The uncertainty principle, developed by Werner Heisenberg, is one of the most widely known results in quantum physics. But now, having located it at some particular point X, we no longer know for sure where it is – our uncertainty about its location has increased! Likewise, if we try to determine its precise momentum during this time, we lose the ability to locate it. However, since momentum and energy are related, determining the former gives us information about the latter (via E=mc2) and where it is.
To measure its position, we must find where the particle is at some particular time thus, we require knowledge of its momentum p. Consider a free particle that we are trying to measure: it can be represented by a wave function ψ(x, t) which acts as a probability density function.
Taken at face value, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that an observer can never measure both the position and momentum of an object to arbitrary precision.Īn example best demonstrates the uncertainty principle.
