The electron dual slit experiment

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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

9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

When you hear “observed”, think “measured”.

In order to measure something, you must *do* something to it. Even “just looking” means that photons bounced off of it then hit your eyes – which means those photons *did something* to it. In most cases, this is meaningless…but when you’re talking about measuring individual photons, then suddenly it matters a lot.

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