What is superposition?

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Somebody already asked this question ([here](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/26uzgu/eli5_quantum_mechanics_superpositions/)), but I did not really understand the explanation, and the post was archived so I can’t ask for a more detailed explanation.

In: Physics

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

An object in a super position is in all the possible states at once.

The classic analogy is [Schrödinger’s cat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat). One state the cat can be in is alive. The other state it can be in is dead. A super position of the cat is both alive and dead.

A more literal example is can be found in the [double slit experiment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YqgPAtzho). An electron could have passed through one slit or another. When it is in a super position, it travels through both slits, no slits, one slit, and the other, all at the same time. It is in all the possible positions. When observed in such a way that we know what slit it travels through, the super position collapses into one state. It only travels through one slit.

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