Double Slit Experiment Explained Step-By-Step

In this video, we're gonna be talking about, what is in my opinion, the single most impressive experiment ever conceived: the Double Slit Experiment.

It's not just impressive for how it was first derived but also for all the variations that were done in later years that all give us a glimpse of how wonderfully weird the quantum world is.

But as weird as it is, the quantum world forms the building blocks of our reality so it's important to understand how things work.

We'll be covering:
› Double-Slit Experiment
› Which-Way Experiment (variation)
› Delayed Choice Experiment (variation)
› Diffraction
› Wave interference (peak / trough formation)
› Wave function collapse
› Misconceptions

Everything will be explained step-by-step so that anyone can follow.

Enjoy!

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├ Links ┤

► Video - Wave-particle duality

► Double Slit Experiment at home

► Wave-particle duality of single photons at a time

► Scientific paper - Quantum mechanics needs no consciousness

[RespectYourIntellect]

So what do you think of this Double Slit Experiment?


Were you able to guess the patterns we would see on the end screen in the different scenarios and variations?


Also, is there another experiment you like that you would want to have covered in a video?

[prosepusher]

Can relate to the photon.
I too behave differently when watched.

[worior]

I've answered correctly both all and none of your questions

[havefunbesafe]

I’ve always struggled with the “observer” portion of this experiment. The fact that the observer is a device with electrical, magnetic properties etc…may in fact be the issue here…right? I’d like to see this experiment done with greater variations regarding the observer…I want to believe consciousness plays apart but I’m not there yet….help

[austinicity]

How exactly does the detector make an observation of where the particle is? Is it an electron microscope that records visual data, is that even possible? This was the best explanation I've seen for the double split experiment.

[FlechetteArchery]

head hurts... i get it and don't get it all at the same time. call it the 'double-slit thought process' :)

[ElektrikDunyam]

I watched many double slit experiment videos. Do you know what is common? No one mentions about how to detect the photon or observe the photon. How much energy is required to detect the photon, electron or atom.

[RealJoshBinder]

Your comparison of programming and quantum mechanics makes me wonder if everything's a simulation (o.0) mind blown. Great vid

[thiennganguyen]

This is the best double slit experiment lecture that I have heard! 👏

[yneshAshanti]

7:20 - 7:36 schematic was wildly misleading. You’d see 2 lines where the photons align as particles passing through the slit, not a wave of photons moving through the slits.

[billsmith]

I remember doing this in Physics in College. Interesting thing is, my son did this in a summer Physics Camp (before he was a Junior in high school).

[robertgoss]

I have been a fan of the double slit experiment for years. I have a pretty good post-secondary education, but beyond that, I am about as ordinary a Joe Six-Pack as you will ever meet. Now having said, I must say that your video was very well produced, edited and presented. And it's one of best (out of many) videos on this topic I have yet seen. Your page name was good choice because, despite your obvious acumen, it never feels like you're talking down to the viewer. Well done!

[TannhaeuserGate]

Hey Jon, I answered all correctly. The consciousness requirement at the end of your video raises a question:
It seems that people have no problem accepting that post-slit wave collapse can determine events in the past.
Somehow, recording a collapse event without consciousness is enough. However, at some point after that recording event, someone (a consciousness) will read the results of that original unconscious recording, right? otherwise, how would we know about the result? Could it be that that knowledge derived from the second recording (the conscious one) is the one responsible for collapsing the wave retroactively? (and not the original one) Thanks!

[anbervincent]

Why does the detection of the photon collapse the wave function, when the detector is placed after the slits, but the interaction with the screen does not? Is the screen not a part of the real world just as the detector is?

[gijbuis]

Like everyone else you fail to mention what a 'detector' really is. I think you will find that a detector is some sort of instrument that can detect where a particle is located in space and time. It does this by firing photons which collide with the particle and return to the detection instrument providing information about the impact. I have no idea what 'collapsing' the wave function actually means, but it is clear that any measuring instrument must somehow interact with the particle it is measuring - otherwise it will not be measuring anything.

[stevethecatcouch]

I'll be satisfied when someone can explain the results without anthropomorphizing photons.

[prestonrodenkirch]

I don't understand how an observation or measurement is done without consciousness. I understand that a measurement can be done so that no consciousness knows what the measurement is. But that is not the same as the measurement being done without consciousness. Consciousness just is not aware of what the measurement is but the information is stored. Once that information exists then the measurement was done as a result of the actions of consciousness. Even if consciousness doesn't know the measurement, it knows the measurement was taken and where the information is stored. If the information is destroyed before consciousness knows then the measurement was taken without consciousness knowing the measurement which is logically no different than no measurement at all since in both cases no information about a measurement exists. Once it is quantified by consciousness is when the wave collapses. To determine if consciousness is necessary would be easy. Do the experiment so the measurement is done but the information is only given to a single consciousness that is then immediately destroyed after being aware of the information. If consciousness doesn't matter then should be no different than doing the measurement and destroying the information without any consciousness being aware of what the information was. I volunteer to be the single consciousness that would have to be destroyed because I am confident that if done the way I am suggesting it will show that it is in fact necessary that consciousness be involved in order to collapse the wave. An inanimate object storing the information briefly before object and information are both destroyed should have the same results as a single consciousness being aware of the information before both are destroyed. But if consciousness DOES matter then the results won't be the same. This is literally a case where someone will have to be an intentional sacrifice in order to further our scientific understanding. Again, I sincerely volunteer to be the consumable component required to definitively determine whether consciousness is a factor or not. I believe without a doubt it does.

[stuckinflorida]

It’s amazing how one of the simplest experiments brings about some of the most complex questions, quantum physics is as mind boggling as the vastness of the universe. Ok now on to quantum eraser! Thanks for explaining some of the details that are very hard for most of us to understand. Keep up the good work

[shaunzero]

This almost seems to suggest that reality only exists when being observed, much like how when moving in a video game you only generate the sections of the world that are within your viewpoint. The "wave" function of the particle is just a function of "computer code" that defines where the particle COULD BE when observed and it is forced to choose a location when observed. And the reason consciousness is not required to collapse it is because even simply requesting data on particle locations for a non-conscious source triggers this "function" to choose/calculate a position from it's probabilities.

[jimmypk]

One of the most under-appreciated channels on YouTube. I regret not to have discovered it earlier.