In the mid-19th century, Quantum Revolution was close to success. Physicists from the whole world had contributed to finally completing what seemed like the greatest theory of
all the time and to free it from the chains of classical physics. It was important as it was not just a branch of physics or chemistry as considered by the Nobel Prize committee it was a new Physics itself, a whole new field for study. Even after it got accepted by most physics organizations it still faced casualties. Not small but great casualties and because of great people. One of them was none other than Albert Einstein who whatsoever did not accept it throughout his life.
One of the reasons behind the questions being raised were the issues behind its understanding. The concepts were so bizarre and wild that some people could not come to believe them.
To simplify these concepts Ervin Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment with a cat, a physicist, a box, and some poison.
Let's say that once there was a physicist who hated cats more than anything. He once happened to find a stray cat lying in a box. He took her home but not for a good reason.
He threw a bottle of poison in that box and closed it. The cat didn't know what it was and could have consumed it but on the other hand, the cat might have sensed the threat. Now it is impossible to say what happened until he opens the box. The cat is in a superposition between dead and alive. Which means she is neither dead nor alive. There is 1/2probability that the cat is dead and a 1/2probability that she is alive but no one can precisely tell what is going on inside the box until we open it.
The same is with the uncertainty principle which states- "At a particular time if you predict the position of an electron you can't predict its momentum and vice versa." which is represented by the equation ΔpXΔq>ħ/2π. Here Δ is the greek symbol for summing up, p is momentum(Mass X Velocity,) q is the position, ħ is the plank's constant (~6.62X 10^-34J/Hz) and π is the greek alphabet pi(22/7 or 3.14.....) ...... indicates it is an irrational number. This equation was given by Werner Heisenberg. This was also derived with the help of Particle-Wave Duality which is an entirely different topic so we will save it for another day. To simplify an electron's position and momentum together are like that cat in the box. There can only be probabilities but no perfect conclusion until you open the box or until you observe that electron. This also brought Neils Bohr to the conclusion that an electron or any sub-atomic particle until and unless observed does not exist at all! and thus the famous quote "NOTHING IS REAL". Though the quote was not given by Bohr he had some credit in it.
Schrodinger's cat experiment is also used to explain Quantum Entanglement( The topic which we discussed in the previous blog). It involves two cats in this case and one is alive while the other is dead. Replace them with electrons which tend to communicate in a sense. I won't take you deep into entanglement right now because we have already discussed it.
That was it. I hope you enjoyed reading, and if you did make sure to visit PHYSICS ISLAND for more such blogs. Do join us for a free monthly Physics Newsletter and a members exclusive badge.
,☄️🌌🌠Inspiring⚛️