Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

Key Questions

• How did Heisenberg contribute to the atomic theory?

  Heisenberg contributed through his uncertainty principal.

  He stated that an electron's velocity and location can not possible be known simultaneously. The reason for this is because an electron is such a tiny tiny amount of mass, the act of observing it with any kind of light (radiation) would move the particle in a different direction/velocity.

  When you want to locate your phone across a room, you look at it and light bounces off of your phone to your eye. If you look at an electron, light (photons) hit the electron, thus moving it in a different direction and speed.

  The exact formula for calculating the uncertainty of an electron goes:
  Δx > h/4πmΔv

  Where Δx = the uncertainty
  h = 6.626 x 10-34 J-s
  m = mass of electron (9.109 x 10 -31 kg)
  Δv = the degree of certainty you are given (e.g. "speed is known to within 0.01m/s")

  Sometimes the uncertainty can be bigger than the atom itself which is why electrons have never been observed directly.

  Complete presentation in simple terms here: http://chemistry.tutorvista.com/organic-chemistry/werner-heisenberg-atomic-theory.html

  Steven S. · 26 · Apr 27 2014

• Question #8a753
• What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
• How did Heisenberg discover the uncertainty principle?
• How did Heisenberg contribute to the atomic theory?
• How can I calculate Heisenberg uncertainty?
• How does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle contribute to the idea that electrons occupy 'clouds' or 'orbitals'?
• How does the Uncertainty Principle discredit determinism?
• Using the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, can you prove that electron can never exist in nucleus?
• How does the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle work?
• Has Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle been proven?
• Why is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle not significant when describing macroscopic object behavior?
• What is the equation for the uncertainty principle?
• Does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle apply to cars and airplanes?
• According to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle if the position of a moving particle is known what other cannot be known?
• What does the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle state that it is impossible to know?
• Why can't photons be sharply localized?
• A baseball with a mass of 150 g is moving at a velocity of 40 m/s (90 mph). If the uncertainty in the velocity is 0.1 m/s, the minimum uncertainty in position is ?
• Question #c728c
• The velocity of a particle is #5.8*10^5 "m/s"# . Calculate the uncertainty in its position. (Mass of particle=#9.1x10^(-28)"g"# , #h=6.63*10^(-34)#)?
• How do you prove that momentum and position cannot be observed simultaneously as per Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle?
• Can any one explain the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in the simplest ways?? Thank you so much.
• What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle?
• How would you calculate Δx for an electron with Δv = 0.340 m/s?
• A 220lb fullback runs the 40-yd dash at a speed of 19.6 ± 0.1 mi/h, what is the uncertainty in this position?
• Using Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, how would you calculate the uncertainty in the position of a 1.60mg mosquito moving at a speed of 1.50 m/s if the speed is known to within 0.0100m/s?
• From the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, how would you calculate Δx for an electron with Δv = 0.300 m/s?
• How would you calculate the Δx for a baseball with mass 145 g with Δv = 0.100 m/s?
• What is an example of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
• How does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle apply to photons?
• Question #431ec
• Question #fd736
• Why is the exhaust gas of a car higher in concentration in carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, with respect to the normal atmosphere?
• What does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle state?
• From the Heisenberg uncertainty principle how do you calculate Δx for each of the following: (a) an electron with Δv = 0.340 m/s (b) a baseball (mass = 145 g) with Δv = 0.200 m/s?
• From the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, how do you calculate Δx for an electron with Δv = 0.300 m/s?
• Is it possible to measure simultaneously the x and y positions of a particle exactly?
• What is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle? How does a Bohr atom violate the uncertainty principle?
• How do you Calculate the Δx for each of the following?
• How do you solve the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
• How do you calculate the uncertainty in velocity (in #"m"cdot"s"^(-1)#) of an electron (mass #9.11xx10^-31 kg#) under the conditions where the uncertainty in position is #4.782xx10^-3 m#?
• In Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, is the uncertainty in the position a 2 dimensional, 3 dimensional, or 4 dimensional?
• Is possible to prove that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is incorrect by somehow doing an experiment without light, i.e. in total darkness? If such an experiment could be performed, would we be able to disprove this principle?
• Question #422c4
• Question #d68af
• Who proposed the principle which states that one cannot simultaneously know the exact position and velocity of a particle?
• Please let me know about Heisenberg uncertainty principle. I am very unclear about its equation? Thank you so much.
• A biology student must use a microscope to track a single bacterium traveling along the length of a cell. The bacterium is #1.20# #f"g"# and travels at a speed of #1.00 xx 10^(-6) (pm 5.00%) "m/s"# [ . . . ] ?
• If the uncertainty in the position is equal to the wavelength of an electron, how certain can we be about the velocity? Determine an expression for #v_x//Deltav_x#.
• According to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the more we know about a particle's momentum, the less we know about what?
• In which of the following are quantum uncertainties significant: measuring simultaneously the speed and location of a baseball, a spitball, or an electron?
• Question #b47ce
• Question #b701d
• Which of the following can be concluded from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
• Explain the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? What happens if you observe an electron? How do the uncertainties compare for momentum and position?
• What will be the uncertainty in momentum if we know the position certainly?
• Question #c0def
• Explain the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and how the interpretation of it changes from the quantum to classical limits?
• Question #277d6
• Why does Bohr's model of the atom violate the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?