Quantum theory

[ralphwiggum 6]

Pukko, bn880, denoir, advocatexxx and Ex-Ronin: Axis of nerds.

[bn880 5]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (RalphWiggum @ Sep. 09 2002,13:17)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Pukko, bn880, denoir, advocatexxx and Ex-Ronin: Axis of nerds.<span id='postcolor'>

One day we shall rule the earth!

[second_draw 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ex-RoNiN @ Sep. 08 2002,14:34)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Pukko @ Sep. 08 2002,14:28)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">2 versions of my question:

 1- is there any particles at all, or is everything just waves?

 2- Is there any particles at all (particles with mass that themselves all move in waves), or is everything just probability-waves with a certain energy?<span id='postcolor'>

This is easy: the particle-wave duality (discovered in the 30's or 60's, not sure which) clearly state that "particles" are both waves and "particles"

This is why Bohr's model of the atom is not considered "wrong", merely incomplete. Likewise, the electron-cloud model is not the whole story either.

The best thing is that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle allows you to measure a particle's position OR a particle's vector, but not both, which indicates that things aren't as clear cut as they seem.

One important experiment regarding the particle-wave duality was done when a scientist used an electron gun to fire it at a 2 slit apparatus, with both slits having a very narrow width. In the first minute, he would fire one electron at the left slit, in the next minute 1 electron at the other and he kept on going for quite some time. When he came back he didn't have the two slits as 2 dark spots on his photographic paper, but rather a continous spectrum of dark spots. This is how the theory of particle-wave duality came into being

EDIT: Here is a website to get you started: http://www.qmw.ac.uk/~zgap118/<span id='postcolor'>

You don't know how annoyed i am. If only i had read this morning. I was doing this in my all important physics test. What ex-ronin said sumed everything up quite nicely even though we went furhter in. The actually reasoning behind the that last experiment (young's experiment) was that such a small amount of energy, that only one photon or something like that could get through and would therefore be unlike young's experiment despite it being young's experiment. Basically everything with momentum has wave properties but these wave properties are too small to jusitfy..... yada yada

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</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ex-RoNiN @ Sep. 08 2002,16:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Why oh why did I quit Physics <span id='postcolor'>

Why oh why am i still doing physics? It has only made me, my world and everything else seem insignificant and challenge my view of the world at the price of many hours studying and my sanity (maybe not the sanity bit).

btw, i'm not being sarcastic. I truly have no idea why i do physics or chose it in the first place