An atom is in a multi state called ‘superposition’ until you observe it. That’s the only way to know the actual state.
Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment that places a cat in a black box with poison that gets activated upon the decay of a radioactive atom.
What is the state of the cat?
It is both dead and alive simultaneously (demonstrating the superposition principle), until you open the box and see for sure.
Translation in everyday life:
Do not place your cat in such a box.
57
517 reads
CURATED FROM
IDEAS CURATED BY
Quantum Physics simplified
“
Similar ideas
The feline paradox: Schrodinger's cat
A cat is placed in a steel box along with a Geiger counter, a vial of poison, a hammer, and a radioactive substance. When the radioactive substance decays (it decays as a random process), the Geiger detects it, triggers the hammer, and release the poison, which kills the cat.
Unti...
The Observer Effect In Science
Apart from people, the observer effect is famously highlighted in the thought experiment of the physician Erwin Schrödinger.
He states that if a cat is placed in a box of radioactive atoms that may or may not kill it in one hour, the cat is in the state of limbo until someone observes...
The paradoxes of quantum particles
Quantum particles can act as particles located in a single place, or they can act as waves that are distributed all over space or in several places at once.
How they appear seems to depend on how we choose to measure them. Before we measure, they seem to have no apparent p...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
—
100+ Learning Journeys
—
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates