond to the maximum frequency
possible (based on the smallest possible weavelength of 1X10-21m) or
about 3 X 10^29 cycles/second. It might also imply that this is the
smallest possible unit of distance in the universe, since nothing can
seem to act at smaller distances that this. Going even further into
speculation, this could mean that space itself is quantized in 1 X
10-21 m cubes and explains why we see quantized amounts of energy &
frequency and why we see Planck's constant. (Lots of speculation, but
an interesting idea, I think).

There is some experimental evidence from the dropping of neutrons in a
gravitational field that would suggest that the neutrons cannot take
arbitrary positions in space, but must drop in specific quanta,
indicating that space is quantized.
(See:http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~frioux/neutron/neutron.htm) So this
is not a wild idea.
fhuplanck

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How Rockets Differ From Jets
    ... >to have 'X amount of energy', ... With regards to spaceplane wings or perhaps that of one massive ... The composites of what basalt fibers and basalt microballoons as having ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: OT. A self powered Radio, Do anyone remember Popular Science Article?
    ... the amount of energy that "a small amount of Radium" releases is ... Radium was used in much higher quantities then than it was until Tritium ... there were basically two options for radio detection - ...
    (misc.rural)
  • Re: What does Plancks constant really mean?
    ... >> amount of energy difference between any frequencices. ... I don't see how your space quantization idea leads to the known ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Slabinski and Mingst/Stowe disagree in Pushing Gravity
    ... This is the minimum amount of momentum flux ... For a given amount of absorbed momentum flux there is a definite ... corresponding amount of kinetic energy, ... make this calculation we find that matter must be absorbing energy at ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: What does Plancks constant really mean?
    ... > amount of energy difference between any frequencices. ... The formula does not place any quantization limits on ... This means that a photon is moving around a point of origin at the ...
    (sci.physics)