What is Schrödinger’s Cat?

In physics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment in which a cat is trapped in a box with a particle that has a 50-50 chance of decaying. If the particle decays, the cat dies; otherwise, the cat lives. Confusing much? Maybe Astrophysicist Paul Sutter explaining it will help! It's a 50-50 chance at least...

Written & Performed by Paul Sutter
Produced by Judi Stroh
Animation by Shane Goudy

Science News • Videos • Explainers

[cikguilyas]

curiosity may and may not kill the cat

[nicoleowens]

This was brilliant. I love to learn and understand things but I just don't understand spatial concepts easily, my brain just doesn't work this way. I've always struggled with this concept and somehow you've made it as palatable and simple as I've ever seen. Thanks so much! I feel like you scratched a long-term itch I couldn't reach on my own lol, the power of sharing!

[janedoe]

We wouldn't have to think about this problem if we wouldn't have put the cat there in the first place. That's a metaphor that aims to symbolize the complexity of humanity and how we're the ones creating our own problems, therefore we might or might not have killed an innocent cat. And although we can't really say the imagine of a cat being dead is true until proven wrong. The same goes for the cat being alive. And sure, if we let the cat in the cat inside the box for eternity and then the cat won't be dead, but what if the cat wasn't dead? Then we trapped a poor kitty in a painful state between life and death. This can also symbolize how human kind is prone to taking risks in order to move to the next stage, for better or worse. But the author could've also used the feline as a means to illustrate a metaphorical state...



i might've failed physics but damn my english teacher would be proud of me

[Plov_zabiv_]

This just sounds dumb. The cat can't be dead and alive at the same time. If it has a 50/50 chance it means it can die with 50% chance or live with 50% chance. The cat cat is not dead and alive at the same time, it just died or stayed alive. If you open the box you will see the cat dead or alive, but this doesn't mean that cat wasn't dead or alive in the box. First scenario: cat dies in the box, you open the box, you see cat dead. Scond scenario: cat survives the radiation, you open the box, you see the cat alive. Theres no this stupid phase when the cat is both dead and alive. The cat is only dead OR alive, not AND. Do not make the world look more complicated than it actually is.

[asawerabbood]

*Schrodinger's cat experiment* : the cat is both alive & dead.
*me* :
I see it's ZOMBIE !

[soumyashreebiswal]

Excellently explained! This video deserves Ms of views!

[victor_frank]

Quantum mechanics is full of probabilities. Even a cat has bones in its tail🤣🤣

[mrmittens]

It feels like I just learned the understanding of life lol but nice video👍

[jamestagge]

I would like to demonstrate the likely falsity of the theory of superposition as it applies to composite entities and thus its implications, I propose the following; The conditions of the Schroedinger’s cat experiment remain exactly the same but for the poison which would be replaced with an acid, the fumes of which would still be lethal to the cat, and a mechanism on the floor of the box which were the cat to lie/fall down, would cause the vile to tip over. When broken, its contents would spill onto the floor of the box and eat through to the outside. In this then, there would be no observer opening the box but rather a chain of interdependent events which would at their end, in effect, be reaching out to the observer after the fact. In other words, the acid leaking from the box would only be possible were the cat dead and only dead. No dead cat, no leaking acid to alarm the observer that he might turn to observe. To illuminate further….that necessary for the Schroedinger version of this scheme is that there be no consequence of events of the cat’s state as either alive or dead or even potentially one or the other. The cat’s state as alive or dead is the end of the sequence of events contained within the box. In my version in which the cat’s state is nested within a line of other deterministic events, those subsequent to the cat’s state cannot be realized materially unless the cat were dead and only dead. The observer would not have looked at all but for the process having in a sense “reached out” to alert him to its presence. If as might be claimed that his observation would cause the wave form to collapse and the condition of the acid dripping to manifest then how could it have been manifest already that it might capture his attention that he might turn to observe it then to cause the wave form to collapse so that it could be dripping which it was in the first place? This makes no sense and defies the same brand or current of logic by which the experiment was initially defined. I would venture that if this cannot be resolved by the proponents of superposition, one then has to question the ability of composite entities to be in superposition, ever. So, we see that here is no wave form here and thus no superposition of the cat. A great deal of physics would fall away in the exposition of such an error with this superposition theory, not merely inviting alternative ontological possibilities but rather demanding their consideration. Silly notions of multi-verses, cyclical universe existing back infinitely and human perception as a component of the means of material existence would all be dispensed with.
What do you think?

[JuanCruz-bpyu]

Depends on how many lives it had left. My bet is that it’s alive . And will be alive when you open the box .

[glidement]

This was very Good explanation i understand very well next time Can you provide an explanation of Schrödinger's cat experiment and its implications within the framework of quantum theory?

[mollyoxy]

i don't get the jump from the cat is dead OR alive, to the cat is dead AND alive. I've watched so many videos on this and none explain WHY quantum physics has this superposition state. We're just supposed to believe it?

[adrianmaths.professor]

Hi, one quick question about this, How does the Schrodinger experiment change if the box was made of glass and someone could see through?

[joemcdaniel]

Five people were in a box at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean and for four days nobody on earth knew if they were DEAD OR ALIVE.
At 8 AM EDT Sunday, June 18, 2023, five people submerged in the Titan on a mission to view the wreck of the Titanic. One hour and 45 minutes later, communications with the submersible were lost.
Four days later it was learned that they died the instant communications were lost, when on Thursday, June 22, 11.48 am ET when Titan debris was discovered. The five were dead.
The Titan Sub disaster is a real-world example of Schrodinger's Cat.

[mnjoonie]

Nice video!! truly fascinating to observe the functioning of quantum mechanics from Schrödinger's perspective, the description is quite clear, he hypothesized that by placing a feline and a container of poison inside a sealed box😸

[rosanneespinalsuriel-pq]

In our everyday life, particles exist in multiple places at once until we observe them. For instance, the cat experiment teaches us that, before opening the box, the cat is both alive and dead simultaneously, according to quantum mechanics. It sounds strange, but that's how it works. Similarly, an electron can spin in both directions simultaneously until we observe it. BY lia Rosanne.

[minedol]

finally understand the meaning of Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. Schrödinger, a real scientist, developed this thought experiment and published it as a way to send a message to students of physics,

[arturorodriguez]

I liked the explanation of the Schrödinger’s Cat but I think Quantum Fracture explains it better. Still best video in english.

[jamestagge]

yet one more last conditions of the Schroedinger’s Cat thought experiment remain exactly the same but for the poison in the vile which would be replaced with an acid, the fumes of which would still be lethal to the cat, and a mechanism on the floor of the box which were the cat to lie/fall down for having died from the acid fumes, would cause the vile to tip over. If broken, its contents would spill onto the floor of the box and eat through to the outside. In this then, there would be no observer opening the box but rather a chain of interdependent, deterministic events which would at their end, in effect, be “reaching out” to the observer after the fact. In other words, the acid leaking from the box would only be possible were the cat dead and only dead. No dead cat, no leaking acid, no odor to alarm the observer that he might turn to see. To illuminate further, that necessary for the Schroedinger version of this scheme is that there be no consequence of events of the cat’s state as either alive or dead or even potentially one or the other. The cat’s state as alive or dead is the end of the sequence of events contained within the box. In my version in which the cat’s state is nested within a line of other deterministic events, those subsequent to the cat’s state cannot be realized materially unless the cat were dead and only dead. The observer would not have looked to see the acid on the ground at all but for the process having in a sense “reached out” to alert him to its presence (the odor of the acid). If, as might be claimed that his observation of the dripping acid would cause the wave form to collapse and the condition of the acid dripping to manifest then how could it have been manifest already that it might capture his attention that he might turn to observe it to then cause the wave form to collapse so that it could be dripping to alert him which it was and had to be in the first place? This argument makes no sense and defies the same brand or current of logic by which the experiment was initially defined. Here the acid on the ground (the cat being dead) is the cause of the observation and not the effect as the state of the cat in the box (Schroedinger’s version) after it is opened that the cat might be observed. Additionally, it might be claimed that during the time the acid was eating through the bottom of the box that the cat would be in superposition and dead and alive at once and that the subsequent hole created by the acid would cause the wave form to collapse and the cat to then be dead or alive. However, this would then demonstrate that the original proposition as per Schroedinger was in error in the manner those of the Copenhagen school accepted it as a means of understanding superposition (of composite entities). It should be clear that there could not be the acid on the ground “and” the acid not having eaten through the box in the same manner that the hammer in the box in the original Schroedinger version had both fallen to break the vile and not. I would think that there is no reason to expound on that understanding.
As stated above, the means by which the wave form would collapse in the original version of the thought experiment was solely that the box was opened and the cat observed. This other claim then that the wave form would collapse merely because a hole was burned into the bottom of the box by the acid such that it could escape but insufficient for the observer to see the cat inside via this hole could not be true without contradicting the original understanding. It cannot be both. Were the experiment to take place, rather than in a box, under an open bottom dome which blocked the observation of the cat until it was lifted, would the cat be in superposition? Resolving this would answer the questions posed above. If observation is required to collapse the wave form then anyone trying to refute my scenario must compose some work-around this possible logical contradiction.

[dontcallmeindymorning]

Curiously the cat is heard to be alive as the box gets opened, but it is most assuredly dead when the cat is examined.
This poses the question as to whether or not the cat was alive as the box was being opened, or if it was just presumed to be as a result of the ghastly sounds coming from the box as it was being opened, which sounded like a cat dying from a strong and obviously lethal dose of radiation poisoning.