When observed, the electrons act as matter, but when not observed, they act as waves?
Obviously “observed” doesn’t mean recorded on an iPhone camera, but what does it mean? Is it like if we simply know the location or the velocity of the electrons, they behave differently?
The part I’m most not understanding is why the electrons behave differently. Certainly they aren’t capable of thought and recognizing they’re being observed lol
In: Physics
“Observed” means that you measure a property (like its position).
In classical systems measurement does not change anything on the object, you are measureing. If you measure the mass of an apple and then its color, it does not change anything on the apple itself. And it is also not matters, if you measure the mass or the color first for the results.
In quantum systems a measurement of a property changes the state of the system. There it becomes relevant if and in which order you measure properties.
If you have 1000 quantum apples, and you just measure the color, then you might find that you have 500 red and 500 green apples.
However if you repeat that and check if your quantum apples, have a mass greater than 20 grams, and then measure the color, then you might end up that all 1000 apples are red, as the mass measurements have forced the apple into the “red” state. (heavily simplified)
Something similar happens with the electrons. If you measure properties of them before they end up on the screen (which is a measurement too), you change their state and you get a different result in the second measurement (a different picture).
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