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nuby
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Is there a physical meaning to the electron "smear" or probability cloud? If an object (electron) was to somehow travel faster than time, wouldn't it appear in multiple locations at once or as a "smear"?
C'mon.. Is my question that hard to comprehend?adriank said:That makes even less sense.
nuby said:Ok, switch "faster than time" with "through time differently than regular matter".
adriank said:Yes, it is, because it really doesn't make sense.
The probability "cloud" you speak of refers to the probability density of measuring the electron's position to be at that point, at a specific time. There is no reference to its motion.
What does "faster than time" or "through time differently than regular matter" mean? Seriously?
I guess I should have said composite particles. But those are probably just as irregular as electrons.Dmitry67 said:What do you think "regular matter" is made from? :)
nuby said:So considering an electron in multiple locations at once isn't an accurate description of the actual electron/shell.
enomanus said:Hi Peeps,
I'm new to this forum and self study QM. This thread raises an interesting question for me. How does science picture say an electron traveling in a straight line. The prob. amplitude wavepacket travels wth the velocity of the electron.! When we make make a measurement of its position , we have the probality of that result... psi ^2.! But how do we picture the electron smear traveling .? Do we picture an electron cloud with the ghostly electron smeared in it traveling withh velocity v and if so, how do we picture what happens when we measure it's position.?
I know the answer will probably be.. we can't!
BUT IT STILL PUZZLES ME ?
tHANKS!
ZapperZ said:I work at a linear electron particle accelerator, and we model such electrons classically. All our particle tracking codes that we use to study the beam dynamics are all classical (relativistic) Maxwell equations acting on classical particles. And it WORKS!
Zz.
enomanus said:Hi Peeps,
I'm new to this forum and self study QM. This thread raises an interesting question for me. How does science picture say an electron traveling in a straight line. The prob. amplitude wavepacket travels wth the velocity of the electron.! When we make make a measurement of its position , we have the probality of that result... psi ^2.! But how do we picture the electron smear traveling .? Do we picture an electron cloud with the ghostly electron smeared in it traveling withh velocity v and if so, how do we picture what happens when we measure it's position.?
I know the answer will probably be.. we can't!
BUT IT STILL PUZZLES ME ?
tHANKS!
per.sundqvist said:Also the potentials involved in accelerators are macroscopic, i.e., the typical "size" of them are much larger than the wavelength and a0 of the electrons, so you could safely look on the electron as a point particle. But things changes if the electron hits a region with interaction distance similar to its wavelength (slit, or double-slit for example).
msumm21 said:By "the electron traveling faster than light" do you mean that the expectation value of the electrons position, according to the underlying probability distribution function (PDF), is moving faster than light?
An electron probability cloud, also known as an electron orbital, is a visual representation of the likelihood of finding an electron at a specific location around the nucleus of an atom. It is a three-dimensional region of space where the electron is most likely to be found, based on its energy state.
The shape of an electron probability cloud is determined by the quantum numbers of the electron, which describe its energy level, orbital shape, and orientation in space. The Schrödinger equation is used to calculate the probability of finding an electron at a particular point in space, resulting in a specific shape for each orbital.
The electron probability cloud is crucial in understanding chemical bonding because it determines the spatial distribution of electrons around the nucleus. As atoms come together to form molecules, their electron clouds overlap and interact, leading to the formation of chemical bonds.
No, an electron cannot be located at any point within its probability cloud. The cloud represents the areas where the electron is most likely to be found, with higher probability regions being denser and lower probability regions being less dense. The exact location of an electron within its orbital cannot be determined due to the wave-like nature of electrons.
The shape and size of the electron probability cloud change with increasing energy levels. As the energy level increases, the cloud becomes larger and more diffuse, leading to an increased probability of finding the electron further away from the nucleus. This is because higher energy levels allow the electron to occupy a larger region of space, resulting in a larger orbital.