
27-June-2008, 02:15 PM
|
 |
Order of Kilopi
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio, Tx.
Posts: 8,438
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by tusenfem
I find that one of the interesting things about the uncertainty principle ΔxΔp≥h/2π can be made "visible" for the lay person by discussing the macrocosmos.
Suppose you have a car driving on the street and you are standing on the pavement with your new digital SLR camera. Now you can do two things with that camera:
1. you can take a pic with a very short exposure time, you can see the car clearly, and determine its location very well, however, you have no information about the speed of the car.
2. you can take a pic with a long exposure time, you will see a very blurred car, stretched over the picture, so you can determine the velocity of the car rather well, but any information about the exact location of the car is lost.
|
Great analogy. Seems like light sure is a big deal no matter where you look, even in analogies.
__________________
Lighten up! This is a stellar board!
|