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One of many quietest revolutions of our present century has been the entry of quantum mechanics into our on a regular basis expertise. It was that quantum results had been confined to physics laboratories and delicate experiments. However trendy expertise more and more depends on quantum mechanics for its primary operation, and the significance of quantum results will solely develop within the many years to come back. As such, physicist Miguel F. Morales has taken on the herculean job of explaining quantum mechanics to the remainder of us laymen on this seven-part collection (no math, we promise). Under is the third story within the collection, however you may at all times discover the beginning story right here.
To date, we’ve seen particles transfer as waves and discovered {that a} single particle can take a number of, broadly separated paths. There are a variety of questions that naturally arises from this habits—one in every of them being, “How huge is a particle?” The reply is remarkably delicate, and over the subsequent two weeks (and articles) we’ll discover completely different elements of this query.
Right now, we’ll begin with a seemingly easy query: “How lengthy is a particle?”
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