Kid needs to calm down. You can't rely entirely on JSP people...he's trying to help you find a way to seek information by yourself (Youtube, Google, yahoo, etc). Apparently, you're just being lazy or too ignorant to even search a video on the principle

It is called the uncertainty proposal for a reason . It can not be adequately defined but it can be observed .

from wikipedia:

The only kind of wave with a definite position is concentrated at one point, and such a wave has an indefinite wavelength. Conversely, the only kind of wave with a definite wavelength is an infinite regular periodic oscillation over all space, which has no definite position. So in quantum mechanics, there are no states that describe a particle with both a definite position and a definite momentum. The more precise the position, the less precise the momentum


wavelength is used to calculate momentum as well in this case. also, they use a wave to describe both position and momentum

Wow i can't believe how retarded people on this site can be. Obviously google is the first resort. How am I being lazy and ignorant by posting for clarification on WHY a certain part of the uncertainty principle is the way it is? Because there's some people on this site that might be good at physics and can answer my question or explain it to me. You think you're good, you find a video for me. Trust me, I've already been on youtube. You're just like infinitsimal in that you're just trying to raise your post count, and you're obviously a multi.

Asking a "How to", DIY, or other simple inquisitive questions can be understood by doing what you suggest, simply surfing the web. But a concept that can be complex in physics is not unreasonable to ask about. Just stfu, i just squashed you too, fuckin 13 year old virgin troll. You don't know shit either.

I'm asking a question, and since you don't know anything you troll like everyone else? lol

Google, yahoo answers, etc.

think of trying to take a picture of a speeding car, trying to get a clear view of the moving car and the still backround, getting a picture of either one is fairly easy, but both at same time doesnt work. -anology i read

einstein called it quantum spookiness or something. it really doesnt make sense and makes classic and modern physics obsolete.

This post was edited by juliusjuice on Nov 12 2009 01:36am

The wikipedia entry that cialda posted is the conceptual example commonly thought of now. However, Heisenberg originally came up with his 'uncertainty principle' to explain the particle-wave duality of electrons.

It is theorized that electrons exist simultaneously as a particle and a wave, evidenced by the various properties of electrons.
The wave nature can be tested by aiming an electron beam at a surface with two parallel slits in it. If the beam is calibrated to project only a single electron, a wave-interference pattern will still appear on a film on the opposite side of the surface, indicating that a single electron can "split up", travel through both slits, and interfere with itself; demonstrating the properties of a wave.
If a laser is added to the apparatus in such a way that it illuminates the electron as it nears the slits in the surface, the electron will not split up and interfere with itself. Instead, it merely goes through one slit and behaves as an ordinary particle.

In other words, with the first setup you can only observe the wave nature of the electron, and with the second setup (laser added) you can only observe the particle nature. The electron will not demonstrate the behavior of a particle and wave simultaneously!

Based on the experiment, he (Heisenberg) suggested that while the particle and wave nature of electrons could be observed seperately, they could never be observed simultaneously. So basically, Heisenberg proved that the nature of an objects existence can be changed by observing it. I.e. if an electron is observed as a wave, it IS a wave. If it is observed as a particle, it IS a particle.

This theory also holds true for a particle's mass and velocity. The more accurately you know one quantity, the less accurately you know the other quantity.
Does this clear it up at all? I'd suggest googling "shrodinger's cat" if you want an easy to understand metaphorical example.

p.s. I'd like to note that this did NOT come from google... this is the result of studying hard in university

This post was edited by bingbat01 on Nov 13 2009 03:27am

Its just a classic way of observing (in your mind) the tendancies of what we call electrons... particles that one cannot see... detected by machines that are designed to detect specific properties of specific existances of energy/matter.

science will eventually unveil this mystery... the particles shall become well understood if we are going to crack the ultimate code.

until then, its a road block. you cannot progress without breaking down the definitions. when they are WELL DEFINED, pretty much everything we currently "know" and "respect" about sub atomic particles will CHANGE drastically. an organic chemist may see the molecules and electron clouds in the imagination and use that to determine what they will do when combined in a "soup" and the resulting product may be expected with specific properties...

but this does not mean we are understanding WHAT is going on inside these electron clouds. WHAT is happening to the orbitals and the nature of the elctrons exactly? since we can only currently GUESS where they are, electron densities are measured in "probabilities" and the science is NOT exact... One day this will be different.

Ignorance is bliss I suppose