There is a cat in a box with a vial of potent/deadly chemical only accessible if the cat sneezes. Two seconds after he gets in the box, Mr. Kitty sneezes. You cannot see inside the box. Before you open the lid, is the cat alive, dead, or both? Why?
by 
Positively Negative
ANSWERS: 2
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You must consider it to be both, the only other option is to ask a certain Mr Schrodinger :o)
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If the chemical will definitely emit when the cat sneezes, then yes, it is dead, it's part of the rules defined by the system. If, however, there is a 50/50 chance of it, e.g. Schroedinger's cat, what occurs is.... The cat is in a suspended state of dead and alive, both with equal probabilities, and both wave functions occur. Incorporate a bit of philosophy, and, the cat will remain in said situation until you PERSONALLY observe it (Directly or indirectly). What happens when you observe it is that one wave function will collapse, to resolve to one situation. I've just been studying this in my quantum mechanics lecture, and you can actually work out probabilities of it occuring, etc (whilst not so relevant in this case, its very handy for measuring spin, etc)
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