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Old 24-November-2008, 10:08 PM
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geonuc geonuc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesabrown View Post
I think the author of what I was reading was using the thermometer as a large, real-world example of what's going on at the subatomic level. The article wasn't about how to measure temperature but to illustrate the principle that measuring stuff changes stuff. My question really is, is that principle called the HUP? Or something else.
No, what you describe is not the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. It would be an example of the observer effect.

Using the thermometer example as an analogy to explain Heisenberg only goes so far - it breaks down when you consider quantum values.
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