Freaky Fzx Friday - Uncertainty

Heisenberg gets pulled over by the police for speeding.

Werner Heisenberg, not this guy.

The officer approaches the vehicle and asks him if he knows how fast he was going.  Unlike the blue meth cook, Heisenberg answers just like any good electron would

Conceptual Uncertainty Principle

A quick glance at my GPS and I can see exactly where I am AND exactly how fast I am going.  But electrons can't because of WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY and quantum mechanics,

If we have determined exactly where an electron is, we cannot know its momentum.  The more certain we are of its momentum, the more clueless we are of its position.

Math Uncertainty Principle

"h" is Planck's constant.  It's a tiny value that also determines the photon energy of an electromagnetic wave.  Remember that EM waves act as particles (photons) in collisions.

Just like a thermometer in water will change the temperature of the water, any interaction with an electron will change its position and momentum but that's not Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

  

Our observation changes things

As time went on, scientists progressively understood that this uncertainty is real.  Electrons don't even exist as particles until we observe them.  Crazy but true.

scientists' progression of understanding.