Dicey world

Uncertainty Principle

Obaidur Rahman

The principle that the momentum and position of a particle cannot both be precisely determined at the same time.

A fundamental principle of physics, especially of quantum mechanics, is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principl. It states that one can never know for sure both the position and the velocity of a particle. That means the more accurately one knows about the position of a particle, the less accurately one knows about its velocity. The uncertainty principle, also known as Indeterminacy Principle, was developed by German physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927. The concept relates to the inherent indeterminacy in the simultaneous measurement of the position and velocity of a particle. And once the velocity of the particle is precisely known, the knowledge of its position in space becomes completely indeterminate. in order to determine the future position as well as velocity of a particle, one needs to be able to measure its present location and velocity very accurately. And the most effective way to achieve that is to shed some light on that particle. The light scattered by the particle will point at the position of the particle under scrutiny. The amount of light required for the purpose is small, may be least one quantum. But here is the catch. This quantum of light will disturb the position particle as well as and alter its velocity in a very unpredictable way. Besides, the more accurately one tries to measure the position, shorter wavelength of light with higher energy will be needed for it. That means the velocity of the particle will be disturbed furthermore. But this will do the trick of finding the precise location of the position of the particle, though not of its speed. In fact, the more you accurately you may try to measure the position of the particle, the less accurately you can measure its speed.