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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
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Edited by Recon Number 54:
10/27/2013 4:19:06 PM
6
A few questions in regards to Quantum Mechanics
I just picked up a book by Brian Greene and one portion of it mildly stumped me. I figured that a few of you here could lend a helping hand and provide insight on it. I was reading and the book began delving into quantum uncertainty and I completely understood it up to one point and that point was when he began talking about observing the spin of an electron. Maybe he didn't word it properly or I just blew past it without much thought (probably the latter), but he broke down how electrons spin and how if you observe it the electron will "choose" between spinning clockwise or counterclockwise on the axis you picked to observe it from (at least from I gathered, correct me if I am wrong). Now, I'm not very well informed on the tools used in modern day labs and my question is, what happens if you observe the same electron from two different locations at once? Is this possible or with modern day equipment are we only limited to one direction? Would the electron spin clockwise or counter-clockwise from each observation point no matter how many angles we observe it from?
Thanks.
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10 RepliesEdited by Seggi: 7/29/2013 6:48:12 AMI'm really not sure what exactly you're asking, but I [i]think[/i] you're asking if we can measure a particle's spin along different axes at the same time, in which case the answer is no. It's not a limitation of modern technology, though, it's a natural limitation - like the uncertainty principle you're probably familiar with that deals with momentum and position. I can go into more depth if you want, but I'm not even sure if that's what you're asking, so I'll leave it at that for now. Also, small sidenote: electrons don't actually 'spin' in any kind of classical sense, we just call it spin because it's mathematically equivalent to intrinsic angular momentum.
