- #1
swaroopkml
- 2
- 0
I know only basic QM, and i haven't come to grips entirely with the uncertainty principle.
I know that you can't know an electron's position and velocity simultaneously because the act of measuring itself leads to uncertainity.
Here's the question: If we isolate a single electron and we fire individual photons (one by one) at where we think we may find the elctron in the probability wave (like groping for the switch in a dark room), and we know the photon's energy. Now, we try to measure the electron's position. We then spoil the elctron's velocity, but since we know the photon's energy and hence the effect it would have on the electron, can't we, in theory, know the position and velocity (taking the photon's effect into account) at the same time?
Possible misconceptions: 1) When the photon misses an electron, i have assumed that the electron is not effected. But the act of measuring the electron's position causes it to assume a definite position, right?
2) Light can also be a wave, but i don't know how that affects our experiment.
PS: I'm only a high school kid, so please avoid complex mathematics :)
I know that you can't know an electron's position and velocity simultaneously because the act of measuring itself leads to uncertainity.
Here's the question: If we isolate a single electron and we fire individual photons (one by one) at where we think we may find the elctron in the probability wave (like groping for the switch in a dark room), and we know the photon's energy. Now, we try to measure the electron's position. We then spoil the elctron's velocity, but since we know the photon's energy and hence the effect it would have on the electron, can't we, in theory, know the position and velocity (taking the photon's effect into account) at the same time?
Possible misconceptions: 1) When the photon misses an electron, i have assumed that the electron is not effected. But the act of measuring the electron's position causes it to assume a definite position, right?
2) Light can also be a wave, but i don't know how that affects our experiment.
PS: I'm only a high school kid, so please avoid complex mathematics :)