how did Maxwell Plank mathmaticly come up with the # 6.6*10^-34 as a constant to convert the frequency of a photon to the energy of the photon? how did Max get this number?

Question

anonymous · Answer

There's a short answer, and a long answer...  For the long answer, google "Blackbody radiation" or the "Ultraviolet catastrophe".  

The shorter answer is that it has to do with the classical physics prediction of standing waves in a blackbody storing an infinite amount of energy, which makes no sense.  However, if one assumes that only certain "modes" of a standing wave are allow to form, then the infinite energy problem is resolved.  This basically means that light is only allowed to have specific, discrete energies, or wavelengths.  I don't remember exactly how he did it, but it had to do with trying to match up experimental results with Wien's Law.  He found that it could only be done if he assumed a discrete spacing between allowed wavelengths.  Wikipedia should help.