Tuesday, May 16, 2017

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

Here's a short post today: but another one is due.
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a property of particles suggested by Werner Heisenberg in 1927. Since subatomic particles are also waves, as stated by quantum mechanics, properties are unstable. In general understanding, particles can only occupy one location at a time, whereas waves are spread out across a distance.

Then, with particle-wave duality being a given, the same particle has both a definite location and a spread out area. It is in this conundrum that the uncertainty principle forms: it states that the more certain you are of a particle’s location, the less certain you are of the speed and vice versa.

This can be imagined simply. Think of an atom. This atom is moving through space and has a speed that you know for certain. The issue is, if you know the speed, you know one of the properties of a wave. This means that the particle is anywhere on the path of the wave.

This goes in the other direction too. Say you want to know the exact location, and you know the speed. To get the location, you substitute in another speed and overlap the two waves. Keep doing this with different speeds and you have a wave with tons of interference, both constructive and destructive, that can be parsed through to receive flat portions with minimal chance of the particle and areas of high crest and trough concentration with a higher chance of having the particle. Sure, you now know the location of the particle, but you lost certainty of the speed.

This is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, a puzzling statement in physics.
As I said, this is too short for pleasing audiences, another post is due soon.

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