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by dea_ex_machina on October 30th, 2008
Could you please explain it to me?
I am 45 year old *LOL*
by branciforte3241 on August 3rd, 2009
I would give them some playtime alone and after 10 minutes of that I would tell them that for the next 10 minutes they will be graded on their performance. Then I would ask them if they played any differently when they knew they were being observed.
by Dr_Dredd on October 30th, 2008
Cecil Adams describes it quite nicely in this poem. He says, "The act of observing disturbs the observed."
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/113/the-story-of-schroedingers-cat-an-epic-poem
by AbsolutValu on October 30th, 2008
You cannot know anything to 100% certainty.
by Couchyam on August 3rd, 2009
It might be hard to define without knowing about Fourier series, differential equations, and the idea of a probability wave.
However, a basic way of describing it is this:
When I look for a rock in a stream of water, I can set up waves on the surface. I only know where the rock is based on which wave is disturbed. Unfortunately, this means that the uncertainty of where the rock is is the length of one of the waves. The lower the wavelength, the greater the precision is.
For light, the lower the wavelength, the higher the energy of light is. However, the higher the frequency, the more likely it is that the particle will jump energy levels and emit a photon in a random direction, causing it to move randomly.
by H on October 30th, 2008
Okay.
Right.
Some properties of a particle you can not measure simultaenously. The common one would be the momentum and the position of it.
On a quantum mechanics level, when you register the position of the particle, you transfer energy to it, so the momentum changes. When you measure its momentum, you again transfer energy to it, changing its position.
It's very hard to explain like this, and I've only really just gotten completely to grips with the source of where it arises, with operator commutivity.
by Waiting for Illumination on October 30th, 2008
The uncertainty principle arises from quantum mechanics. The concept is that any occurrence observed is changed by being observed - leading to the uncertainty of the actual occurrence.
On an atomic level, if someone is observing a reaction, light energy is absorbed by the watcher. Taking away the light energy has an impact on the reaction. That's the simplest way I can think to explain it.
by CaptainHarley adores his life penguin on October 30th, 2008
I've had trouble explaining it to my wife, who is 50. I can't even IMAGINE trying to explain it to a fourth grader! Just tell him or her that when things are very, very small, it's only possible to know a few things about them. Then she or he can build on that later.
by Bull wears a COAT of many colours on October 30th, 2008
How about this: when a particle is moving in space no one can figure out exactly where it is or how fast it's moving. If you know one, you don't know the other. Why are you trying to explain this to a 4th grader when even adults (and scientists among them) don't even understand it?
by Gone_Hunting ! on May 17th, 2011
Get him Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Heisenberg book.
by purplecows on May 17th, 2011
I would hesitate to give half-an-explanation, or a dumbed-down explanation, because that's something the poor kid will have to un-learn later in life in order to get it right.
I would be OK with a true statement such as:
"It is impossible to measure accurately both position and speed of an electron at the same time."
by Anonymous on February 12th, 2009
What I don't understand about the principal, and I really would like to understand it, is what are its implications? Some texts say that the principle states that, since you use photons to measure properties of particles and photons and particles interact, you cannot measure both the momentum and the position of that particle. But if this were the correct explanation, than it would seem that the principle is simply a consequence of poor measuring technology. If that was the case than it wouldn't be such a debate surrounding it. I mean... Is it really impossible to measure the position and momentum of a particle? And why is the uncertainty principle the only accepted explanation for when a laser beam passing through a slit becomes wider?
by LarryH54 on August 1st, 2009
Pretend there are two tv's, one to your left, and one to your right. You can either see one or the other but you can't watch them both at the same time.
One TV shows where something is, and the other tells how fast it's going and where it's headed. Unfortunately, the act of turning your head changes the information before you can see the other screen, so you can never know both at the same time.
by TallJasperMan on August 3rd, 2009
when you look at something through a microscope it changes what you are looking at.
by -O-uknow on August 3rd, 2009
Tis uncertain you can.
by khalid.altaie on November 9th, 2010
I'm an 11th grader and I would explain it simply as:
It is impossible to measure accurately both position and energy of an electron at the same time.
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