How does the quantum theory apply to us?

I am just starting to learn about the quantum theory. I am kind of lost because I really do not understand this theory at all. If it it helps at all, we are learning about the shift from Bohr's orbit model to Schrodinger's wave model. If somebody could help me understand this theory that would be great!How does the quantum theory apply to us?
Quantum theory tells us that energy comes in small packets, or quanta. Light for example is transmitted as tiny ';particles'; called photons. Quantum theory also tells us that these quanta have a wave component -- photons have some of the characteristics of a wave (like frequency). Photons are really neither a wave nor a particle but something else entirely that behaves like both. We don't really know *what* it is. It's this wave-particle duality that physicists find very mysterious, so if you don't understand the theory, join the club.





BTW, quantum theory applies to all sub-atomic particles, including electrons. That's why Bohr's orbit model is not really accurate. The electrons in an atom don't really orbit the nucleus like little moons. Because they also have wave-like properties, they're kind of ';smeared out'; and form more of a cloud of probability around the nucleus.





How does quantum theory apply to us? Trying to understand the strange behavior of matter and energy at the sub-atomic level led directly to inventions that play very important roles in the modern world, such as transistors, lasers, diodes... and computers.How does the quantum theory apply to us?
Okay, let me gently walk you through this one. The first thing you've got to learn when attempting to understand Quantum Theory is this:





ABANDON ALL INTUITION BEYOND THIS POINT!





The Rutherford atomic model was the last Newtonian picture of an atom, with a hard little electron spinning around a heavy nucleus. That didn't work out, didn't fit the facts. Bohr came up with a primitive ';particle-wave'; view, where electrons behaved like waves in their orbit about the nucleus. This time, bettter agreeement with experimental fact was found. This was actually the first ';wave model';, before Schrodinger came foward with his more complete wave equation. Mathematicians, using Schrodinger's wave equation, were able to determine the eigenstate electron orbits, of which shape and properties matched far more closely with experimental fact (including much from chemistry). Since then, quantum theory, based on Schrodinger's wave equation, has proven to be one of the most successful and accurate branches of science. But nobody really understands how it really works. This is what Richard Feymann, Physics Nobel Laureate, had to say to beginning physics students:





';What I am going to tell you about is what we teach our physics students in the third or fourth year of graduate school... It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it. You see my physics students don't understand it. ... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does.';





Quantum theory is like the Looking Glass in Alice in Wonderland. It is where you have to take leave of your ordinary real-world intution, and try to get used to the wierdness of the quantum world, always keeping in mind that while YOU may not understand it, the mathematics behind it is flawless. You will be asked to believe that an electron can be a particle and a wave at the same time, that a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time, and that things in the future can influence things today or in the past. It is truly mind-boggling stuff, and you can either be revulvsed by it, and turn away from it as nonsense, or you can try to get used to a world very different from the one you're used to. It's actually a world that much of reality happens, only that we just don't see it very obviously.