This means the faster the particle is going, the shorter the wavelength, and the slower the particle is going, the longer the wavelength. When the particle is moving, it’s doing “wavy stuff” that has a characteristic wavelength associated with it-and that length, it turns out, is inversely proportional to the momentum. “We know from experiments that things that we think of as particles, like an electron, would have a well-defined position, but they also have a wavelength associated with them, and that wavelength is related to the momentum.” “Being able to have both requires that each be imperfect, in a way, and there’s just no way around that,” Orzel explains. He continues by explaining the fact that you need to have both wave-like properties and particle-like properties, meaning you can’t measure either of them perfectly. “And it’s because of that you can’t get rid of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle with a better experimental technique, because it’s really fundamental to that dual nature.” “So every particle in the universe-or every kind of object that we know of in the universe- has this combination of properties we associate with waves, and properties we associate with particles they’re a third kind of object that isn’t really one or the other,” Orzel says. Werner Karl Heisenberg, a Nobel Laureate who later became a key figure in Hitler’s atomic project. And, shockingly, particles of matter like electrons also demonstrate this particle-wave duality. That is, light isn’t a particle or a wave-it has properties of both. Thanks to a pioneering test known as Young’s Double-Slit experiment, physicists discovered the answer was “Door No. The origin of the uncertainty principle is found in the duality of particles in quantum physics depending on what they’re doing, they can be described as either a particle or a wave, Orzel tells Popular Mechanics.Īt the turn of the 20th century, physicists were engaged in a heated debate regarding the nature of light, and whether it exists as a particle or a wave. In his book, How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog, he covers Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Getty Images What Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?Ĭhad Orzel is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, New York, who is also the author of several books that explain often complicated and esoteric ideas to a layman audience. Reality is telling us that we can have our quantum cake, but we can’t eat it, too. Heisenberg recognized that if it were possible to measure both the momentum and the position simultaneously with greater accuracy, quantum mechanics would collapse. Legendary physicist and master bongo player Richard Feynman put it like this: “The uncertainty principle ‘protects’ quantum mechanics. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how sophisticated your equipment, is you can’t think your way past it. It’s special because it remains intact no matter how good our experimental methods get this isn’t a lack of precision in measurement. German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg first introduced his uncertainty principle in a 1925 paper. If this was all Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle said, it probably wouldn’t have been profound enough to weave its way into pop culture in the form of mugs, T-shirts, and cartoons-let alone place its pioneer as an alias for an infamous meth-cooking chemistry teacher. But every physics graduate first starts to unpack this concept through the lens of position and momentum, so we will, too. The principle also applies to other pairs of characteristics in quantum systems, like energy and time. In its most basic and commonly known form, the uncertainty principle says that the more precisely you know the position of a particle in a quantum system, the less well you know its momentum (and vice-versa). Whether you’re laughing right now-or staring at your screen in confusion-hinges on how much you know about one of the foundational ideas in quantum physics: Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
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