The Wave/Particle Duality - Part 2

Minute Physics provides an energetic and entertaining view of old and new problems in physics -- all in a minute!

In this episode, I revisit the wave particle duality and present an intuitive analogy for understanding how it works.

New music by Nathaniel Schroeder!

[Showerofjyzz]

feel free to have a video longer than 1 minute. thanks

[teddybearhairxdxox]

I like it. I'm an eighth grader and we dont learn physics but I am really interested in this kinda stuff :) this guys doing a great job! :)

[syedahmed]

The Pilot Wave theory is just one specific viewpoint for wave particle duality. There other viewpoints (eg. Copenhagen)

[reflyersource]

Wow! This is really neat! The drawings are great at helping explain the concepts!

[UnknownUser]

Instructions unclear, got head stuck in the Sun.

[tottivega]

"Great! Here take your PhD!" hahaha that is awesome

[SynAngel]

Your way of explaining things never ceases to blow my mind. If everyone could convey their thoughts as well as you we would be set.

[GlobalWarmingSkeptic]

I like this explanation, because people claim that this implies that electrons are in more than one place at a time.  No, they're not, and no experiment has ever shown this.  Instead, as stated in the video, the location of a particular particle is unpredictable until the wave is somehow collapsed by some yet unknown mechanism.  

Particles might be in multiple places at once, but current experiments don't prove this or even suggest it.  

Note that a "wave function" as stated is not like a "wave" that you would encounter at a beach.  All a wave is is a probability distribution of where in space the particle is most likely to be based on its initial location (such as an electron gun).  

[Hawkwreak]

These videos are actually making me interested in science all over again, ive been out of high school for 3 years now, And this is making me want to learn all about physics :)

[henryg.]

the days when minutephysics actually was 1 minute

[MrMichaelTeee]

I know it's not typical, but you should do a video on HOW these scientists came to define the wave functions of different particles. I would really like to know not only the ideas behind science but how they came to be through math and such.

[alkaholic]

Really complex thing to get your head round explained so quickly and succinctly. Nice vid.

[JordanFountain]

Great Video! I just got done with AP Physics in high school and loved it. You do a great job making a difficult concept easy to comprehend. Great Job!

[benl]

This implies that there is something else that the electron is suspended in, like how the speck is suspended inside the water.  The question is, what is it?

[davidhand]

This is immoral. You just described pilot wave theory without explaining that almost no real physicists believe in it. I can't imagine a real explanation of Copenhagen or Everett a minute long, but if you must, maybe stay away from irresponsible half truths. That way you wouldn't make people dumber like you did here.

[LingoPen]

But this is merely the Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, which assumes the existence of an actual particle at all times.  Yet the standard Copenhagen Convention model contradicts this description:  it asserts that the particulate aspect only exists when measurement is made; and that, while the wave aspect exists during motion, there is no particle at all.  The particle suddenly jumps back into existence as the wave "collapses", and at that moment of measurement, there is no longer a wave at all.  Also, there are other interpretations --the Many Worlds interpretation says that the single particle does continue to exist, but that it exists at every point along the wave simultaneously.  Even more strangely, when measurement is made, we only see one particle because all the other particles have continued on within other universes ("worlds") not accessible to us.  Then there is the Cramer Interpretation, along with a myriad of others.  Thus, it is misleading to say that there is a simple explanation of how the transition is made between particle and wave.  In fact, it is one of the great mysteries of quantum physics which, perhaps, can never be solved.  This is why physicists through up their hands and invented the term "wavicle" to denote that the "entity" is both particle and wave and also neither.  (And now that the "string" has replaced the "particle"; does that mean the new duality is "string/wave"?  Should we now be speaking of "straves"?  This last point, I admit, I do not understand.  (Someone enlighten me on this one, btw.)

[RyanMathewHarding]

That's what I get for not waiting for part 2, I suppose!
Keep making these videos; they're great! You do a wonderful job at explaining things in simpler terms :D

[zakirhussain-jsku]

Space is an energy field. When a particle like photon or electron moves through space it creates waves. The particle remains a particle except that it has a wave associated with it. It is like boat moving in water. Boat creates waves. It is boat-wave system but boat does not change to wave. As wave stops wave disappears & we have boat & no wave. When in motion boat- wave system will behave as both boat & wave at the same time.

[tranngochungdevwannabe]

Dont try to force quantum as non quantum, ppl may misunderstand it

Checkbout floatyhead, his vid is very good at explain this

[jaredblood]

I remember when this video came out :D